RIAA Reports $6 Billion U.S. Recorded Music Revenue in H1 2026
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6 Articles
The fastest-growing physical music format so far in 2026 isn’t vinyl or CD #ArtTuesday
Colin Toh, writing at Headphonesty, dug into the RIAA’s mid-year report and found the fastest-growing physical music format in the US is not vinyl or CD. It is a catch-all bucket the RIAA labels “Other Physical,” which shipped 1.6 million units in the first half of 2026, up 73.4 percent. CDs grew 45.7 percent by […]
With the arrival of Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube Music, it was thought that the CD was doomed to disappear. U.S. statistics prove the opposite. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, revenues grew by 6.9% in the first half of this year. Physical media shows a dramatic increase. Revenues in [...]
Vinyl Grew Slowest Among US Physical Music Categories in 2026, and the RIAA Never Named What Beat It
About 1.4 million of the 1.6 million units have no published format-level explanation. The physical-music comeback story of 2026 seemed to have two obvious stars: vinyl, still the format most closely associated with the revival, and CDs, whose resurgence has been powered in part by K-pop. Neither of them grew fastest. That distinction belongs to […]
According to statistics released by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for the first half of 2026, sales in the US music recording market reached approximately $6 billion (approximately 920 billion yen), a 6.9% increase compared to the same period last year. While streaming continues to dominate the market, physical media is experiencing significant growth, with CD sales increasing by 58.6% and vinyl record sales by 17.7%. Read…
CD Sales Surge Nearly 60% in the US as Physical Music Makes a Comeback
Photo Credit: Altamart CDs are experiencing a significant resurgence in the US, with sales revenue climbing 58.6% during the first half of 2026, according to new figures from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). CDs generated roughly $171 million in the US between January and June, driving a 25.9% increase to $731.5 million in total physical music revenue. This marks a notable turnaround for a declining format, finding new liste…
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