CD Sales Are Making an Unexpected Comeback Amid a Retro Tech Boom
Physical music revenue rose 25.9% as CD sales rebounded 58.6%, while U.S. recorded music revenue climbed 6.9% to $6.0 billion, the RIAA said.
- On Tuesday, the Recording Industry Association of America reported that America's recorded music revenue rose 6.9% to $6.0 billion in the first half of 2026, driven by a 58.6% increase in CD revenue.
- Physical music revenue jumped 25.9% to $731.5 million, reflecting growing consumer interest in retro formats and bolstered by a 17.7% increase in vinyl revenue during the same period.
- CDs generated $171.1 million in revenue on 17.5 million units sold, marking a 45.7% volume increase; RIAA Vice President of Research Matt Bass called the results a "healthy, diversified marketplace."
- Revenue from streaming rose 4.7% to $4.9 billion, while Paid subscription services increased 6.4% to $3.4 billion, maintaining streaming as the largest revenue source in the market.
- Last year's full-year report showed CD revenue fell 7.8% to $312.4 million as units sold dropped 11.6%; the RIAA's 2025 shift to wholesale value calculations explains part of the reversal.
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14 Articles
CD sales are booming as physical media continues its resurgence
According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), CD sales exploded in the first half of 2026. A new report from the organization says 17.5 million CDs were sold in the first six months of the year, up from just 12 million during the same period in 2025. That's a jump of 45.7 percent, […]
CDs make a comeback, boosting US recorded music revenue
A resurgence in CD demand helped power a nearly 7% increase in U.S. recorded music revenue in the first half of 2026, the Recording Industry Association of America said on Tuesday. The jump underscores growing consumer interest in retro music formats, building on the revival of vinyl that has pushed more artists to release albums […]
CD sales date back to 2026, after a real drop last year. Behind this rebound, we see above all the graceful return of the simpler tech.
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