The CD comeback: CD sales on the rise

With the rise of streaming music through services such as Spotify, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the days of physically owning music were over. However, this isn’t the case. First, there was the revival of vinyl as fans rushed to join the turntable trend. And now CDs are back on the rise. Below, we explore how this has happened.

The stats

Indeed, CDs enjoyed their first sales increase in five years. And it was especially pronounced in America where sales were up from 31.6 million in 2020 to 46.6 million in 2021, with revenue from CDs rising from $483.2 million to $584.2 million. Combined with vinyl and cassettes, physical media is now growing at a faster rate than its streaming counterpart.

What is causing the CD resurgence?

This resurgence has been influenced by a few factors. For a start, there’s nostalgia for the days before streaming services. With streaming services, you never actually own the music – you’re simply buying the option to listen to it from a provider. But with physical media you can enjoy the old feeling of actually owning work from your favourite band or artist. Plus, there’s evidence that Gen-Z enjoys vintage ways of listening to music – there’s something more relaxing about listening to music from a turntable or CD player compared to a computer. Indeed, many people prefer the sound quality that physical media provides too. If you want to join this trend, why not head to a CD store and pick up your favourite album again?

Top-selling CD albums in 2021/2022

There were plenty of top artists who helped drive this resurgence for CDs. Adele, Taylor Swift and Abba all came out with huge chart-topping albums that captured the imagination of the public. And fans decided to have a physical reminder of this by purchasing CD albums in huge numbers.

Will the resurgence last?

But will the resurgence last? One of the main factors driving the resurgence is that streaming services don’t adequately pay artists. Indeed, Spotify has been in the news over the percentage of royalties they pay to artists. Plus, the streaming giant has also caused controversy for spreading misinformation about the Covid-19 vaccine. By contrast, CDs feel like a more responsible way of supporting your favourite band: CD purchases give more money and support to artists. Unless this dynamic changes, it’s difficult to see what could halt the CD resurgence.

CDs and other physical media are back on the rise. And for good reason: they help you support the artist more, can sound better and give you physical ownership. And by purchasing one today, you can see what the hype’s about.

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Paul McDonald

Photo Editor

Paul is a freelance photograher and graphic designer and has worked on our most recent media kit.

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