Only One Soundtrack Album Has Hit No. 1 in the 2020s—a Historic Low: Here’s a 7-Decade Recap

KPop Demon Hunters is Trying to Make It Two.

(July 28, 2025).  Nearly six years into the 2020s, only one soundtrack album has reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 — marking the lowest total at this point in any decade since the album chart’s inception as a weekly tally nearly 70 years ago (March 1956).

By this point (first chart week in August) during each of the past six decades (1960s through 2010s, inclusive), there were at least three — and sometimes as many as eleven — soundtrack albums (including movie scores, original cast recordings, and TV show compilations) that had topped the Billboard 200.  But in the 2020s, only one has done so: the album for the animated film Encanto, which spent nine nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 in early 2022.  Since then, only three have even come close (keep reading to see which ones), but so far, no cigar when it comes to movie magic occurring at the top of the album charts.

So what gives?  Why has there been such a dramatic drop in the number of soundtrack albums topping the U.S. charts?  Well, anyone’s guess would be as good as mine.  Readers’ first inclination might be to blame streaming — an easy culprit these days — and the differences in how music is consumed compared to decades earlier.  A collection of songs representing a single movie — especially a soundtrack with no superstar acts behind it — will rarely generate the kind of Spotify or Apple Music clicks that new albums from superstars like Taylor Swift, Drake, Morgan Wallen and others will.  

But that can’t be the sole reason.  After all, streaming has been factored into the charts since 2013 — and the 2010s still saw more No. 1 soundtracks than any other decade, with 18 total (10 of them by this point in 2015; see table below).

Another guess would be that music hasn’t been as central to motion pictures in the current decade as they were previously.  In prior times, soundtracks and cast productions were tied to movies like Hamilton, Pitch Perfect, A Star Is Born, and the TV shows Empire and Glee, the latter of which accounted for three No. 1 soundtracks in 2010 alone.  Even Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy movie had a musical tie-in with old-school mixtapes being central to the main character’s storyline, which shot that soundtrack straight to No. 1.

And, of course, people of a certain age will recall musically-centered blockbusters like Grease, Saturday Night Fever, The Bodyguard, Dirty Dancing, Footloose, Mamma Mia, and Purple Rain — all of whose soundtracks reached No. 1.

But another plausible reason for the current downturn could be the struggling box office in general.  In a decade that kicked off with a global pandemic, the motion picture industry took a hard hit, and it still hasn’t returned to pre-Covid box office numbers.

Whatever the cause, the soundtrack scene this decade has been muted.  Beyond Encanto, just three albums have peaked at No. 2: Barbie (2023), Wicked (2024), and KPop Demon Hunters (2025).  That last entry — for another animated film — is gaining traction, with multiple tracks quickly climbing the singles charts — but stiff competition from major releases by Travis Scott, Tyler, the Creator, and Morgan Wallen has kept the album from claiming the top spot… at least so far.

The below table shows how this decade compares to previous ones, followed by a listing of every No. 1 soundtrack album since 1960.  Each of the past six decades ultimately saw double-digit No. 1 soundtrack albums, while we have yet to see a second one in the ‘20s.

Here is the No. 1 soundtrack count for each decade (along with the final total for completed decades):

For real trivia enthusiasts, below is a listing— by decade — of every soundtrack and cast recording that reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 or its predecessor charts, since 1960.  

1960s (17): The Sound of Music (Original Cast recording, 1960); G.I. Blues (1960); Exodus (1961); Camelot (Broadway cast; 1961); Carnival (Broadway cast; 1961); Blue Hawaii (1961); West Side Story (1962); Hello Dolly! (Original Cast; 1964); A Hard Day’s Night (1964); Roustabout (1965); Mary Poppins (1965); Help (1965); The Sound of Music (soundtrack, 1965); Doctor Zhivago (1966); Magical Mystery Tour (1968); The Graduate (1968); Hair (original cast, 1969)

1970s (10): Woodstock (1970); Jesus Christ Superstar (1971); Shaft (1971); Super Fly (1972); Lady Sings the Blues (1973); The Sting (1974); That’s the Way of the World (1975); A Star Is Born (1977); Saturday Night Fever (1978); Grease (1978)

1980s (11): Chariots of Fire (1982); Flashdance (1983); Footloose (1984); Purple Rain (1984); Beverly Hills Cop (1985); Miami Vice (1985); Top Gun (1986); La Bamba (1987); Dirty Dancing (1987); Rattle and Hum (1988); Batman (1989)

1990s (16): Wayne’s World (1992); The Bodyguard (1992-93); Sleepless in Seattle (1993); The Crow (1993); The Lion King (1994); Murder Was the Case (1994); Friday (1995); Pocahontas (1995); Dangerous Minds (1995); Waiting to Exhale (1996); Gridlock’d (1997); Howard Stern Private Parts (1997); Men in Black (1997); Titanic (1998); City of Angels (1998); Armageddon (1998)

2000s (14): O Brother, Where Art Thou (2002); 8 Mile (2002); Bad Boys 2 (2003); Curious George (2006); High School Musical (2006); Hannah Montana (2006); Dreamgirls (2007); Hannah Montana 2 (2007); High School Musical 2 (2007); Juno (2008); Mamma Mia (2008); Twilight (2008); Hannah Montana – the Movie (2009); New Moon (2009)

2010s (18): Glee Cast (3 in 2010); The Hunger Games (2012); Les Misérables (2013); Frozen (2014); Guardians of the Galaxy (2014); Empire – Season 1 (2015); Furious 7 (2015); Pitch Perfect (2015); Descendants (2015); Suicide Squad (2016); Hamilton Mixtape (2016); Fifty Shades Darker (2017); Greatest Showman (2018); Black Panther (2018); A Star is Born (2018); Frozen II (2019)

2020s (1 to date): Encanto (2022)

While the 2020s still have time to recover, the trend so far suggests a diminished role for the soundtrack in the album chart hierarchy — a sharp contrast to past decades when movie and TV tie-ins dominated pop culture.  Whether it’s due to shifting music consumption habits, a weakened film industry, or the lack of a unifying musical phenomenon à la Frozen or The Bodyguard, one thing is clear: the soundtrack’s glory days on the Billboard 200 may be behind us.  Unless KPop Demon Hunters or another surprise blockbuster breaks through soon, this decade may go down as the quietest one yet for the music once built to move both plots and charts.

— DJRob

DJRob (he/him) is a freelance music blogger from the East Coast who covers R&B, hip-hop, disco, pop, rock and country genres – plus lots of music news and current stuff!  You can follow him on Bluesky at @djrobblog.bsky.social, X (formerly Twitter) at @djrobblog, on Facebook or on Meta’s Threads.

DJRob (@djrobblog) on Threads

You can also register for free here (or select the menu bars above) to receive notifications of future articles.