Taylor Swift's Evermore records biggest sales week of the year as it returns to No 1 on album chart

Taylor Swift's Evermore album has returned to the top position on the Billboard 200 chart this week, after an 8307% increase in sales. Evermore, which was released in December, only had its vinyl edition issued on May 28, although preorders were available from the moment of the album's release.

In the week ending on June 3, Evermore sold 192 thousand copies, setting the record for the biggest sales week of the year. Billboard credited the rise of Evermore back to No. 1 to a number of factors, including "modern-era record-breaking vinyl LP sales — 102 thousand — Swift-signed CDs and deep discounting on its digital album". The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums in the United States on a weekly basis, combining album sales and streaming.

In this week's chart, Evermore jumped from 74 to 1, marking the biggest jump to the number 1 position since Radiohead's In Rainbows went from 156 to 1. Since then, three albums have also re-entered the chart at no. 1, the most recent of which was Bon Jovi's This House Is Not for Sale on the March 10, 2018 chart, caused by a bundling of concert tickets with the album. Evermore broke the record for the biggest sales week for a vinyl album, having initially sold over 40 thousand copies from May 28 to May 31 to edge out the previous record holder, Jack White's Lazaretto. By the end of the week, Evermore had sold 102 thousand vinyl copies.

The delay of Evermore'''s vinyl release is due to the length of time vinyl records take to produce. As Evermore was only announced a day before its release, it is likely that there was not sufficient time before its release to complete the production of physical editions of the album, including vinyl editions. In other countries where Evermore hit no. 1 upon its December release, it also recieved a boost. On the United Kingdom's Official Albums Chart Top 100, Evermore jumped 70 spots to the no. 4 position. Australia's ARIA Top 50 Albums chart saw Evermore go up nine spots to no. 38. In New Zealand, Evermore'' was one of the fastest rising titles on the Official Top 40 Albums chart, re-entering at no. 30.