A few weeks ago, I looked at the latest physical-music sales figures from the UK. Vinyl was continuing its remarkable resurgence and appeared to be closing in on CD sales, while sales of CDs were declining.
But rather than simply accept the headline, I wanted to ask the Now Spinning Magazine community a straightforward question:
What are you actually buying—CD or vinyl?
The response was extraordinary. More importantly, it revealed a story that cannot be found simply by looking at the number of new records and CDs passing through shop tills.
What the official figures told us
During the first half of 2026, physical album sales in the UK increased by 3.7%, reaching just over 8.1 million units.
Within that total, vinyl sales rose by 16.4%, while CD sales declined by 5.2%. The gap between the two formats continued to narrow, suggesting that vinyl could eventually overtake CD as the UK’s biggest-selling physical format.
That appeared to offer a very clear conclusion: vinyl was growing, while interest in CD was disappearing.
However, the picture was very different in the United States. During the first half of 2026, American CD sales reportedly increased by 16%, reaching 16.3 million units. K-pop was an important part of that growth, but even after K-pop sales were removed, CDs were still up by 6.7%, compared with vinyl growth of 2.4%.
There is no longer one universal physical-music trend. Different countries, genres and groups of buyers are behaving in very different ways.
That is where the Now Spinning Magazine community enters the story.
The Now Spinning Magazine Community
The discussion generated of100s comments.
The results were striking:
- 71.9% were primarily buying CDs
- 11.3% were buying CD and vinyl fairly equally
- 16.8% were primarily buying vinyl
This was not a controlled national opinion poll, and I am certainly not suggesting that it overturns the official sales figures.
Now Spinning Magazine naturally attracts people who care passionately about physical music. Our community actively buys box sets, remasters, catalogue releases, vinyl, CDs, SACDs, Blu-rays and deluxe editions.
That is precisely why these findings are valuable.
Official sales figures tell the industry what passed through the till. A community such as ours can help explain why somebody bought it—and why somebody else walked away.
Vinyl pricing is pushing buyers towards CD
One of the strongest messages concerned the rising price of vinyl.
This did not come only from people who had always preferred CD. A significant number of vinyl enthusiasts said they were now buying fewer records, waiting for reductions or choosing the CD edition instead.
As one person explained:
“I can get two or three CDs for the price of one vinyl album. I actually prefer vinyl, but the prices have made them special-occasion purchases from now on.”
That is an important distinction. Vinyl does not appear to be losing its emotional appeal. People still love the artwork, the ritual and the physical experience of playing a record.
What it may be losing is the individual purchase.
Several contributors said that they now buy the CD when an album is released and consider purchasing the vinyl later, if the price comes down. When a new record reaches £40 or £50, that buyer may instead choose two or three CDs, a box set or several second-hand discoveries.
For the industry, the question should not only be how much a dedicated vinyl collector might be prepared to pay. It should also be how many potential purchases are lost when the price crosses that collector’s personal limit.
The second-hand market is a major blind spot
Many people within the Now Spinning community buy CDs through Discogs, eBay, charity shops, record fairs and independent second-hand retailers.
One comment summed up the problem perfectly:
“I buy far more CDs, but I’m buying used, so it doesn’t show in the figures.”
Someone purchasing 20 second-hand CDs is clearly engaged with the format. They may be discovering unfamiliar artists, filling gaps in a collection or searching for unavailable masterings and editions.
None of those purchases appears in the new-sales figures.
The industry may understandably see some of this activity as lost revenue, but it also represents evidence of demand. If collectors are searching for deleted albums, original editions or better-sounding versions, there could be an opportunity for carefully considered catalogue reissues.
Vinyl quality control is damaging confidence
Price was not the only recurring concern. Buyers also mentioned warped records, scratches, surface noise, damaged sleeves and the frustration of repeatedly returning faulty pressings.
One of the most revealing comments came from a musician who had attempted to manufacture a vinyl edition of his own album:
“I’ve had to pull the vinyl because each test pressing arrived damaged. Zero issues with the CD—they’re bulletproof.”
That takes the conversation beyond a personal preference between two formats.
For artists and independent labels, a defective vinyl release can create replacement costs, additional postage, damaged relationships with supporters and a great deal of stress before the finished album has even reached its audience.
Vinyl remains deeply loved, but customers are being asked to pay premium prices while sometimes accepting an increased risk of receiving a faulty product. A premium product should arrive in premium condition.
Better quality control, protective packaging and something as simple as a poly-lined inner sleeve really do matter. Music fans notice these details.
CD has a presentation problem—not a demand problem
Although the response was overwhelmingly CD-led, many committed CD buyers acknowledged that vinyl frequently offers the more attractive physical experience.
The artwork is larger, the text is easier to read and the package often feels like something designed to be treasured.
One viewer put it particularly well:
“CD is the better-sounding format but is let down by the lack of imagination when it comes to packaging and presentation.”
This is not a demand for every CD to become an expensive deluxe edition. Affordability is one of the format’s greatest strengths.
However, there is clearly an appetite for better booklets, readable sleeve notes, digibooks, mini-LP sleeves, archive photographs and imaginative packaging. There is also considerable interest in bonus tracks, unreleased concerts, Blu-ray discs, surround-sound mixes and Dolby Atmos editions.
The CD buyer does not necessarily want a disposable plastic box or a disc pushed into a thin cardboard sleeve. We want the reliability and value of CD combined with some of the emotional and visual appeal routinely associated with vinyl.
This is particularly relevant to the releases we cover at Now Spinning Magazine. Box sets, remasters, BBC sessions, unreleased live recordings, well-researched books and surround-sound mixes give physical media a purpose that streaming cannot replace.
We buy with our eyes and listen with our ears. Cutting corners with photographs, packaging, mastering or presentation may save money initially, but it can also lose sales.
Is CD demand falling—or is CD becoming harder to buy?
Availability was another important theme.
Some contributors described record shops with large, prominently displayed vinyl sections but very few new CDs. Others mentioned albums that had been released on vinyl and digitally but were not available on CD at all.
One person told me:
“Where I live, there’s nowhere to buy brand-new CDs. We have two places to buy new records, but nowhere to buy new CDs.”
This can create a circular problem. Retailers devote more space to vinyl because its sales are growing. Customers then have more opportunities to see and purchase records, while the reduced visibility of CD suppresses the possibility of a CD sale.
When CD sales decline, we should at least ask whether demand has completely disappeared—or whether the product has simply become less visible and more difficult to find.
CD and vinyl are performing different roles
One of the clearest conclusions from reading the comments was that CD and vinyl no longer perform exactly the same function for many collectors.
Vinyl has increasingly become the premium and immersive format: the edition chosen for a favourite artist or special album, with large artwork and the ritual of sitting down for a dedicated listening session.
CD is often the working physical format. It is affordable, compact, reliable, comparatively easy to store and particularly effective for long albums, box sets and collections of additional material. It can also be played in the car or ripped to a personal music server.
Streaming sits alongside both formats. Many people use YouTube, Spotify or Apple Music for discovery before buying the albums that mean something to them physically.
This should not be reduced to another CD-versus-vinyl format war. The opportunity is to understand what each format offers and give music fans a genuine choice.
What record labels can learn from this
If I could put the findings directly to record labels, distributors, retailers, reissue companies and manufacturers, my suggestions would be these:
- Keep CD available alongside vinyl and digital formats, particularly for rock, progressive music, metal, jazz and specialist catalogue releases.
- Keep the standard CD affordable but make it attractive. Better booklets, readable text and thoughtful presentation do not always require an expensive box set.
- Use deluxe editions imaginatively. Archive recordings, live material, books, Blu-rays and surround-sound mixes give collectors a meaningful reason to buy.
- Be careful with vinyl pricing. Even people who prefer vinyl are moving some of their purchases to CD when record prices become excessive.
- Invest in vinyl quality control and protective packaging. A premium product should not reach its buyer warped, scratched or damaged.
- Listen to communities made up of active music buyers. Sales figures show what was purchased, but conversations with collectors reveal the motivations, frustrations and missed opportunities behind those figures.
The Now Spinning audience is the audience the industry is looking for
I believe Now Spinning Magazine can offer something genuinely useful to the wider music industry.
We are not the Official Charts Company or the BPI, and we do not claim to replace formal market research. We are a community of committed music fans who actively purchase physical media and respond to these subjects with knowledge, passion and considerable depth.
The people here buy the box sets, remasters, reissues, archive collections and special editions that labels are producing. We discuss mastering, packaging, artwork, pressing quality, bonus material, pricing and the details that can make the difference between buying a release and leaving it on the shelf.
In other words, the people many record companies are trying to reach are already here—and we are ready to talk.
The overriding message from this research is not that vinyl is finished or that one format must defeat the other. Vinyl remains enormously important and deeply loved.
However, more collectors appear to be choosing CD because of its price, reliability and practicality. At the same time, labels may be underestimating what the CD buyer wants from the physical package.
If you work for a record label, retailer, distributor, pressing plant or reissue company, I would be very interested to hear your response.
And to everyone who buys physical music: if the industry acted on just one of these findings, what should it be?
More sensible vinyl prices? Better vinyl quality control? More imaginative CD packaging? Or simply making every album available in the physical format you actually want?
Please share your thoughts.
Thank you for all your support
Phil
