CD is winning over vinyl, at least in the UK.
In 2024, vinyl had its best year in 30 years, pushing overall music sales up for the first time since 1994 in the UK. But, in terms of units sold, CDs remain the king.
Vinyl’s Best Year Yet
Vinyl keeps getting more popular every year. 2024 was its 17th year of growth, with sales jumping 9.1% to reach 6.7 million records. That’s the highest it’s been in over 30 years!
What’s cool is that it’s not just old albums driving these sales. Seven of the top 10 vinyl albums this year were new releases. This shows that vinyl isn’t just for those who are chasing nostalgia anymore. Plenty of people want their new music on vinyl too.
Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department was the year’s top vinyl album, selling over 111,000 copies. Other popular new albums included Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard And Soft, Fontaines D.C.’s Romance, The Cure’s Songs Of A Lost World, and Charli XCX’s Brat.
But classic albums still have their place. Oasis’s “Definitely Maybe (30th Anniversary Edition)” landed at number two, helped by buzz about the band’s first concerts in 15 years.
CD Sales Showing Stability
CD sales continued to drop in 2024. But, it wasn’t nearly as bad as before.
The 2.9% drop to 10.5 million units looks pretty good compared to the bigger drops we saw in recent years (19.4% in 2022 and 6.9% in 2023).
This slower decline suggests the market might be stabilizing.
Just like with vinyl, new music is still driving CD sales. In fact, almost all the bestsellers (19 out of the top 20 CDs) were albums from 2024 or 2023.
Coldplay’s album Moon Music topped the CD sales, selling 182,166 units in its first week. That’s the highest for any album since Ed Sheeran’s ÷ in 2017, and Coldplay’s tenth No. 1 studio album.
Meanwhile, Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department came in second, with both albums together selling over 400,000 units.
All this shows that while CDs might not be as popular as they once were, they still have plenty of loyal fans, thanks to strong new releases and their ongoing appeal.
Physical Music’s Comeback
Overall, sales of physical music albums have grown to 17.38 million units. That’s a surprising trend especially in a market mostly led by streaming.
Yes, physical formats make up a smaller part of overall music listening. But, they still hold value both culturally and commercially.
Vinyl records are especially popular again, thanks to exclusive editions, collector appeal, and big new releases. They’re now a major format for both new music and classic re-releases.
CDs, while selling less than before, are not disappearing as quickly as expected.
This shows that many fans still prefer owning music they can hold, even in a digital world.