The (Limited) Scale of the Physical Music Resurgence

While the surprise jump in CD sales made headlines in the U.S. this month, vinyl records started their comeback a long time ago. According to RIAA, vinyl sales have now grown for 19 consecutive years - admittedly starting from near extinction in 2006. In 2022, vinyl sales in the United States even surpassed CD sales for the first time since 1987, as music lovers turned to vinyl in search for collectors' items and ways to support artists in the age of streaming.

According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), 46.8 million vinyl records were sold in the U.S. last year, up from just 0.9 million in 2006, the year that vinyl hit rock bottom. Back then, more than 600 million CDs were still sold in a single year, a number that plummeted to less than 30 million in 2025. So even with the latest nostalgia-fueled rebound in vinyl and CD sales, both formats are far from their respective heyday. While vinyl sales peaked in the late 1970s when more than 300 million records were sold annually, CDs were even bigger in their prime. In 2000, CD album sales hit their all-time high of 942 million, which also marked the peak of a golden age for the music industry.