CD Sales Unexpectedly Rise as Fans Treat Them as Collectibles
CD sales in the US grew 16% year-over-year in the first half of 2026, driven by collection building and price accessibility, with about half of younger buyers not even owning a CD player.
A new report from research firm Luminate reveals that CD sales in the United States reached 16.3 million units in the first half of 2026, a 16% increase compared to the same period last year. The growth is attributed to factors such as collection building, affordable pricing, major releases like BTS’ album “ARIRANG,” and a strong K-pop release schedule.
Even excluding K-pop sales, CD purchases still rose by 6.7% in the US. Notably, approximately half of Gen Z and Millennial buyers who purchase CDs do not own a CD player, according to Luminate. The report suggests that the CD has been recontextualized from an audio format into an affordable collectible. For younger generations, buying physical music is about aesthetic ownership and directly supporting artists, not necessarily listening to the disc.
Overall physical album sales—including vinyl, CDs, and cassettes—increased by 7.8% year-over-year. Vinyl sales hit 21.8 million units, while cassette sales were around 205,000. Vinyl continues to outsell CDs, a trend that has persisted for several years.
