"The CD growth has been insane the last couple years," says Alliance Entertainment CEO Jeff Walker. "This is not going to stop, it is just ramping up now."
Jeff Walker
Courtesy of Alliance Entertainment
This week, the RIAA released its annual mid-year report on the state of the U.S. recorded music industry, which showed (among many other data points) that in the first half of 2026, revenue from physical music — largely vinyl and CD sales — was up 25.9% over the first half of 2025. That kind of massive growth — in an era where streaming revenue alone makes up 82% of the business — is staggering, and comes with a 20-year growth pattern for vinyl (up 17.7% year over year) and an eye-popping 58.6% year over year bump for CD sales, largely driven by the K-pop industry and a general trend toward viewing physical media as a merch item.
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