Everyone Wrote Off CDs. Gen Z Had Other Plans.
- Chris Harrison
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
If you grew up in the 1990s or early 2000s, you'll probably remember the ritual of buying CDs and vinyl. For me, it was a trip to HMV at the weekends back when the shelves stretched endlessly with rows upon rows of CDs. Armed with money my parents had given me over the week for school lunches (which should have really been spent on actual lunch), I'd spend what felt like hours deciding which new album interested me the most and deserved a space on my CD rack.
Buying music, like it was for physical games, was an actual experience, not just a digital transaction. You'd pick up the CD, study the cover artwork, read the track listing and once opened, you'd flick through the lyric book religiously for all those exclusive behind-the-scenes photos. Every music album purchase was a deliberate choice and each one became part of the soundtrack that you'd have on repeat for weeks or months after purchase. There was no endless selection of music or algorithms deciding what you should hear next, no infinite playlists, just the excitement of discovering one album and actively listening through the entirety of it.
That linear listening experience is becoming increasingly appealing again, and Gen Z is driving the resurgence.
Remember When Buying Music Was an Event?
While streaming remains the dominant way people listen to music, physical formats are enjoying a remarkable resurgence. Vinyl has, without a question, been leading the revival for years, with 2026 marking the 19th consecutive year of growth, but CDs are now making an unexpected comeback of their own.
Recent figures from the US highlight the upward trend. During the first half of 2026, CD sales increased by an impressive 16% year-on-year, significantly outperforming even vinyl, which grew by 2.4%. Vinyl still remains the largest physical format, with 21.8 million albums sold, while around 205,000 cassettes also found buyers. Altogether, sales of CDs, vinyl and cassettes climbed 7.8% to approximately 38.2 million units.
The IFPI reported in it's 2025 global report that paid subscription streaming grew 8.8% and accounted for 52.4% of total revenue with 837 million users of paid streaming subscription accounts, whilst physical formats returned to growth with revenue increasing by 8%.
According to data from analytics company Luminate, the growth in CD sales has been driven by two key factors: affordability and a growing desire among fans to build physical collections. KPop has also played a major role, with BTS's comeback album ARIRANG selling 516,000 physical copies in the US during its opening week, including 208,000 vinyl copies, the biggest weekly vinyl sales figure for a group since Luminate began electronically tracking purchases in 1991.
It appears that like vinyl, CD's are now coming back into the spotlight to supplement the convenience of streaming, where fans can collect exclusive and limited variations of the favourite musicians music to display with pride.
Why Are CDs Making a Comeback?
For years, CDs were viewed as a format in decline, often mentioned alongside cassettes as a format that had been left behind. Although neither ever completely disappeared, both became niche products, in relations to the numbers sold during their heydays, while streaming transformed the way people consumed music.
Vinyl, meanwhile, experienced an extraordinary revival that few in the industry anticipated. Demand grew so rapidly that pressing plants struggled to keep pace after decades of understandable downsizing. Even GZ Media, the world's largest vinyl pressing plant, admitted it underestimated the scale of vinyl's resurgence, and even though the company began ramping up production, record labels still face months-long production queues to get their artist's music on vinyl.
One of the biggest drivers is a new generation of music fans, with many younger listeners discovering CDs for the very first time. Research from Key Production Group found that throughout 2025, Generation Z purchased more CDs than Millennials, Generation X and Baby Boomers combined. Even more surprisingly, almost half (46%) of Generation Alpha reported listening to music on CDs.
The format also offers something streaming cannot easily replicate, for now anyway, and that is owning physical editions complete with artwork, lyric booklets, exclusive packaging, included merch and limited releases. Compared with vinyl, CDs are considerably more affordable while still providing a tangible connection to the artists that the fans love.
Collectability Is Driving Demand
Major artists (and labels) are increasingly becoming interested in releasing albums across multiple CD editions, deluxe versions, exclusive artwork, bonus tracks and retailer exclusive variants to attract younger generations.
Rather than simply selling music, labels are creating collectible products that encourage fans to own every single version and collect multiple copies for variations in added bonuses.
Several recent blockbuster releases helped accelerate this trend throughout 2025 and 2026. Taylor Swift's The Life of a Showgirl, the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack and BTS's ARIRANG all generated huge demand for the physical versions.
Physical Music Is Growing Again
The resurgence isn't limited to the United States.
According to the BPI, UK physical music revenue exceeded £250 million in 2025 for the first time in eight years. Overall physical sales increased by 12.8 per cent to £278 million, marking a third consecutive year of growth.
Of course, vinyl continued its long-running success story, with revenue rising almost 20 per cent to £174.7 million its highest level in more than 30 years. CDs also returned to growth, with revenue increasing by 3.1 per cent to £99.6 million after a slight decline in 2024.
Taken together, the figures suggest physical music is no longer simply clinging on and surviving, it's becoming an increasingly valuable part of the modern music industry once again.
More Than Just Nostalgia
What began as a nostalgic revival has evolved into something much bigger. Vinyl has now enjoyed nearly two decades of sustained growth, while CDs have halted their decline and are once again finding new audiences around the world.
For many listeners, physical music offers something streaming never can: ownership, collectability and a more meaningful connection with the artists they support. As long as labels continue to embrace limited editions, exclusive releases and premium packaging, CDs appear set to remain a lasting part of the music landscape rather than a forgotten relic of the past.
Now, can we introduce the magic of VHS to Gen Alpha? After all, who doesn't remember giving the cassette player a good smack when the picture started playing up, or seeing the phrase, "Be kind, rewind"?
