New York (CNN Business) The days of vinyl records being a nostalgic relic of the past are long gone. This year, vinyl sales have outpaced CD sales in the United States for the first time since the 1980s.
Vinyl records accounted for $232.1 million of music sales in the first half of the year, compared to CDs, which brought in only $129.9 million, according to a report from the Recording Industry Association of America.
Vinyl records, also known as "records pressed on wax," were commonplace before other formats, such as cassette tapes and CDs, become the preferred mode of listening to music. But that hasn't stopped vinyl records from making a resurgence. Since 2005, sales for vinyl have grown consecutively. In the first half of 2020, vinyl revenue was up 4%, while CD revenue was down 48%, according to the RIAA.
However, the boost in vinyl interest hasn't been enough to keep physical sales from dropping. Physical sales plunged 23% to $376 million, in the first half of the year as the pandemic continues to stall music industry norms. Concerts and visits to music stores have all but disappeared.
plazman30 on September 14th, 2020 at 12:49 UTC »
No no no!!!!!
Profit from sales of records has surpassed CD. CDs still outsell records by a lot. CDs sold about 2 million more units than vinyl did. But since vinyl costs more than twice what a CD does, the profit from records was greater than CDs.
I'm really getting sick of seeing this headline repeatedly.
alamozony on September 14th, 2020 at 06:35 UTC »
In 2020 you can go to a drive in and listen to records.
What’s next-a doo wop revival??
javineya on September 14th, 2020 at 04:18 UTC »
I'm surprised it took this long, honestly. I haven't bought anything on CD or DVD in over 10 years. Haven't even had a CD drive in my PC in 10 years, either.
You either get music digitally, or you go retro and get it on vinyl. Unfortunately for CDs, I'm not sure they'll ever get a "retro" moment because vinyl and cassette will have that covered.