No longer simply a niche passion for dads and hipsters, vinyl is seeing a significant rebirth in mainstream music. Vinyl records outsold CDs in the US last year for the first time since 1987, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) annual revenue report states. Vinyl records sold 41 million units compared to CDs’ 33 million units.
According to an RIAA report released on Thursday, vinyl record sales have steadily climbed over the past 16 years and now represent 71% of all physical music format revenue. The growth margins aren’t insignificant, though; vinyl sales alone brought in $1.2 billion between 2021 and 2022, up 17 percent from the previous year, while physical formats as a whole saw a 4 percent gain in revenue to $1.7 billion. In contrast, CD sales declined by 18% in 2022.
According to Technology News UK, Before the medium surpassed CD in outright unit sales last year, vinyl had already outperformed CD in the US in terms of income. The American Recording Industry Association is pictured. The notion that vinyl has surpassed CD is not exclusive to the RIAA. Although its findings solely included UK sales data, the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) reported the same milestone earlier this year. Outside of the US and the UK, renewed interest in the format has also taken root, with sales increasing in countries like Germany, Japan, and South Korea.