According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), vinyl records outsold CDs by more than 2 to 1 in 2023, marking the second consecutive year this has occurred. People purchased 43 million vinyl records last year, 6 million more than the number of CDs sold. This reflects the steady growth of vinyl sales over the past 17 years.
In terms of revenue, vinyl, which is typically more expensive than CDs, generated $1.4 billion, compared to $537 million from CDs. Despite a slight increase in CD revenue, the number of physical CDs sold in 2023 was about 700,000 less than the previous year.
However, these figures are dwarfed by streaming services, which accounted for 84 percent of music revenue for the year, totaling about $14.4 billion. This is a record high according to the RIAA. Despite the dominance of streaming, physical media still accounted for 11 percent of sales, with digital purchases garnering 3 percent of the overall share.
read more > www.theverge.com