13 October 2023

Music fans have enjoyed a storming start to 2023 so far. We’ve had huge pop releases from Raye, Lewis Capaldi and Lana Del Rey, future indie classics from Paramore, Lankum and Phoebe Bridgers-fronted supergroup Boygenius, plus storming hip hop from Lil Yachty, Killer Mike and JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown.

But which made the Official Charts Company’s list of the best-selling albums of 2023 so far? As ever, it’s an intriguing mix of this year’s releases, albums that have been on heavy rotation since 2017 and heritage greatest hits collections.

To discover which ‘23 albums are currently rubbing shoulders with the likes of Oasis’ Time Flies 1994-2009, Harry Styles’ Harry House and most of Taylor Swift’s back catalogue, just keep reading. Plus, we round up the latest releases we expect to hit the top 25 in the end of the year chart, as well as the big albums still to come in 2023.

Best-Selling Albums of 2023 So Far

• The Weeknd – The Highlights
• Taylor Swift – Midnights
• Harry Styles – Harry’s House
• SZA – SOS
• Elton John – Diamonds
• Lewis Capaldi – Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent
• Eminem – Curtain Call: The Hits
• Ed Sheeran – – (Minus)
• Fleetwood Mac – 50 Years: Don’t Stop
• Lewis Capaldi – Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent
• Arctic Monkeys – AM
• Ed Sheeran – = (Equals)
• ABBA – Gold: Greatest Hits
• Pink – Trustfall
• Oasis – Time Flies: 1994-2009
• Taylor Swift – 1989
• Queen – Greatest Hits
• Ed Sheeran – Divide (÷)
• Taylor Swift – Lover
• Olivia Rodrigo – Sour
• Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
• Harry Styles – Fine Line
• Taylor Swift – Folklore
• Little Mix – Between Us
• Beyoncé – Renaissance

Top Albums of 2023 So Far

The Weeknd – The Highlights

• Release date: 5th February 2021
• Label: XO, Republic
• Standout tracks: ‘Blinding Lights’, ‘Wicked Games’, ‘The Hills’, ‘I Feel It Coming’
• Relevant Audio Network Playlist: Alt R&B

Having ranked at number four in 2022’s year-long chart, Abel Tesfaye’s greatest hits has climbed the rankings to number one. The boost in sales can be explained by the fact his After Hours Til Dawn tour has finally reached Europe, and by the fact the Canadian singer recently took a starring role in HBO’s music industry satire The Idol.

Taylor Swift – Midnights

• Release date: 21th October 2022
• Label: Republic Records
• Standout tracks: ‘Anti-Hero’, ‘Lavender Haze’, ‘Bejeweled’
• Relevant Audio Network Playlist: Pop

From her rumoured relationship with The 1975’s Matty Healy to the launch of her phenomenally successful Eras World Tour, Taylor Swift has barely been out of the headlines in 2023. As a result, her 10th album has received a big sales boost, climbing to number two in the best-selling albums of 2023 so far. And as the sales records keep coming, you can expect Swift to be placing prominently in the official end of year charts.

Read about the best female artists of all-time over on The Edit.

Harry Styles – Harry’s House

• Release date: 20th May 2022
• Label: Columbia Records
• Standout tracks: ‘As it Was’, ‘Satellite’, ‘Music For A Sushi Restaurant’
• Relevant Audio Network Playlist: Pop

There’s simply no stopping Harry Styles’ third album, Harry’s House. Having shifted a staggering 460,000 UK chart units throughout 2022, in 2023 it won Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album at the 65th Grammy Awards, as well as British Album of the Year at 43rd Brit Awards. Combine these big critical wins with the ongoing success of Styles’ Love On Tour stadium shows, and you can see why Holmes Chapel’s biggest export is still dominating the charts.

SZA – SOS

• Release date: 9th December 2022
• Label: Top Dawg Entertainment, RCA Records
• Standout tracks: ‘Nobody Gets Me’, ‘Kill Bill’, ‘I Hate U’
• Relevant Audio Network Playlist: R&B

SZA might have released her second album too late to be considered for any of the annual Best Of lists, but she’s truly dominated the charts for the last six months, making history on the Billboard Hot 100 as the longest running female owned number one album this decade. SOS remains a masterclass from the New Jersey-raised R&B singer, and features the huge singles ‘Kill Bill’, ‘Nobody Gets Me’ and ‘Good Days’, plus cameos from Travis Scott, Don Toliver and Phoebe Bridgers.

Elton John – Diamonds

• Release date: 10th November 2017
• Label: Rocket, Virgin EMI
• Standout tracks: ‘Your Song’, ‘Rocket Man’, ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’, ‘Tiny Dancer’
• Relevant Audio Network Playlist: Glam Rock

Climbing two places from 2022, Elton John’s greatest hits compilation has made it into the top five best-selling albums of 2023 so far. June’s triumphant Glastonbury performance doubtless gave sales a boost, seeing Watford’s finest winding up his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour with a little help from rising stars Rina Sawayama, Stephen Sanchez and Gabriels’ Jacob Lusk.

Lewis Capaldi – Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent

• Release date: 19th May 2023
• Label: Capitol, Vertigo
• Standout tracks: ‘Forget You’, ‘Wish You The Best’, ‘Pointless’
• Relevant Audio Network Playlist: Pop

It’s been a rollercoaster of a year so far for Lewis Capaldi. Fresh from releasing his smash Netflix documentary How I’m Feeling Now, the Scottish singer-songwriter scored a huge hit with his sophomore effort Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent. According to the Official Charts, it was “the biggest opening week of his career and the biggest first week for an album of 2023 so far, netting over 95,000 chart units in its first seven days of release.”

Having had to curtail his recent Glastonbury performance, Capaldi has now taken an indefinite break from touring to “adjust to the impact” of living with Tourette syndrome. To borrow his own turn of phrase, we wish him all the best.

Eminem – Curtain Call: The Hits

• Released date: 6th December 2005
• Label: Shady, Aftermath, Interscope
• Standout tracks: ‘My Name Is’, ‘Lose Yourself’, ‘Stan’
• Relevant Audio Network Playlist: US Hip Hop

There’s simply no stopping Slim Shady. Since 2005, the Detroit rapper’s ‘05 greatest hits album Curtain Call: The Hits has been a consistent seller. After going 8x platinum in the US in 2021, and a triumphant live performance during 2022’s Super Bowl Half-Time Show, Eminem climbed the UK chart rankings in 2023 to number seven.

Read about the best-selling hip hop albums of all-time over on The Edit.

Ed Sheeran – – (Minus)

• Released date: 5th May 2023
• Label: Asylum, Atlantic
• Standout tracks: ‘Eyes Closed’, ‘Curtains’, ‘End Of Youth’
• Relevant Audio Network Playlist: Acoustic Pop

Another new Ed Sheeran album can only mean one thing: another shot at chart domination. Concluding his mathematical series, the largely acoustic – (Minus) features production from EDM wunderkind Fred Again, Aaron Dessner of The National and bulletproof pop purveyor Max Martin. We expect to see this one riding even higher in the charts come the close of 2023.

Fleetwood Mac – 50 Years: Don’t Stop

• Release date: 16th November 2018
• Label: Rhino
• Standout tracks: ‘Go Your Own Way’, ‘Landslide’, ‘The Chain’, ‘Dreams’
• Relevant Audio Network Playlist: Pop Rock

Fleetwood Mac’s 2018 compilation album entitled 50 Years: Don’t Stop is yet to take its own advice and stop selling. Clearly, none of us can resist the appeal of listening to the rock band's hits back-to-back, and when a track like ‘Go Your Own Way’ still sounds this fresh, it’s little wonder.

Lewis Capaldi – Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent

• Release date: 17th May 2019
• Label: Vertigo, Universal, Capitol
• Standout tracks: ‘Someone You Loved’, ‘Hold Me While You Wait’, ‘Bruises’
• Relevant Audio Network playlist: Pop

Thanks to the recent release of his second album, Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent, Lewis Capaldi’s debut has received a big sales boost. There’s clearly some serious reverse psychology going on in its playfully self-deprecating title.

Arctic Monkeys – AM

• Release date: 9th September 2013
• Label: Domino
• Standout Tracks: ‘Do I Wanna Know?’, ‘R U Mine?, ‘Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?’
• Relevant Audio Network Playlist: Indie

Another Glastonbury headliner receiving a major sales boost, Arctic Monkeys have seen their classic 2013 album climb back up the charts to number 11. Considering how fresh the likes of ‘Do I Wanna Know?’ and ‘R U Mine?’ still sound almost a decade on, it’s little wonder.

Ed Sheeran – = (Equals)

• Release date: 29th October 2021
• Label: Asylum, Atlantic
• Standout tracks: ‘Bad Habits’, ‘Overpass Graffiti’, ‘The Joker and the Queen’
• Relevant Audio Network Playlist: Acoustic Pop

The second of three Ed Sheeran albums to make the top 25 best-selling albums of 2023 so far, = (Equals) actually came second in last year’s list.

ABBA – Gold: Greatest Hits

• Release date: 21st September 1992
• Label: Polygram
• Standout tracks: ‘Dancing Queen’, ‘The Winner Takes it All’, ‘Mamma Mia’, ‘Waterloo’
• Relevant Audio Network Playlist: Pop

With sales of over 30 million, Gold is one of the world’s best-selling albums of all time.

It’s been re-released a number of times over the decades: in 1999 to mark the group’s 25th anniversary of winning the Eurovision Song Contest with ‘Waterloo’, in 2008 to coincide with the release of Mamma Mia! and in 2014 for the 40th anniversary of the Eurovision win.

A bonafide pop classic, there’s no doubt the compilation got a boost following the opening of ABBA’s immersive live experience in London last year. You can still catch ABBA: Voyage at Pudding Mill Lane’s ABBA Arena.

Pink – Trustfall

• Release date: 17th February 2023
• Label: RCA
• Standout tracks: ‘Never Gonna Not Dance Again’, ‘Trustfall’
• Relevant Audio Network Playlist: Pop

Officially the most downloaded album of 2023 so far, Pink’s ninth studio album Trustfall is only the third new album in this run-down so far. That’s 23 years the Pennsylvania-born pop singer has spent at the top of her game– her debut album Can’t Take Me Home came out way back in 2000.

Oasis – Time Flies: 1994-2009

• Release date: 14th June 2010
• Label: Big Brother Recordings
• Standout tracks: ‘Wonderwall’, ‘Supersonic’, ‘Roll With It’, ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’
• Relevant Audio Network Playlist: Indie-rock

Rock out and take yourself back to the glory days of Knebworth, Oasis vs Blur and the band’s Britpop heyday with this compilation of all 27 of their UK singles.

Taylor Swift – 1989

• Release date: 27^th October 2014
• Label: Big Machine
• Standout tracks: ‘Style’, ‘Shake It Off’, ‘Blank Space’, ‘Welcome to New York’
• Relevant Audio Network Playlist: Pop

Thanks to the previously discussed Eras Tour effect, the second album of Tay-Tay’s to make the top 25 albums of 2023 so far is 1989, AKA the one where the princess of country finally went pop. ‘Shake It Off’ and ‘Blank Space’ were the big hits at the time, but for our money it’s ‘Style’ that really stands out.

Queen – Greatest Hits

• Release date: 26th October 1981
• Label: EMI
• Standout tracks: ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, ‘Somebody to Love’, ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’, ‘We Are the Champions’
• Relevant Audio Network Playlist: Classic Rock

Over 40 years on from its release, Queen’s Greatest Hits is still one of the UK’s best-selling albums. Currently at 25 million+ copies sold, we wonder how long Queen’s record-breaking success will go on.

Ed Sheeran – ÷ (Divide)

• Release date: 3rd March 2017
• Label: Asylum, Atlantic
• Standout tracks: ‘Shape of You’, ‘Galway Girl’, ‘Dive’, ‘Perfect’
• Relevant Audio Network Playlist: Acoustic Pop

The final Ed Sheeran album to make the top 25 of 2023 so far, ÷ (Divide) features wedding favourite ‘Perfect’ and the all-conquering ‘Shape Of You’. Though it’s worth noting that ‘Shape Of You’ was recently overtaken by The Weeknd’s ‘Blinding Lights’ as Spotify’s most-streamed song of all-time.

Taylor Swift – Lover

• Release date: 23rd August 2019
• Label: Republic
• Standout tracks: ‘Cruel Summer’, ‘Lover’, ‘Soon You’ll Get Better’
• Relevant Audio Network Playlist: Pop

Hot on the heels of 1989, Taylor Swift’s 2019 album Lover has enjoyed a boost this year, climbing to number 19 in the best-selling albums of 2023 so far. Why not remind yourself of the big hits like ‘ME!’

Olivia Rodrigo – Sour

• Release date: 21st May 2021
• Label: Geffen
• Standout tracks: ‘drivers licence’, ‘brutal’, ‘good 4 u’, ‘jealousy jealousy’
• Relevant Audio Network Playlist: Alt-Pop

If there’s one return we’re excited for in 2023, it’s that of former Disney star Olivia Rodrigo. Set to share her second album this September, fans have clearly been getting prepped by revisiting her Grammy-winning debut.

Fleetwood Mac – Rumours

• Release date: 4th February 1977
• Label: Warner Records
• Standout tracks: ‘Go Your Own Way’, ‘The Chain’, ‘Dreams’
• Relevant Audio Network playlist: Pop Rock

Continuing to dominate in 2023, it’s Fleetwood Mac’s seminal 1977 album Rumours – their second entry after aforementioned greatest hits compilation, 50 Years: Don’t Stop.

A bona fide classic, it’s already been certified 15 x platinum in the UK.

Harry Styles – Fine Line

• Release date: 13th December 2019
• Label: Columbia Records
• Standout tracks: ’Watermelon Sugar’, ‘Golden’, ‘Treat People with Kindness’, ‘Falling’
• Relevant Audio Network Playlist: Pop

Mr Styles’ second entry on the list has everything you could want: pop-rock, psychedelic pop, folk, soul, funk and indie pop. It debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and has been certified triple platinum in the US and double platinum in the UK.

It was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2020 Brit Awards and received a Grammy Award for Best Pop Solo Performance, together with a Brit Award for British Single of the Year for ‘Watermelon Sugar’.

Taylor Swift – Folklore

• Release date: 24th July 2020
• Label: Republic
• Standout tracks: ‘Cardigan’, ‘Betty’, ‘August’
• Relevant Audio Network playlist: Indie-folk

The highlight of lockdown for many, Taylor Swift’s surprise eighth album saw her making her first real foray into indie-folk with a little bit of help from Aaron Dessner of The National. Three years on, Folklore’s still riding high in the charts.

Little Mix – Between Us

• Release date: 12th November 2021
• Label: RCA
• Standout tracks: ‘Move’, ‘Sweet Melody’, ‘Touch’
• Relevant Audio Network Playlist: Pop

Despite having now been hiatus for over a year, Perrie, Jade and Leigh-Anne are still on top of the world, with their 2021 greatest hits record, Between Us. The likes of ‘Move’ and ‘Sweet Melody’ haven’t aged a day.

Beyoncé – Renaissance

• Release date: 29th July 2022
• Label: Parkwood, Columbia
• Standout tracks: ‘America Has a Problem’, ‘Cuff It’, ‘Cozy’
• Relevant Audio Network Playlist: Dance-Pop

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re probably aware that Bey brought The Renaissance World Tour to Europe this year (reportedly raking in $154 million in the process). And all those sparkly Stetson-ed superfans have helped catapult Renaissance back up the charts.

Contenders for the Top 25

Olivia Rodrigo – Guts

• Release date: 8th September 2023
• Label: Geffen
• Standout tracks: ‘Get Him Back!’, ‘Bad Idea Right?’, ‘Love Is Embarassing’
• Relevant Audio Network playlist: Alt-Pop

Olivia Rodrigo was arguably the breakthrough artist of 2021, thanks to her stunning, Grammy-winning debut Sour. Two years on, the Californian singer-songwriter returned this September with her feverishly anticipated follow-up, Guts.

From the beautifully barbed piano-pop of lead single ‘Vampire’ to the attitude-packed pop-rock of ‘Bad Idea Right?’ and ‘Love Is Embarrassing’, it was immediately clear that Sour was no fluke. And audiences agreed too, propelling Guts to number one on both sides of the Atlantic.

Kylie Minogue – Tension

• Released date: 22nd September 2023
• Label: BMG
• Standout tracks: ‘Padam Padam’,
• Relevant Audio Network playlist: Dance-pop

Two words for you: ‘Padam Padam’. Yes, the Princess of Pop scored her highest UK chart position in more than 10 years with the lead single from her upcoming 16^th studio album Tension. The good news is, the rest of the album more than reaches the giddy heights of that sex-positive electro-pop banger, and was hailed by Pitchfork as Kylie’s “most relaxed album in years.” It went straight to number one in the UK in its first week with 53,000 chart sales (including market-leading vinyl sales), outselling the rest of the top 5 combined.

Albums We’re Excited for in 2023

Holly Humberstone – Paint My Bedroom Black – 13th October

Following in the footsteps of Adele, Florence + the Machine and Sam Smith, Holly Humberstone won the BRITs Rising Star Award in 2022 and has gone on to tour with Olivia Rodrigo and collaborate with Sam Fender and Bombay Bicycle Club.

In mid-October, the Grantham-born singer-songwriter is set to release her hugely anticipated debut, Paint My Bedroom Black. According to Rolling Stone, “[the album] builds on the diaristic storytelling from her first couple of EPs and expands her emotional range.” Get a taster with lead single ‘Antichrist’.

The Rolling Stones – Hackney Diamonds – 20th October

After an enjoyably cryptic teaser campaign, in September Mick, Keith and Ronnie announced their first studio album of original material since 2005’s A Bigger Bang. Hackney Diamonds is also the band's first LP since the death of drummer Charlie Watts in 2021, though he does feature on a few of the tracks.

So what can we expect musically? Well, with cameos from Elton John, Lady Gaga, Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder and Bill Wyman, it’s set to be an impressively star-studded affair. Plus lead single ‘Angry’ suggests the septuagenarians have lost none of their bite. Indeed, the Guardian hailed it a “strutting, barnstorming return.”

Dua Lipa – TBC

Though there’s no confirmed release date as yet, the follow-up to the phenomenally successful Future Nostalgia could drop later this year. Album number three has been in the works for a while and is reportedly “really personal”. We also know it features contributions from Caroline Polachek-producer Danny Harle. In the meantime, you can check out Dua’s Barbie soundtrack contribution below:

The Edit

Now that you’re up to speed on 2023’s biggest albums so far and got prepped what’s to come, it’s time to pick up some more inspiration on our blog The Edit. We’ve got an exhaustive range of articles taking in everything from the history of Japanese music and the different types of Latin genres and Brazilian music to explainers on BPM, electronic music genres, orchestral music, rock, hip hop and indie.

Once you’re fully versed in the records that have made it big this year, last year and in 2021, it’s time to start exploring our playlists and collections including Music Made For Sync, new releases and commercial releases. Use these to discover music for your next project.