Physical Media Forever: CD Sales Rise for First Time in Twenty Years

Sales of music on physical CDs rose for the first time in two decades in 2021, according to data from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

The Verge reports that for the first time in almost two decades, sales of music CDs increased in 2021. The news comes from recent data published by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) which stated that CD shipments rose from 31.6 million in 2020 to 46.6 million in 2021.

Daniel Ek, CEO of Swedish music streaming service Spotify (TORU YAMANAKA/AFP via Getty Images)

The report further stated that revenue from CDs rose from $483.2 million to $584.1 million. The numbers appear to line up with a similar report from MCR data published earlier in 2022. The sales increase appears to be indicative of a larger resurgence in physical media. It was previously reported that sales of vinyl records in the U.S. have been increasing for over a decade with 39.7 million units being sold in the U.S. in 2021, generating $1 billion in revenue.

Although CD sales increased for the first time since the format’s pinnacle in the late 90’s, physical media is dwarfed by streaming revenue. Streaming service subscriptions accounted for 52.7 percent of revenue measured by the RIAA in 2021 generating $8.6 billion in revenue. Ad-supported streams from services such as Spotify generated $1.8 billion in the same time frame. CD and vinyl album sales combined accounted for less than 11 percent of all music revenue.

CDs were the industry-leading music format in the 1990s, generating $13.2 billion in annual sales in the year 2000. Despite a massive drop in revenue for music on physical media, some parts of the industry, especially local record stores, are overjoyed with the sales increase. Axios spoke to Doyle Davis, the co-owner of the record store Grimey’s on East Trinity Lane, who stated: “I just think the whole thing is great. It speaks to the health and the overall comeback of physical media in general.”