The pandemic is reframing how we consume music and the space it holds in our lives. We're experiencing a kind of collective trauma. Those of us in quarantine are soundtracking our isolation. (What's a club banger when the club is your living room?) People are losing their jobs and loved ones to COVID-19. The government is continually failing us.
Upon first glance, Amazon's ($AMZN) best-selling CDs and vinyl doesn't necessarily capture our frustration. This selection of Amazon's top best-sellers from September finds Americans coping with COVID-19 through escapism, pop, and nostalgia.
1. Taylor Swift - folklore (2020)
Average Sales Rank: 5
Days Ranked: 17
Taylor Swift's surprise album folklore is in its seventh nonconsecutive week at number 1 on the Billboard 200, unseating Whitney Houston’s long-standing record as the female singer with the most cumulative weeks with a number 1 album on the charts. This marks Swift's 47th week with the most popular album across her entire catalog.
2. Bob Marley and the Wailers - Legend (1984)
Average Sales Rank: 10
Days Ranked: 17
The reggae pioneer's greatest hits compilation is still selling thousands of copies decades after his death.
3. Carrie Underwood - My Gift (2020)
Average Sales Rank: 14
Days Ranked: 17
Christmas is *checks watch* right around the corner? Well, not really, but Christmas album release season is upon us, and Carrie Underwood is getting ahead.
4. The Rolling Stones - Goats Head Soup Deluxe Edition Reissue (2020)
Average Sales Rank: 12
Days Ranked: 16
The Stones originally released Goats Head Soup in 1973, but its 2020 deluxe reissue is drawing in longtime fans and new listeners 47 years later.
5. Hamilton Soundtrack (2015)
Average Sales Rank: 17
Days Ranked: 17
Hamilton, the hit Broadway musical phenomenon, came to Disney Plus over the summer, a boon for the new streaming platform and bored quarantiners alike. The hype still hasn't died down, and Hamilton soundtracks keep selling like hotcakes.
6. The Beatles - Abbey Road Anniversary LP (2019)
Average Sales Rank: 18
Days Ranked: 17
The Beatles released their eleventh album, Abbey Road, back in 1969, and it's still charting over 50 years later. Upon the release of last year's anniversary LP, Abbey Road climbed back to the top 10 on the Billboard 200 for the first time since 1970. A year has passed, and people are still buying.
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