Vinyl To Outsell CDs For First Time Since 1986

Vinyl, Record Player, Needle, Hand
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Though the sale of CDs has plummeted over the last few years, the sale of vinyl records has skyrocketed.

In fact, according to data from last year, the Recording Industry Association of America suggested that CD sales were declining three times as fast as vinyl sales were growing, and that vinyl sales accounted for more than a third of the revenue coming from physical releases.

And the trend continues through this year.  In the RIAA's mid-year report for 2019, vinyl records earned $224.1 million the first half of the year, closing in on the $247.9 million generated by sales of CDs.  If this trend continues through the end of the year, it will be the first time vinyls outsell CDs for the first time in over three decades, since 1986!

Music executives have welcomed the large uptick in sales of vinyls recently.  Tom Corson, now the co-chairman and CEO of Warner Records told Rolling Stone, "We welcome [the growth in vinyl>.  It’s a sexy, cool product.  It represents an investment in music that’s an emotional one."

Via Rolling Stone