The Official Top 40 best-selling cassette albums of 2022

Arctic Monkeys, BLACKPINK and 5 Seconds of Summer are among the success stories in another strong year for the revived format
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It was the near-obsolete format once destined to gather dust atop charity shop shelves; but the humble audio cassette's experiencing an unprecedented revival.

According to the end-of-year analysis of Official Charts Company data by music industry body the BPI, sales of cassettes continued to grow in 2022. Up 5.2% year-on-year to a total of 195,000 units, the figure demonstrates the collectible appeal of recorded music on physical formats as a complement to streaming.

2022's best-selling cassette album was Arctic Monkeys' seventh studio album The Car, released in October and shifting in excess of 10,000 cassette sales in less than three months.

Harry Styles' Harry's House - 2022's biggest album overall - came in second. Meanwhile, Florence + The Machine's former Number 1 LP Dance Fever placed at Number 3 on the year-end list.

MORE: The Official Top 40 biggest albums of 2022

It was an incredible year for new 2022 releases, with Muse's chart-topping LP Will Of The People landing at Number 4, Central Cee's first-ever Number 1 album 23 placing at Number 5 and Robbie Williams' record-breaking XXV collection making Number 6.

Other Top 10 highlights include 5 Seconds of Summer's 5SOS5 (7), BLACKPINK's Born Pink (8), The 1975's Being Funny In A Foreign Language (9); all chart-topping records in 2022.

The cassette's growth is thanks, in part, to limited edition fan-targeted formats. Both 5 Seconds of Summer and BLACKPINK's most recent releases, for example, were available with exclusive, individual member-specific artwork and colourways.

MORE: The Official Top 40 biggest songs of 2022

Speaking on the success of physical formats, Drew Hill, MD Proper Music Group/VP Distribution, Utopia Music, said: "It's fantastic to see another year where physical sales are driving albums to the top of the Official Charts.

"With 86% of 2022's Number 1 records boasting a majority in physical sales, in their first week at the top, it continues to prove that music fans from across all ages and genres are continuing to desire their favourite music in a tangible form; as something to be cherished and collected as well as played on repeat."

Official Top 40 best-selling cassettes of 2022

POS TITLE ARTIST 
1 THE CAR ARCTIC MONKEYS
2 HARRY'S HOUSE HARRY STYLES
3 DANCE FEVER FLORENCE & THE MACHINE
4 WILL OF THE PEOPLE MUSE
5 23 CENTRAL CEE
6 XXV ROBBIE WILLIAMS
7 5SOS5 5 SECONDS OF SUMMER
8 BORN PINK BLACKPINK
9 BEING FUNNY IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE 1975
10 MAINSTREAM SELLOUT MACHINE GUN KELLY
11 LOVE SUX AVRIL LAVIGNE
12 THE THEORY OF WHATEVER JAMIE T
13 ALPHA PLACE KNUCKS
14 RIBBON AROUND THE BOMB BLOSSOMS
15 LAST NIGHT IN THE BITTERSWEET PAOLO NUTINI
16 DAWN FM WEEKND
17 YUNGBLUD YUNGBLUD
18 THE OVERLOAD YARD ACT
19 MIDNIGHTS TAYLOR SWIFT
20 PATIENT NUMBER 9 OZZY OSBOURNE
21 THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST IRON MAIDEN
22 CLOSE TO HOME AITCH
23 AMAZING THINGS DON BROCO
24 NEVER LET ME GO PLACEBO
25 FAITH IN THE FUTURE LOUIS TOMLINSON
26 BEATOPIA BEABADOOBEE
27 SONDER DERMOT KENNEDY
28 GIVE ME THE FUTURE BASTILLE
29 MAYBE IN ANOTHER LIFE EASY LIFE
30 WE ARCADE FIRE
31 THERE'S NOTHING BUT SPACE MAN SAM RYDER
32 HOLD THE GIRL RINA SAWAYAMA
33 NIGHT CALL YEARS & YEARS
34 TOGETHER IN VEGAS MICHAEL BALL & ALFIE BOE
35 NOUGHTY BY NATURE DIGGA D
36 FIX YOURSELF NOT THE WORLD WOMBATS
37 THE ALCHEMIST'S EUPHORIA KASABIAN
38 WET LEG WET LEG
39 GOLD RUSH KID GEORGE EZRA
40 LIFE IS YOURS FOALS

© 2023 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.

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