Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album continues to be one of the highest-performing albums of 2021 thus far, in any genre, despite the controversy that has surrounded the singer for most of the year.

According to MRC Data’s 2021 Mid-Year Report, Morgan’s album outpaced every other country release so far this year by a wide margin, netting 2,108,000 equivalent album units sold. By comparison, the number-two album was Luke Combs’ What You See Is What You Get, clocking in with 740,000 — less than half of the equivalent album units that Dangerous returned.

Also in the top five country albums from this year so far is Taylor Swift’s Fearless (Taylor’s Version), which earned 560,000 equivalent album units.

Thanks in part to sweepingly successful projects by artists like Morgan and Taylor, MRC Data reports a 13.5% uptick in overall music consumption during the first six months of 2021. Across all genres, music has seen an increase in audio streaming as well as vinyl LP sales growth. 

Other artists who’ve contributed significantly to the rise in consumption include Olivia Rodrigo, the singer-songwriter and actor who blazed into the pop world this year with her massive debut single, “Drivers License.”

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