Yes, CDs are making a comeback in 2026, but not at 1990s scale. Streaming still dominates recorded music revenue, but U.S. CD revenue rose 58.6% year-over-year…
Sony launched its CDP-101 player in Japan on 1 October 1982 for about 168,000 yen (roughly $730), alongside the first CD albums manufactured at a Philips pressing plant…
By 1988, falling player prices and labels reissuing catalogs on disc had pushed CD sales past vinyl records in the US, ending vinyl's decades-long reign as the default a…
US CD shipments reached roughly 939 million units in 1999, the format's historic peak, according to RIAA data. That same year, Shawn Fanning's Napster launched, introduc…
Apple launched the original iPod on 23 October 2001, letting listeners carry a claimed '1,000 songs in your pocket' without a single physical disc, accelerating the shif…
By 2015, streaming revenue overtook CDs and downloads combined as the top US music revenue source for the first time, accounting for 34.3% of industry revenue versus 28.…
US vinyl revenue overtook CD revenue in 2020 for the first time since 1986, with full-year figures showing $619.6 million from vinyl versus $483.3 million from CDs, per…
According to the IFPI Global Music Report 2026, global physical format revenue grew 8.0% in 2025, with vinyl posting its 19th consecutive year of growth at 13.7%, while…
The RIAA's mid-year 2026 report, released 1 September 2026, showed US CD revenue rising 58.6% year-over-year to $171 million, with unit sales up 45.7% to 17.5 million —…
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