The resilient format raked in $1.2 billion in 2022, outselling CDs by nearly 8 million units.
Gone are the days of shimmery plastic CDs and chunky jewel cases, the past is making a comeback in a back way. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has revealed in its annual revenue report that vinyl sales have outpaced CD sales for the first time since 1987.
Sales of physical music formats, like vinyl, CDs, and cassette tapes, saw a 4% increase from 2021 to 2022, but last year vinyl made up $1.2 billion of the $1.7 billion in physical media sales according to the report. In physical units, records outsold CDs 41.3 million to 33.4 million, respectively—RIAA says this is vinyl’s sixteenth consecutive year of growth. CD sales actually fell 18% from $585 million to $482 million in revenue between 2021 to 2022, but the report suggests that 2021 saw a rebound in sales after 2020 took a chunk out of CD manufacturing and sales.
https://gizmodo.com/vinyl-outsells-cds-for-first-time-riaa-music-media-1850211706