Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl has been named as the biggest-selling global album of 2025 as part of the IFPI’s annual review.

Released in October 2025, Swift’s 12th studio album scored a whopping 6.05 million units across physical, digital and streaming. It’s the second year in a row that Swift has taken the prize following 2024’s The Tortured Poets Department, which topped that year’s count.

The LP hit the No. 1 spot on the IFPI’s Global Album Chart, Global Album Sales Chart and Global Vinyl Album Chart with Swift breaking her own vinyl sales record for the fourth consecutive year.  

Upon release, The Life of a Showgirl spent 12 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, and scored the largest week for an album by equivalent album units earned (4.002 million) in its opening-week debut. Adele’s 25 (2015) previously held the record with 3.482 million units.

Earlier this week it was announced that Swift had topped the Global Artist Chart, while ROSÉ and Bruno Mars hit No. 1 on the Global Songs Chart with “APT.” The IFPI reports sales figures from over 8,000 labels across the globe.

Morgan Wallen’s I’m The Problem came in at No. 2, while the OST to KPop Demon Hunters – which features hit single “Golden” – landed at No. 3. Bad Bunny’s DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS hit No. 4 and Sabrina Carpenter rounded out the top five with Short n’ Sweet. See the full rundown below.

Besides Swift, the Global Album Sales Chart was made up entirely of non-western artists, showing the strength of the physical market in countries such as South Korea, Japan, China and more. K-pop acts Stray Kids (Karma, No. 2), SEVENTEEN (HAPPY BURSTDAY, No. 3) and ENHYPEN (DESIRE: UNLEASH, No. 5) all performed strongly.

Morgan Wallen emerged triumphant on the Global Streaming Album Chart in 2025 with I’m The Problem, followed by Bad Bunny, KPop Demon Hunters, SZA, Sabrina Carpenter, Billie Eilish and Lady Gaga.

Following Swift on the Global Vinyl Sales Chart was Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend (No. 2) and Kendrick Lamar’s GNX (No. 3). Elsewhere catalogue releases from Fleetwood Mac, Michael Jackson, Pink Floyd, The Beatles all land inside the top 20. Radiohead’s 1997 LP OK Computer makes an appearance at No. 15 following the unlikely success of “Let Down” on the Billboard Hot 100 (No. 91).

Top 20 IFPI Global Album Chart 2025 

Position	Artist	Album
1	Taylor Swift	The Life of a Showgirl
2	Morgan Wallen	I’m The Problem
3	K Pop Demon Hunters	K Pop Demon Hunters
4	Bad Bunny	DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS
5	Sabrina Carpenter	Short n’ Sweet
6	Stray Kids	KARMA
7	SZA	SOS
8	Billie Eilish	HIT ME HARD AND SOFT
9	Lady Gaga	MAYHEM
10	Mrs. GREEN APPLE	10
11	Kendrick Lamar	GNX
12	SEVENTEEN	HAPPY BURSTDAY
13	Tate McRae	So Close To What
14	The Weeknd	Hurry Up Tomorrow
15	Sabrina Carpenter	Man’s Best Friend
16	ENHYPEN	DESIRE : UNLEASH
17	Chappell Roan	The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess
18	Gracie Abrams	The Secret of Us
19	ROSÉ	rosie
20	Taylor Swift	THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT

(source: IFPI)

Top 20 IFPI Global Album Sales Chart 2025 

This chart considers sales of physical albums and full album downloads, and is calculated based on the number of units sold. To qualify as an album for charts purposes, a release must contain a minimum of five tracks (exclusive of remixes or alternative versions of the same track).

Position	Artist	Album	Units
1	Taylor Swift	The Life of a Showgirl	6.05m
2	Stray Kids	KARMA	3.49m
3	SEVENTEEN	HAPPY BURSTDAY	2.63m
4	ENHYPEN	DESIRE : UNLEASH	2.13m
5	Snow Man	THE BEST 2020 – 2025	1.67m
6	TOMORROW X TOGETHER	The Star Chapter: TOGETHER	1.62m
7	ZEROBASEONE	NEVER SAY NEVER	1.52m
8	Hua Chen Yu	Liang Bian Lin Jie Dian	1.49m
9	IVE	IVE EMPATHY	1.49m
10	G-Dragon	Übermensch	1.37m
11	NCT WISH	COLOR	1.36m
12	ZEROBASEONE	BLUE PARADISE	1.33m
13	&TEAM	Back to Life	1.30m
14	Snow Man	Onkochishin	1.21m
15	RIIZE	ODYSSEY	1.17m
16	aespa	Rich Man	1.13m
17	NCT WISH	poppop	1.13m
18	BOYNEXTDOOR	No Genre	1.12m
19	Mrs. GREEN APPLE	10	1.11m
20	IVE	IVE SECRET	1.07m

(source: IFPI)

Top 20 IFPI Global Streaming Album Chart 2025  

This chart includes consumption of an album across both free and paid streaming formats, translated into chart units by IFPI according to a rigorous methodology based on the relative economics of each format in each region globally. To qualify as an album for charts purposes, a release must contain a minimum of five tracks (exclusive of remixes or alternative versions of the same track).

Position	Artist	Album
1	Morgan Wallen	I’m The Problem
2	Bad Bunny	DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS
3	K Pop Demon Hunters	K Pop Demon Hunters
4	SZA	SOS
5	Sabrina Carpenter	Short n’ Sweet
6	Billie Eilish	HIT ME HARD AND SOFT
7	Lady Gaga	MAYHEM
8	Taylor Swift	The Life of a Showgirl
9	Tate McRae	So Close To What
10	Kendrick Lamar	GNX
11	Mrs. GREEN APPLE	10
12	The Weeknd	Hurry Up Tomorrow
13	PARTYNEXTDOOR & Drake	$ome $exy $ongs 4 U
14	Taylor Swift	THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT
15	ROSÉ	rosie
16	Gracie Abrams	The Secret of Us
17	Noah Kahan	Stick Season
18	Chappell Roan	The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess
19	Alex Warren	You’ll Be Alright, Kid
20	Sabrina Carpenter	Man’s Best Friend

(source: IFPI)

Top 20 IFPI Global Vinyl Album Chart 2025

This chart considers sales of vinyl albums only, and is calculated based on the number of units sold. To qualify as an album for charts purposes, a release must contain a minimum of five tracks (exclusive of remixes or alternative versions of the same track). 

Position	Artist	Album	Units
1	Taylor Swift	The Life of a Showgirl	2,336k
2	Sabrina Carpenter	Man’s Best Friend	539k
3	Kendrick Lamar	GNX	504k
4	Sabrina Carpenter	Short n’ Sweet	441k
5	Billie Eilish	HIT ME HARD AND SOFT	428k
6	Lady Gaga	MAYHEM	367k
7	The Weeknd	Hurry Up Tomorrow	319k
8	Tyler, The Creator	IGOR	296k
9	Fleetwood Mac	Rumours	296k
10	Michael Jackson	Thriller	277k
11	Pink Floyd	The Dark Side of The Moon	223k
12	Taylor Swift	Lover – Live From Paris	220k
13	The Beatles	Abbey Road	218k
14	Chappell Roan	The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess	197k
15	Radiohead	OK Computer	193k
16	Wicked Movie Cast	Wicked: For Good – The Soundtrack	190k
17	Nirvana	Nevermind	188k
18	Morgan Wallen	I’m The Problem	187k
19	KPop Demon Hunters	K Pop Demon Hunters	185k
20	Queen	Greatest Hits	184k

(source: IFPI)

Billboard’s Friday Music Guide serves as a handy guide to this Friday’s most essential releases — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond. 

This week, Megan Moroney has her fans on Cloud Nine, Baby Keem looks to avoid the sophomore slump, Hilary Duff is feeling Luck-y, and SZA is back to “Save the Day” with a new soundtrack single… Check out all of this week’s picks below.

Megan Moroney, Cloud Nine

Few country albums this year will be as highly anticipated as Megan Moroney‘s junior full-length, arriving two years after sophomore set Am I Okay? brought her to the top 10 of the Billboard 200 for the first time. Fans already know “6 Months Later,” “Beautiful Things” and “Wish I Didn’t” — all already Billboard Hot 100 hits — but new tracks like “Medicine” and “Stupid” further reinforce Moroney as the sharpest lyricist and keenest tunesmith about the delights and horrors (mostly the latter) of dating this side of Sabrina Carpenter. Meanwhile, “I Only Miss You” welcomes her first big cross-genre guest in duet partner Ed Sheeran, and “Liars & Tigers & Bears” immediately enters the canon of industry songs by bemoaning its impossible standards for female stars.

Baby Keem, Ca$ino

After nearly a half-decade’s wait for the follow-up to 2021 debut The Melodic Blue, Baby Keem announced earlier this February that he would be returning in just a week and a half with new album Ca$ino. The 11-track set arrives today with the rapper’s usual kinetic energy, with a tendency to switch up flows and beats mid-song, and also the ability to get heavier on songs like “I Am Not a Lyricist” and “Highway 95 Pt. 2.” Of course, cousin Kendrick is present, quoting Common’s “The Light” on “Good Flirts,” but the far more surprising West Coast rap legend on the guest list is Too $hort, who lends his inimitable swag to “$ex Appeal.”

Hilary Duff, Luck… or Something

Hilary Duff‘s incredibly successful 2020s comeback — which already includes one of the best singles of 2025 with “Mature,” and a recently announced tour visiting some of the biggest venues she’s ever played — continues with Luck… or Something, one of the most accomplished-sounding pop releases of the early year. Duff’s confidence and self-assurance as a now-seasoned performer is evident in everything on the album, from the vocals to the lyrics and even the sonics, with help in the latter two departments from writer/producer husband Matthew Koma and studio vet Brian Phillips. It’s a triumph, and one of the best pop stories of the past year.

SZA, “Save the Day”

SZA‘s first new solo music following the summation of her SOS/Lana era and her Grand National co-headlining tour with Kendrick Lamar is… a Pixar soundtrack single? Why not! To be fair, you probably wouldn’t guess from “Save the Day” that the song was recorded for the end credits of Hoppers, a robo-beaver odyssey due in theaters in March — the song is an impressively delicate and emotional ballad, with built around elegant piano from Ben Lovett of Mumford and Sons and a vulnerable lyric from Solána. It’ll tide fans over while they’re waiting for a new album and/or One of Them Days 2.

Ty Dolla $ign feat. Leon Thomas, “Miss U 2”

While Leon Thomas usually drifts to the more traditional R&B side of things, he’s cable of playing in a more hip-hop lane too — particularly when mentor and label head Ty Dolla $ign is involved. Coming off a recent Hot 100 hit in “Don’t Kill the Party” with Quavo and Juicy J, Ty Dolla is back with new single “Miss U 2,” as he trades verses with his Grammy-winning protégé, and sings a little Aaron Hall — who, between this song and Drake’s “Gimme a Hug,” is having a pretty incredible mid-2020s run with his signature solo hit “I Miss You” unexpectedly popping up in big releases.

Thundercat & Mac Miller, “She Knows Too Much”

Thundercat and Mac Miller seems like such an obvious musician-rapper combo to have brought out the best with one another that it’s sad to think that they only got to work together a few times during the latter’s lifetime. Driving that home is the new single from Thundercat’s upcoming Distracted album, which features the rapper delivering a frisky lyric about a girl who he’s trying to get with but likely to come up empty, sounding like he’s having too much fun to be down about his missed shot. And once it gets to the closing electric piano solo over the crisp groove and piercing horns, you’ll be too busy boogieing to be sad about what could have been too.

The love doctor is in. As Billboard can exclusively announce Friday (Feb. 20), Bruno Mars will build up to the release of his upcoming album, The Romantic, by partnering with iHeartMedia and TikTok to launch a one-time radio program featuring the funk-pop superstar as advisor and disc jockey.

Airing at 9 a.m. ET on Feb. 26, “Romantic Radio With Bruno Mars: An iHeartRadio Album Preview” will find Mars premiering tracks from his new LP and weighing in on love stories — and mishaps — sent in by listeners via iHeart’s Talkback feature on Love Songs Radio or live chat. The Grammy winner may respond with a personalized dedication before playing a song or give advice.

Fans can tune in on Mars’ official TikTok page as well as iHeartRadio’s and TikTok’s profiles on the app. It will also be available on iHeartRadio stations nationwide.

In a statement on the broadcast, Mars said simply, “Next week marks the start of a new year … The Year of The Romantic.”

The Romantic will drop one day after the radio program, marking Mars’ first solo LP since 2016’s 24K Magic, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. The new project’s lead single, “I Just Might” — which the Silk Sonic star performed at the 2026 Grammys earlier in February — dropped Jan. 9 and spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking the singer’s 10th single to top the chart.

Also at the Grammys, Mars performed his Billboard Global 200-topping collaboration with ROSÉ “APT.” In April, he’ll embark on a sprawling stadium tour with support from Anderson .Paak, RAYE, Victoria Monét and Leon Thomas.

Underneath the wings of a luxury Concorde aeroplane, Tom Grennan is belting out his brand of soulful pop to a room of major industry players, politicians and Bristol locals. Signs around a tastefully done-up aircraft hangar tell the English city to get ready for “supersonic” new live arena. How’s that for an opening statement?

On Thursday (Feb. 19), the naming rights to an incoming 20,000-capacity music venue were announced in bombastic fashion. The Aviva Arena, slated to open in 2028, will shake up the U.K.’s music scene after a decades-long wait for live music fans in the southwest of England.

First mooted in 2003, plans for Bristol’s new music venue have had to weather some turbulence. A site in the city centre was initially identified, though these plans were scrapped when the project was considered no longer financially viable. 

In 2019, plans moved to a site in the north of the city: Filton Airfield. Featuring several huge hangars, it was here that the Concorde jet, a luxury commercial airliner that first flew in the 1970s, was built. Considered a feat of British engineering, the jet drastically cut transatlantic travel time and could break the supersonic barrier. They were ultimately discontinued in 2003 due to rising costs and dipping demand.

The Aviva Arena will lean into its heritage and repurpose the existing site, including three huge aircraft hangars which make up one of Europe’s largest free-standing structures. The new venue will be configurable from 4,000 all the way up to its 20,000 maximum and fill a black spot on the U.K. touring map. Global touring acts traditionally skip Bristol due to a lack of large scale venues, with tours opting instead for Birmingham or London. Conversations with a number of large artists to play the venue once it opens are underway.

Handled by YTL Live, the construction will bring a £1bn boost to the local economy and thousands of jobs. A new train station will be built to serve the venue and the surrounding community; 6,500 homes will be built on the entire site, with the music, exhibition and conference space at the heart of it. The government’s chancellor Rachel Reeves hailed the plans and said it would “put the region firmly on the global map for live entertainment.”

Following Grennan’s set, YTL Live chief executive Andrew Billingham and Miles Leonard, an appointee on YTL Live’s advisory board and chairman of Parlophone & Warner Brothers Records U.K. sat down with Billboard U.K. to discuss the new space, competition in the live space and their goal of hosting the BRIT Awards.

What will set Aviva Arena apart from other arenas?

Andrew: There’s a couple of things. It’s the flexibility and scale. We can flex from 4,000 right up to 20,000 that puts us in the top three of UK arena capacities [behind Manchester’s Co-op Live and London’s O2 Arena]. There’s also the location – the west of England reaches 16 million people and that’s about 20% of the UK population that’s starved of a great venue. The final point for us is the experience and that it’s in this location with so much history. We want to make sure the experience is amazing for fans, both in terms of its acoustics and in terms of its food and drink offering, and hospitality, but also for artists as well.

Miles: It’s about the whole development, and with the two areas either side to provide different offerings [conferences and exhibitions]. What we’re doing for the artists also sets us apart, we recognize that we need to develop the backstage areas for them and have a positive experience for them. We want artists coming back. Most arenas are quite dead behind the stage, so we want to make sure the experience is as good for the artists as it is for the fans.

Did you feel like the live music industry in the U.K. was crying out for a venue like this?

Andrew: Absolutely, it’s proven that it’s a supply-led market. Co-op Live opened a couple of years ago [2024] to add another big venue in the Manchester market, and has gone on to achieve some great numbers and success. The west of England in comparison, hasn’t had the opportunity to compete.

Miles: Bristol is so rich in culture with its art, music and sport scenes… we’re not competing with the other major cities in the country, and haven’t done so for a long time on this scale. The music industry is definitely crying out for it, but also so are the people of Bristol and the whole southwest of England. If you live in Devon, Cornwall, Wiltshire and you want to go and see an artist on a global, international scale, you have to go up to The O2 in London or to Birmingham and that’s quite some distance. 

Andrew: We’ve had quite a bit of input from the industry too, particularly in the artist facilities. We had feedback on the dressing rooms, artist lounges, production offices, crew dining, all the way through to the back of house where we can fit 60 lorries. We can turn shows over quite quickly.

Miles: They can’t believe the space and the facilities that we have. We have to future-proof the arena, not just for now but for the next 20 years.

Were there any other arenas, not just in the U.K., that you looked at and took inspiration from

Andrew: Definitely. The Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, for example. It’s built around basketball, but very tech-led. We’re going to have a lot of tap and go concession stands to speed up concession services, and the Intuit Dome was certainly one that was on top of this. Also what the team has done at the Co-op Live is incredible. The acoustics that they have delivered is amazing.

Miles: It’s an era for live music of this scale right now. So to have the Aviva Arena future-proofed with leading audio and tech and making the visual immersive side state of the art, as well as all the food and beverage outside is really important.

The arena experience has changed so much compared to something like The O2 in London which was built in a different era of live music. You have a fresh slate here…

Andrew: It’s a really good point, because for fans, their experience has changed, hasn’t it? The O2, for example, was built around the corporate customer [the venue opened in 2007]. We’re not. We’re built around giving flexibility in terms of experiences for fans of every genre and of every age, and that’s really important. We’ve made sure that the building is flexible enough that we can change with the times.

There’s also an arena being built in Cardiff which is less than an hour drive from here. How do you see that competing with what you’re doing here?

Andrew: I think it’s healthy competition. We know that it’s a supply-led industry. You’ve got an arena in Liverpool [M&S Bank Arena] and that’s the same distance to Manchester which has now got two arenas. Then you go over to Leeds, the same distance from Manchester in the other direction, which has its own arena [First Direct Arena]. The west of England has been starved of venues in comparison. But Cardiff, which is in the southwest of Wales, is a different market and I would like to hope that we’ve got two great markets where and arenas artists want to play both.

How will the venue interact with the grassroots scene? There’s talk of the mandatory ticket levy….

Andrew: We’ve been really clear that this is about supporting grassroots music. Whether it’s through a levy, or whether it’s through supporting artists in terms of building their fan bases and their audiences. We’ve got lots of things to come in the future, but we are absolutely committed to supporting the grassroots. 

Miles: We don’t want to sit apart from that, and we recognize the need for those venues to develop artists, because it’s that journey that brings them here in the arena. You don’t start in the arena, you’ve got to start in those small venues. We want to look at all the ways that we can work together and support each other. That also goes beyond just the artists, but also the people that are working within those venues on the lighting, the sound desk, on the door, promoting, whoever that is. You need to think of the live industry as a whole and not just the artists. It’s very much in our sights to be supporting the industry at all levels.

We’ve seen a lot of music ceremonies move out of London in recent years. Next week, the BRITs will take place at Manchester’s Co-op Live. Is that something you would like to host here at some point? 

Andrew: Yes, 100% We want to showcase Bristol and the west of England, and that’s absolutely a conversation that we will want to have.