The American record industry’s mid-year figures show 17.5 million CDs shipped in the United States in the first half of 2026, against 12 million in the same months of 2025, a rise of 45.7 per cent. Revenue climbed further, up 58.6 per cent to $171.1 million, the sharpest percentage gain of any format in the report. Streaming still carries the market at around $6 billion, but it is no longer the part moving fastest.
The analysis firm Luminate places the buying with Gen Z and millennials, and it is mostly collecting rather than listening: special editions, K-pop pressings, something to hold. About half of American CD buyers do not own a CD player at all. The disc has stopped being a way to play music and become a way to own it, cheaper than vinyl and with a look that now reads as a choice rather than a leftover.
So…:
What have your customers stopped using but not stopped buying?
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