In that case, you might be surprised to learn that CD sales have risen in the US after 17 years of decline. In an age when streaming is all the rage, it would appear that reports of the death of the Compact Disk (CD) were greatly exaggerated.
Why did CD sales rise in 2021? Is this a permanent trend, or was it just a one-off statistical exception to the norm?
The Compact Disc Had a Good Year
CD sales have been falling since 2004, a trend which suggested they would eventually die off like the cassette.
However, according to a Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) report, Americans bought 46.6 million CDs in 2021. This was almost a whopping 50% more CDs shipped than 2020 when they bought 31.6 million CDs. On the other hand, CD revenues rose 21% to $584 million.
This surprising uptick was, therefore, the first time CD sales have increased in 17 years.
Why Did CD Sales Rise in 2021? Credit Adele, BTS and Taylor Swift
There are various reasons for the rise in CD sales, but according to Billboard, the three most important reasons are Adele, Taylor Swift and BTS, who all released smash albums in 2021. Adele’s album alone, titled 30, sold 898,000 units last year.
In addition, Covid-19 caused the closure of many retail stores in 2020. When many of these stores were re-opened in 2021, it was inevitable that CD sales would go up as part of an industry-wide recovery.
And with people continuing to stay at home and work from home throughout the quarantines of 2021, it makes sense that fans would want to listen to music together. What better way to survive quarantine than sliding in a CD and dancing away indoors?
According to Axios, the surge in CD sales was also driven by “young people who are finding they like hard copies of music in the digital age”. Young people are therefore discovering the sheer joy of owning their music rather than leasing it from a platform like Spotify.
Physical Media Has Also Been Growing
This growth is also part of a bigger trend for physical media. Vinyl sales, for example, have been slowly but steadily rising for over a decade, and now CDs are showing signs of following suit.
Indeed, RIAA notes that both CD and Vinyl records experienced revenue growth in the same year for the first time since 1996. Vinyl did exceptionally well, hitting $1 billion in sales for the first time since 1986!
Are CDs Coming Back?
It will take several years of sales reports to answer this question correctly. A one-year bump is not enough. It is also important to note that CD sales are still far below their highest recorded sales in 2000 when nearly a billion CDs were shipped in the US alone.
Streaming remains the most popular format, representing 83% of last year’s total industry revenues of $15 billion. CD and Vinyl combined only brought in about 10%. However, Axios reports that some retailers have noticed strong CD sales for new albums in the recent past, especially when there is a delay in the Vinyl release.
In addition, since many artists have loudly complained about the low pay that streaming platforms like Spotify offer them, many fans will likely turn to CDs and Vinyl to directly support their favorite artists. And with artists like Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and India Arie leaving Spotify, CDs will be more attractive to their die-hard fans.
Therefore, it’s highly likely that CD sales will continue to improve or at least stabilize.
