Per a recent year-end report released by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), 43 million vinyls were sold in 2023, 2 million more units than those sold in 2022. Vinyl records also outsold CDs, the second most common form of physical media, by 6 million units. Cassette tapes trailed behind even further, with less than 500,000 units sold. In terms of revenue, vinyl accounted for $1.4 billion while CDs brought in $537 million. This is the third year in a row that vinyl has bested its fellow physical media.
In 2022, CD sales fell behind vinyl record sales by almost 10 million, with vinyl selling 41 million units and CDs 33 million. Vinyl sales grew by 17% that year compared to 2021, reaching a staggering $1.7 billion. These impressive numbers have continued to rise since then. Ironically, per Statista, only 50% of those purchasing vinyls actually own record players.
Vinyl records have been on the rise for the past two decades, with sales increasing consistently over the past 17 years. Record sales jumped by over 60% since 2020, when the medium hit its record high sales of 27.5 million units. 2023 was the first year where vinyl record sales surpassed those of the 1980s.
Vinyl records accounted for an impressive 47.1% of all albums sold, and 57% of all physical albums sold in 2023. Physical media sales in general increased by almost 9%, rising up to 87 million. Digital sales, meanwhile, declined at a similar rate. Album sales as a whole rose 5.2% compared to 2023.
CDs, despite losing out to vinyl in both units sold and total revenue earned, still had a solid year. CDs saw an almost 3% increase in sales compared to 2022, reaching an impressive nearly 37 million units. The medium was the top selling form of physical media until 2021, when vinyl overtook CDs by 300,000 units sold.
Unsurprisingly, Taylor Swift and K-pop acts accounted for all of the top-10 selling CDs of the year. Swift's 1989 took the top title with 800,000 CD units sold. She also clinched the all five of top-5 selling vinyl records of 2023, with 1989 climbing to number one with just over a million units sold. Selling over 1.975 million units in traditional album sales in the U.S., 1989 is the biggest-selling album since 2015.
CD sales peaked in 2000, when 943 million CDs were sold across the United States. This astonishing drop is attributed to the rise of MP3 players, digital download market places like the iTunes store and, now, the prominence of streaming services.
Concerning vinyl, one business man even predicts that in 2024, revenue from records could reach an astonishing $5.2 billion.
"Vinyl provides a more sustainable and fair way to back artists, bypassing the intricate algorithms and low royalty payouts of streaming platforms," said Peter Fealey, the founder of A2D2, a service that allows you to "listen to your favourite records through any smart speaker."
However, both vinyl records and CDs have fierce competition in streaming services. In 2023, streaming services accounted for 84% of the revenue from music recorded in the United States for the second year in a row. Streaming remains the "biggest driver of growth," and the total revenue reached a record high of $17.1 billion.
