Vinyl finally overtakes CD

 The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) released an official report titled “RIAA Revenue Statistics at the End of 2022” showing that record sales in 2022 have finally surpassed CD sales. Such a pathetic figure was reached for the first time in the last 35 years.

In the US, recorded music revenues have been growing for seven consecutive years. In 2022, revenue climbed another 6% to a record $15.9 billion, with net income exceeding the psychological limit of $10 billion. If we take revenues from vinyl records alone, they increased by 17% to $1.2 billion. Vinyl sales growth continues for the 16th year in a row.

Moreover, in its “weight category”, that is, among physical media, vinyl has taken the place of the absolute champion – it brings 71% of revenues. In absolute terms, CDs, even being cheaper than vinyl discs, also lost out: in 2022, 41 million records were sold against 33 million CDs. However, the development goes in a spiral, and who knows, maybe in 35 years the world will be overwhelmed by the “CD renaissance”.