CD and vinyl sales are surging as frustration with digital media keeps growing

[midian182]

In a nutshell: It's time to dust off that old turntable and boombox: physical media is seeing a big resurgence, with both CDs and vinyl sales jumping by double digits in the first half of 2026. The news comes as public anger over digital media, from increasing streaming prices to buyers not actually owning their purchases, intensifies.

News of the latest increase in physical media sales comes from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It revealed that recorded music revenues for H1 2026 were up 6.9% from the first half of 2025 and outpaced inflation, with both streaming and physical formats posting gains.

It was physical media that grabbed the headlines. Revenue in this sector grew an impressive 25.9% as vinyl saw 17.7% growth and CD revenue went up a massive 58.6%.

Streaming, of course, remains the largest source of recorded music revenue by far. It generated $4.9 billion, up 4.7%. Paid subscriptions reached $3.4 billion, up 6.4%, while ad-supported free subscriptions were up 3.7% to $900 million.

It's fair to say that 15 or 20 years ago, many people would have expected CDs and vinyl to have vanished completely by now. But consumers are spending more money on these formats.

There have been plenty of reminders this year of why physical media isn't dying, one of the biggest being that buyers actually own their purchases. This contrast was illustrated perfectly in June when Sony said it was removing 551 movies and TV series from the PlayStation Store in the UK on September 1, 2026, due to licensing issues. The content will also be deleted from the libraries of customers who have already purchased it.

The same thing happened when Sony wiped more than 1,300 seasons of Discovery TV shows in 2023, another reminder that the EULA that comes with digital purchases almost always describes the transaction as the purchase of a revocable license.

– Tom Warren (@tomwarren) August 22, 2026

Sony's decision to stop offering new PlayStation games on disc after January 2028 has also pushed angry consumers to embrace physical media – not that Sony cares.

Digital revenue did increase during H1 2026, too, so it's not like everyone is canceling their Spotify and Apple Music subscriptions and buying CDs instead; the RIAA describes the report as an illustration of a "diversifying marketplace." Still, it shows that CDs and vinyl aren't being added to our list of Once-Iconic Tech Products That Are Now a Fading Memory just yet.

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CD and vinyl sales are surging as frustration with digital media keeps growing

 

[The Talking Tech]

The governments of world have to come together about the digital media unfairness.

I can't believe that in 2026 companies have the not provided consumers with digital rights to ownership.

This issue alone is the reason many of us pirate digital content as a way of retribution for what should be ours when paying for it.

And those wanting to defend corporations comparing digital purchases with Netflix or Spotify, take a second to remember that it's a big difference between "Buying" and "Subscribing"...when you subscribe you just pay to own nothing.

 

[Alfonso Maruccia]

I have NEVER used streaming for listening to music, not even once. Only MP3/FLAC downloads, and a growing collection of CD releases - which are mostly classic stuff like YMO, Kraftwerk, Subsonica, etc.

If streaming disappeared tomorrow, I wouldn't feel a bit of difference. These industry people trying to convert the world to a subscription-based economy don't even understand, how determined some people are to try and absolutely go back in time even if they have to pay thousands for the effort :-D

 

[LordVile95]

The governments of world have to come together about the digital media unfairness.

I can't believe that in 2026 companies have the not provided consumers with digital rights to ownership.

This issue alone is the reason many of us pirate digital content as a way of retribution for what should be ours when paying for it.

And those wanting to defend corporations comparing digital purchases with Netflix or Spotify, take a second to remember that it's a big difference between "Buying" and "Subscribing"...when you subscribe you just pay to own nothing.

Licensing hasn’t changed. You don’t own the CDs either and in a few places it’s illegal to rip them

 

[The Talking Tech]

Licensing hasn’t changed. You don’t own the CDs either and in a few places it’s illegal to rip them

Of course there would be someone like you trying to argue the physical media ownership....so here is a reality check.

Have you ever heard of companies like Sony going to someones house and take away their physical movies or music or games?

I can guarantee that's a fat No!

Meanwhile millions of people around the world in a single day lost hundreds of digital movies in a blink of an eye just because Sony decided to take them away with no way to retain any of it.

There's no argument about it...you simply have no valid argument...regardless of how hard you try to paraphrase these companies.

 

[LordVile95]

Of course there would be someone like you trying to argue the physical media ownership....so here is a reality check.

Have you ever heard of companies like Sony going to someones house and take away their physical movies or music or games?

I can guarantee that's a fat No!

They can just disable them remotely?

Meanwhile millions of people around the world in a single day lost hundreds of digital movies in a blink of an eye just because Sony decided to take them away with no way to retain any of it.

No the publisher did

There's no argument about it...you simply have no valid argument...regardless of how hard you try to paraphrase these companies.

No you don’t seem to know how technology works? For example blue rays all have certain keys and players require updating to refresh those key lists. If a publisher wanted to they could list a titles keys as revoked and the player wouldn’t play the disc

 

[The Talking Tech]

They can just disable them remotely?

No the publisher did

No you don’t seem to know how technology works? For example blue rays all have certain keys and players require updating to refresh those key lists. If a publisher wanted to they could list a titles keys as revoked and the player wouldn’t play the disc

Just answer the question... have you heard of any case in which a company have gone to someone's home and taken away their physical media?

That's a fat No!

Would people eventually lose access to their newer online based physical media that requires online verification (Xbox, Nintendo, PlayStation, Always Online Disc players?) Of course they will....as that is no better than a glorified digital "purchase"... emphasis on the quotes on "purchase"

My point again, true ownership is on physical media that has no online strings attached.

Don't keep arguing something you well know how it is....don't pretend.

 

[LordVile95]

Just answer the question... have you heard of any case in which a company have gone to someone's home and taken away their physical media?

That's a fat No!

Again no because they don’t need to they can just disable them remotely as I’ve described to you.

Would people eventually lose access to their newer online based physical media that requires online verification (Xbox, Nintendo, PlayStation, Always Online Disc players?) Of course they will....as that is no better than a glorified digital "purchase"... emphasis on the quotes on "purchase"

My point again, true ownership is on physical media that has no online strings attached.

Don't keep arguing something you well know how it is....don't pretend.

Mate even offline disc players need updating as when new disc come out they need the newer software for verification and requires the player to be updated.

Being ignorant isn’t an excuse.

 

[The Talking Tech]

Again no because they don’t need to they can just disable them remotely as I’ve described to you.


Mate even offline disc players need updating as when new disc come out they need the newer software for verification and requires the player to be updated.

Being ignorant isn’t an excuse.

Perhaps you capabilities to understand this article and my point is the real issue here.

It's ok, as the saying goes,
"we can always offer the hungry food, but we can't force them to eat."

 

[LordVile95]

Perhaps you capabilities to understand this article and my point is the real issue here.

It's ok, as the saying goes,
"we can always offer the hungry food, but we can't force them to eat."

No you just don’t understand either licensing or how physical media currently works. You don’t own media you own a licence to it which can be revoked under the terms in it. You also don’t need to “go into someone’s home” to remove it because it’s not the 80’s and we’re not talking about VHS. Licences can be removed digitally so unless you want to buy a new blu ray player ever time you buy a new blu ray for example you need to update it.

 

[Eldrach]

They can just disable them remotely?

No the publisher did

No you don’t seem to know how technology works? For example blue rays all have certain keys and players require updating to refresh those key lists. If a publisher wanted to they could list a titles keys as revoked and the player wouldn’t play the disc

I have a blue ray player with 0 net connection - not once has it required me to update any blue ray keys towards a database

 

[LordVile95]

I have a blue ray player with 0 net connection - not once has it required me to update any blue ray keys towards a database

What’s the newest disk you’ve bought?

 

[Eldrach]

What’s the newest disk you’ve bought?

Hm..I bought the extended editions of Lord of the rings and the hobbit extended editions. I bought the firefly series + serenity ..I mostly buy collectors items

 

[LordVile95]

Hm..I bought the extended editions of Lord of the rings and the hobbit extended editions. I bought the firefly series + serenity ..I mostly buy collectors items

So nothing new, newer discs generally require newer firmwares to accommodate new codes or it won’t play the media. I had the issue with an older player before I moved to the XSX which just auto updates

 

[Kashim]

Meanwhile millions of people around the world in a single day lost hundreds of digital movies in a blink of an eye just because Sony decided to take them away with no way to retain any of it.

It's more complicated than that. Sony didn't just push a button to take away people's movies/music simply to be a bad guy. It's actually much worse. Sony sells movies/music they don't own themselves but license those from other copyright holders. Of course when those licenses expire and it comes time to renew them the copyright holders always want more money and Sony wants to pay next to nothing, so they just let the licensing lapse. Then those copyrighted works all get removed from Sony's catalogues. Sony saves a ton of money by not renewing those licenses, and people who bought the material? Well, screw them. Until they change the laws (and they won't, thanks to heavy lobbying from the music/movie industry) you will own nothing and like it!

 

[The Talking Tech]

It's more complicated than that. Sony didn't just push a button to take away people's movies/music simply to be a bad guy. It's actually much worse. Sony sells movies/music they don't own themselves but license those from other copyright holders. Of course when those licenses expire and it comes time to renew them the copyright holders always want more money and Sony wants to pay next to nothing, so they just let the licensing lapse. Then those copyrighted works all get removed from Sony's catalogues. Sony saves a ton of money by not renewing those licenses, and people who bought the material? Well, screw them. Until they change the laws (and they won't, thanks to heavy lobbying from the music/movie industry) you will own nothing and like it!

You are right, it's far worst....so we have companies like Sony personally charging you for products they don't fully have control of, to then wash their hands when they no longer want to take responsibility for what they originally charged you for.

That's criminally irresponsible as that should not be happening no matter the business.

 

[ActualViking]

It is sort of funny, but also very manipulative when a headlines shouts something is up 58% and forgets to report what the baseline was. When seeing that the source for the article doesn't even give the number, so that to get it you need to either research more or make some assumptions and extrapolate based on the numbers .
Bottom line is that physical media is a fraction of the digital sales, so a jump isn't really significant and for that there needs to be growth for several years in a row. But it is fun because we can comfort our thirst for past times, provided of course we ignore the real numbers and just go by headlines.

Speaking of past times - I do long for back then when news provided actual data instead of being mostly clickbait.

 

[fazy shah]

I support owning the thing that you buy, like games music/movies etc.

 

[ET3D]

I really have to wonder who these people who buy CDs are. I can understand vinyl for its analogue quality, but CDs are only digital, and at 16-bit. It's possible to buy 24-bit lossless digital music for download, and even AAC-compressed music from iTunes can offer higher quality than a CD. So I see no practical reason to buy CDs. They neither offer better quality nor better ownership than DRM-free music downloads.

 

[NumberNine]

I don't pay for access to media. I pay for media. I buy things to use them. Just can't find it in my heart to repeatedly pay to watch the same things over and over. Certainly not with ads. They know this. That's where the profit comes from.

 

[ScottSoapbox]

I'm not buying many new CDs, but I have gone back to my MP3s of my CDs.

Spotify was nice for a time, I found some new music to buy, but then it got more expensive and wasn't finding me anything new I liked so I switched to Plex Amp to be my own music streamed to me (since Apple keeps nagging about paying for their streaming inside the app to play music I own).

 

[texasrattler]

Physical media is dying, its not dead but 1000% sure is dying.
Vynl died long ago but got a resurgence before covid but not many stores actually have stuff compared to the big sections they once had in stores. In the grand scheme of things it dont mean much. Digital is still taking over no matter what.
By 2030 there won't be much physical left if any in stores.

 

[acrossthestars]

It's fair to say that 15 or 20 years ago, many people would have expected CDs and vinyl to have vanished completely by now.

Back in the early 2010s, having a digital library made sense, because the tech industry had not yet set the precedent that digital goods are less valuable than physical ones. They hadn't given consumers reasons to believe that their purchases weren't actually, well, purchased. Oh, how things change...

Back in 2011, 15 years ago, buying a digital library was more novel and actually a good idea, because it was convenient and mostly permanent. Sony had not deleted people's entire movie libraries because "the licenses expired" or whatever corporate bullsh*t excuse they have this week. Also, we can't forget that there was choice. If you wanted physical, you were good. If you wanted digital, you were good. There wasn't some impending cataclysm that would see ownership simply disappear and subscriptions were not the omnipresent permanence eraser they are now.

Things were different back then.

 

[scoffer]

The governments of world have to come together about the digital media unfairness.

I can't believe that in 2026 companies have the not provided consumers with digital rights to ownership.

This issue alone is the reason many of us pirate digital content as a way of retribution for what should be ours when paying for it.

And those wanting to defend corporations comparing digital purchases with Netflix or Spotify, take a second to remember that it's a big difference between "Buying" and "Subscribing"...when you subscribe you just pay to own nothing.

Not much point in expecting governments to do anything useful /helpful. Not with the good old US "lobbying" system as an example.

 

[magisys]

Licensing hasn’t changed. You don’t own the CDs either and in a few places it’s illegal to rip them

What it's illegal to do with a physical copy is not really important, because no one ever have seen their physical copy being removed. Also, no one ever have seen some kind of legal persecution if they ripped a physical copy or create a backup copy of a physical media for personal use, even if it's illegal to remove the copy protection system from the original media, no one care if you do for yourself.

Today corporations are interested to remove any chance to sell a durable medium to anyone, so that they can sell that same medium "as new", time to time.

They want everyone to live in a world of infinite "remastered edition" contents.