CD sales, vinyl sales, streaming, physical music, collectability, sound quality and emotional connection — it is all part of the same conversation now.
In this shorter Music Biz Chat episode, I wanted to look at what is happening with CD and vinyl sales in both the UK and the USA, but also ask a bigger question: what are music fans actually buying in 2026, and why?
Because the numbers tell one story, but collectors often tell another.
In the UK, physical music sales grew again during the first half of 2026. According to Music Week’s analysis of BPI figures based on Official Charts Company data, physical album sales were up 3.7% year-on-year, with just over 8.1 million physical albums sold in the first six months of the year.
That alone is encouraging. After years of physical music being written off, people are still buying albums they can hold, play, collect and live with.
But the real story is vinyl.
Vinyl sales in the UK were up 16.4% year-on-year in the first half of 2026, reaching 3,796,251 units. CD sales were still ahead at 4,198,230 units, but they were down 5.2% year-on-year.
So CD is still ahead in the UK — but only just.
The gap between CD and vinyl in the UK for the first half of 2026 is now 401,979 units. In the second quarter alone, that gap was even smaller. Vinyl sold 1,837,536 units, while CD sold 2,050,792 units, leaving a difference of just 213,256 units.
That raises the big question: could vinyl overtake CD in the UK by the end of 2026?
Based on the current trend, it looks very possible.
The price difference is important too. The average cost of a vinyl LP in the UK is reported to be £29.03, while the average CD is £12.24. That makes CD much better value, especially for collectors who want the music, the booklet, the bonus tracks and the archive material without paying premium vinyl prices.
But when we look at America, the story has already moved further along.
In the USA, vinyl has already overtaken CD — not just in revenue, but in physical units sold. According to the RIAA figures reported by Music Business Worldwide, vinyl sold 46.8 million units in the US in 2025, while CD sold 29.5 million units. Vinyl revenue reached $1.04 billion, while CD revenue was $312.4 million. That means vinyl generated more than three times the revenue of CD.
So in America, vinyl is no longer just the more expensive format generating more money per unit. It is also selling more physical copies.
However, we also need to keep the wider picture in mind. Streaming still dominates the US recorded music market. Streaming accounted for 82% of total US recorded music revenue in 2025, and paid music subscription accounts reached 106.5 million.
That means physical music is no longer the mainstream way most people consume music. Streaming is the everyday access point. But physical music is where the deeper fan connection happens.
And this is where the CD versus vinyl conversation becomes really interesting.
Because this is not just being driven by older collectors buying Rumours by Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin IV or Dark Side of the Moon again. Those classic albums are still part of the story, of course, but younger fans are now buying vinyl by the artists they follow today.
They discover the music through streaming, social media, videos, playlists and live shows, but when they want to feel closer to the artist, they often buy the vinyl.
That makes vinyl part music format, part collectable, part merchandise, part artwork and part emotional connection.
I have seen this in my own family. My sons grew up with streaming. One moved from CD into streaming, but now also buys vinyl. The other started with streaming everything, but now buys vinyl as well. Many of their friends do the same.
And when they were asked which format sounded better, CD or vinyl, the answer was very revealing: CD probably has the better sound, but they prefer to buy vinyl.
That is the conundrum.
Why does the technically stronger, cheaper and more convenient format struggle to compete with the older, more expensive and more fragile format?
The answer, I think, is that the physical music market is no longer just an audio market.
If this was purely about sound quality, CD would be in a much stronger position. A well-mastered CD can sound fantastic. It is clean, consistent, reliable and convenient. You put it in the player and it works. No warps, no surface noise, no stylus wear, no cleaning routine, no cartridge alignment and no worries about whether your turntable is set up properly.
CD is still a brilliant format.
But vinyl has something else.
Vinyl has the emotional pull. It has the size, the artwork, the ritual, the sleeve, the coloured pressing, the gatefold, the limited edition, the signed copy, the Record Store Day queue, the sense of occasion.
A vinyl record feels like an event.
It also looks good. It looks good in a record shop. It looks good on a shelf. It looks good in a photograph. It looks good on Instagram. It looks good in films and TV dramas, where you increasingly see characters putting records on turntables, with vinyl shelves in the background.
CD, by comparison, can sometimes feel visually invisible.
That was not always the case. When CDs first arrived, they felt futuristic, classy and convenient. Many of us sold huge parts of our record collections in the 1980s and 1990s because CD felt like the future.
But something has shifted.
The things that once made vinyl inconvenient now make it feel romantic.
The things that once made CD convenient can sometimes make it feel ordinary.
That does not mean CD is worse. It means vinyl currently has more emotional and visual power as a physical object.
And for younger fans who did not grow up with the inconvenience of records, vinyl does not feel like a problem from the past. It feels like a desirable object from the present.
That is why I think vinyl is behaving more and more like premium artist merchandise.
Not merchandise in a throwaway sense, because the music is still central, but merchandise in the sense that it allows fans to show loyalty, identity and connection. You can own the album as an object. You can display it. You can collect different editions. You can have something signed. You can feel part of the artist’s world.
But that also creates a responsibility for labels.
If vinyl is being sold as a premium object, it needs to arrive like a premium object.
Quality control matters. Pressing quality matters. Packaging matters. Shipping matters. Corners should not be bent. Records should not split the top of the sleeve in transit. Fans paying £30, £40 or £50 for a new vinyl album are not buying an everyday disposable item. They are buying something that feels like a luxury object.
It may not be something they need in a practical sense, but it is something that nourishes them emotionally.
So it needs to be right.
In the Now Spinning Magazine community, I have seen more and more collectors saying they are buying fewer new records because of damaged sleeves, poor pressings or the gamble involved in ordering expensive vinyl through the post. Some are moving back towards CD. Others are streaming more. That should be a warning sign to the industry.
Do not take the vinyl buyer for granted.
At the same time, do not treat the CD buyer as an afterthought.
That is one of my biggest concerns. Too many CDs now feel like they have been put together because the label felt it had to offer the format, rather than because it truly valued the CD audience. A cheap card sleeve, no booklet, minimal notes and a disc that feels like software stuck to the front of a magazine is not good enough.
CD buyers care.
They care about sound. They care about booklets. They care about credits. They care about bonus tracks. They care about archive material. They care about mastering. They care about value.
The CD and vinyl audience are not enemies. They are often the same people.
Many of us buy both.
We choose depending on the artist, the album, the price, the packaging, the mastering, the edition and the emotional connection.
A major box set? CD may be the better option.
A new album from a favourite artist with beautiful artwork? Vinyl may feel special.
A surround mix, Dolby Atmos or high-resolution audio? Blu-ray might be the future conversation.
Physical music should not be forced into a format war. CD and vinyl are brothers and sisters in the same family. If labels try to push fans into choosing one over the other, they risk damaging the whole physical music ecosystem.
The real opportunity is to respect every format.
Make vinyl beautiful, well-pressed and properly shipped.
Make CD collectable, well-packaged and worth owning.
Give Blu-ray audio and Dolby Atmos room to grow.
And remember that the people buying physical music in 2026 are not casual consumers. They are fans, collectors and supporters.
The big question now is not simply whether vinyl will overtake CD.
In America, it already has. In the UK, it may happen very soon.
The bigger question is why.
- Are people buying vinyl for the sound, or for the feeling?
- Are people buying CD for value, convenience and completeness?
- Are damaged records and high vinyl prices pushing some collectors back towards CD?
And is the future of physical music really about giving fans different ways to feel connected to the music they love?
That is the conversation I want to have.
So let me know what you are doing in 2026.
- Are you buying more vinyl?
- Are you still mainly buying CDs?
- Have you returned to vinyl after years away?
- Have vinyl prices or quality control issues made you hesitate?
- Or are you now streaming more and buying only the physical releases that really matter?
Whatever format you choose, the important thing is that music still matters enough for people to want to own it, collect it and feel part of it.
Music is still the healer and the doctor.
Phil Aston | Now Spinning Magazine
