The combined sales of releases from independent record labels have outsold Universal, Sony, and Warner this year, with thanks to major successes from Mumford & Sons, ‘Thrift Shop’ hit-makers Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Vampire Weekend, Queens Of The Stone Age, and more, according to The Music Network.
A new mid-year report from stats trackers Nielsen Soundscan shows that indie labels have claimed 34.4% of American music sales in 2013 thus far, which is a larger share of the pie than any of the record label majors and grows from last year’s figure of 32.9%, as SPIN reports, and indies chiefly have the successes of a few acts in particular to thank for their increased market share.
While the controversy-courting Justin Timberlake‘s The 20/20 Experience is the best-selling album in the first six months of the year, racking up 2.04 million scans – the only album to do over a million – over 51 singles have scanned more than 1 million units, with Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ ‘Thrift Shop’ dwarfing them all with 5.6 million units.
The hip-hop duo, like many independent artists, may rely upon major label distribution to sell their music, but they still own the masters and rights to their releases, which is what the numbers are based on rather than distribution. So if the artist, or more commonly the imprint they’re signed to, owns the rights, then they get the numbers.
While trouncing the competition in singles, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis were also the second biggest indie act of the year in album sales, with The Heist moving 670,000 copies. The biggest? Mumford & Sons who reached 1.1 million album sales this year from their entire catalogue, including their record-breaking sophomore Babel.
Behind them, The Lumineers came in third with 6660,000 units of their eponymous debut, then Taylor Swift (who is distributed by Nashville indie Big Machine Records) with 635,000 units, and American country musician Jason Aldean with 310,000.
Rounding out the list is Vampire Weekend, with 275,000 units scanned, Alabama Shakes with 250,000, and Queens Of The Stone Age, who racked up 150,000 units of their latest …Like Clockwork, their first for indie label Matador. Interestingly, since its release on 3rd June, a large proportion of those sales came from vinyl.
Top Selling Independent Albums Of 2013 So Far
Mumford & Sons – 1.1M albums (Glassnote Records)
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – 670k albums (Macklemore, LLC)
The Lumineers – 660K albums (Dualtone Music Group)
Taylor Swift – 635K albums (Big Machine Records)
Jason Aldean – 310K albums (Broken Bow)
Vampire Weekend – 275K albums (The Beggars Group)
Alabama Shakes – 250K albums (ATO Records)
Queens of the Stone Age – 150K albums (Matador Records)
