CD sales are up 16%, but half the buyers don't even own a CD player

[Shawn Knight]

In brief: Sony would like you to think physical media is dead but according to recent data from Luminate, that's not the case across the board. In fact, some formats are actually experiencing a resurgence. In the first half of 2026, sales of CDs shot up 16 percent in the US to 16.3 million units.

Much of the growth can be attributed to younger buyers, but here's the unexpected part. According to the market research firm, roughly half of Gen Z and Millennial CD buyers don't even own a CD player. So, why are people buying CDs without a way to listen to them?

Luminate said the data suggests CDs have been reclassified from a functional audio format into an affordable collectible. In a world that's increasingly digital, physical goods are becoming more rare by the day. Physical media like CDs and vinyl is a holdover from an earlier time, and today's youth are discovering some of the same qualities that buyers from yesteryear enjoyed – namely, owning a tangible product and being able to appreciate it at any point and time without an active Internet connection.

The sales data correlates to the type of music young people are listening to as well. Luminate said 60% of Gen Z consumers aged 13-24 listen to music from the 90s or earlier. For comparison, only 18% of respondents said they listen to older music when asked the same question back in 2021.

More than half – 55% – cited nostalgia as having a direct influence over their CD purchases.

Sony set off a firestorm a few weeks back when it announced it would stop producing physical PlayStation games in 2028. The company blamed a continued shift from physical to digital media as the primary reason for the change, but perhaps a rethink is in order.

Sales of physical media may be down compared to digital, and the latter certainly has its advantages, but some clearly aren't ready to see physical media disappear just yet.

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CD sales are up 16%, but half the buyers don't even own a CD player

 

[yRaz]

Well if someone takes a CD away from you its literal theft. If someone takes digital content from you, theft only works in one direction.

 

[wiyosaya]

If you hit on the right ones, you might reap a profit from selling CDs on Ebay or elsewhere.

However, they could still find CD players if they were looking for one. For instance - https://www.walmart.com/ip/Jensen-CD-60R-Portable-CD-Player-with-Bass-Boost/397180033
I'm not saying its a good player, but it is low cost. Its only one example. There are many more.

 

[GeoffreyA]

When I go to the second-hand shop, I always browse through the audio CDs and computer games: there's often something good to buy. Recently, I found a couple of classical CDs in perfect condition.

 

[NumberNine]

I prefer to collect my media in a format I can consume, otherwise it's pretty useless. Not reallly a fan of collecting plastic shapes.

 

[RudyBob]

People will collect and speculate. 95 % of the time they lose value

 

[AnilD]

CDs are becoming band merchandise rather than audio media. You buy the album for the artwork, booklet, shelf display, and sense of ownership, then listen to it on Spotify.

The funniest possible outcome would be CD sales reviving enough that manufacturers start selling premium $800 CD players to people who were born after the iPod.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

I still buy my music on cds then rip them to digital, so I have the library in case something happens.

 

[bviktor]

Just gen-z being dumb as usual, nothing to see here.

 

[p51d007]

You can also just use the ISO type file to play them.

 

[Thrackerzod]

My very first music CD was one of those "Pop Music" mini discs that Coke gave away. It was another two years before I finally had a player I could listen to it on. The very first song I ever heard on CD was Celine Dion's "Where Does My Heart Beat Now". The opening blew me away, just complete silence then crystal clear music, it was incredible. I haven't bought a CD in fifteen years though; the only physical music media I occasionally buy now is vinyl.

 

[Watzupken]

I feel there is a lot of assumptions made in this article. Someone can buy something, but that does not always mean they are buying it for themselves. And seriously, how do they know the buyer does not have a CD player? The parents or siblings can't have a CD player at home that they can share?

 

[Vixiy]

Only digital music I ever paid for were a couple of indie songs/albums on bandcamp as downloadable drm free files which don't need internet to play.