Music Biz Chat: How Did Vinyl & CD Sales Really Perform in 2025?
Welcome to the first Music Biz Chat of 2026.
This is the series where I step back from the shelves behind me — from the box sets, hype stickers, poly-lined sleeves and all the lovely details we obsess over — and look at the bigger picture.
As a community that actively supports artists by buying physical music — vinyl, CDs, and yes, even the occasional cassette — it’s important to understand what’s actually happening around us.
Are we simply curating a living museum?
Or is there real life, growth and momentum in physical music?
Let’s take a proper look.
Physical Music Sales: Quietly Growing Again
According to figures reported by Music Week, physical music sales in the UK rose again in 2025, marking the second consecutive year of growth.
Now, let’s keep our feet on the ground — this isn’t explosive growth.
Overall physical sales increased by 1.4%, reaching 17.6 million units across vinyl and CD.
But growth is growth. And in today’s music industry, that matters.
Vinyl Is Still Doing the Heavy Lifting
So what’s driving this increase?
No surprise here: vinyl.
Vinyl sales rose by 13.3% year-on-year, with 7.6 million brand-new vinyl albums sold in the UK in 2025.
That’s not Discogs.
That’s not eBay.
That’s not second-hand crates.
That’s new records being pressed, sold, and played in real homes.
What really caught my attention is that the growth rate is accelerating.
In 2024, vinyl growth was 9.1%. In 2025, it jumped to 13.3%.
This isn’t a nostalgia bounce anymore.
Vinyl has now been growing for 18 consecutive years. If it were just retro sentimentality, it would have faded long ago. What we’re seeing instead is a format that has re-established itself.
Younger Fans Are Driving the Revival
One of the most fascinating aspects of these figures is who is driving them.
It isn’t just people like me — or many of you — who remember saving pocket money and buying one album a month. Younger music fans are very much part of this story.
Jo Twist, CEO of the BPI, summed it up perfectly when she talked about the unique appeal of physical albums in a world increasingly shaped by AI and technology.
Younger fans want:
Connection
Authenticity
Multiple touchpoints with the artists they love
That emotional engagement is exactly what we talk about every day here at Now Spinning Magazine.
You can’t form a deep emotional bond with a JPEG of an album cover or an algorithm deciding what you should hear next.
The Return of Six-Figure First-Week Albums
Another encouraging sign is the return — in certain cases — of six-figure first-week album sales.
We’ve all seen weeks where a No.1 album sells 20,000 copies and people understandably raise their eyebrows. But 2025 reminded us that big physical numbers are still possible.
Artists like Taylor Swift and Sam Fender crossed the 100,000 mark in week one.
Taylor Swift’s numbers are extraordinary by any standard, with over 125,000 vinyl copies sold in the first few days of release alone.
Yes, she’s a phenomenon — but success at that level creates confidence across the industry. It allows labels to take chances on deeper catalogue releases, niche reissues, and archival projects that might otherwise be considered risky.
And What About CDs? They’re Not Dead
Now let’s talk about CDs — because I know many of you care deeply about this format.
Despite what certain newspapers keep insisting, CDs are:
Not dead
Not irrelevant
Not just for older collectors
According to figures from Key Production Group, CD pressings were up 15% year-on-year.
That aligns perfectly with what I see every day:
Deluxe CD box sets
Career-spanning collections
Hardback books and thoughtful packaging
CDs are affordable, shelf-friendly, and for many fans they’re the gateway into physical music collecting. Or, as I prefer to call it, building a music library.
Value Matters Too — And the Numbers Are Strong
So far, we’ve talked mostly about units. But value tells an equally important story.
According to figures from ERA, UK music revenues reached an all-time high in 2025.
Streaming subscriptions and physical music combined generated £2.453 billion, up 4.2% year-on-year.
Over the past decade, music income has grown by more than 120%.
That doesn’t look like a dying industry to me.
Streaming is still growing — but the rate of growth is slowing. Physical, on the other hand, is punching well above its weight.
Physical music revenues grew 11.5%, with vinyl revenues up 18.5%.
CD revenue dipped slightly, but still stands at £125 million — hardly insignificant.
Physical formats now account for 15% of total music revenues, their highest share since 2021.
Streaming may dominate scale, but physical dominates commitment.
Community, Record Stores & the Bigger Picture
Record Store Day 2026 will see over 280 UK record shops taking part — not just as retailers, but as community hubs hosting performances and events.
That sense of community is everything.
Yes, music is smaller than gaming and video in raw numbers — but it’s growing, evolving, and finding new audiences.
And perhaps most encouraging of all: when labels invest properly — good mastering, thoughtful packaging, meaningful extras — fans respond.
We see that every single day here at Now Spinning Magazine.
If you’ve got thoughts on this — whether you’re buying vinyl, CDs, or both in 2026 — I’d love to hear from you.
Phil Aston | Now Spinning Magazine
