It's been known for a while that some who don't own turntables still buy vinyl as a collectible, just like it's also been known for a while that virtually every active music consumer who DOES own a turntable and/or CD player also uses digital streaming services. To use streaming numbers to prove that "nobody" (or even a majority...or even any) of the people who bought physical copies of Billie Eilish's new album didn't actually listen to them makes an absolutely absurd assumption that listening is a binary and exclusive choice between physical and digital formats. It's pretty obvious that even the most active CD/vinyl listeners are also streaming music consumers (even within the high-end, niche analog audio community), using the service of their choice to listen in the car, on the bus, at the gym, at work...y'know, all of the places listening on your phone or laptop is more convenient and accessible than a record player. The most obvious conclusion here isn't that 100,000 copies of Happier Than Ever will never be played, the most obvious conclusion is that 100,000 Eilish fans—like all physical music consumers—are consuming her music in different formats simultaneously.
It's been known for a while that some who don't own turntables still buy vinyl as a collectible, just like it's also been known for a while that virtually every active music consumer who DOES own a turntable and/or CD player also uses digital streaming services. To use streaming numbers to prove that "nobody" (or even a majority...or even any) of the people who bought physical copies of Billie Eilish's new album didn't actually listen to them makes an absolutely absurd assumption that listening is a binary and exclusive choice between physical and digital formats. It's pretty obvious that even the most active CD/vinyl listeners are also streaming music consumers (even within the high-end, niche analog audio community), using the service of their choice to listen in the car, on the bus, at the gym, at work...y'know, all of the places listening on your phone or laptop is more convenient and accessible than a record player. The most obvious conclusion here isn't that 100,000 copies of Happier Than Ever will never be played, the most obvious conclusion is that 100,000 Eilish fans—like all physical music consumers—are consuming her music in different formats simultaneously.