After the vinyl, it’s the turn of the CD to return to the front of the stage. Record sales rose for the first time since 2004 in the United States according to data collected by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). CD numbers had been plummeting since 2004, a period when 767 million records had been sold. In comparison, 2020 was the worst year for the support with only 31.6 million cookies sold.
But sales started to rise again in 2021 with 46.6 million records sold, which represents a nice increase of + 47.7% compared to the previous year. CD revenue increased from $483.2 million to $584.2 million. If we often talk about the great return of vinyl, the CD still retains several advantages: ” the sound quality is very good, the format is small, practical, inexpensive to produce and uses fewer problematic materials than vinyl », Analyzes Sophian Fanen, author of the book Boulevard du stream.
In France, the figures are not yet known, but we can expect a similar increase. Recently, several artists have decided to highlight the CD in their promotional campaigns. Rappers Orelsan and Vald, for example, have offered different versions of their albums (5 different editions for V15 for Civilisation). For Sophian Fanen, buying a CD allows fans to support and show their attachment to the artists.
At the same time, vinyl continues to do well. The medium would have accounted for 23% of record sales in the UK in 2021 according to figures from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Adele is said to have had over 500,000 vinyls of her album pressed 30. In the penultimate week of December 2021, vinyl sales exceeded 2 million copies according to MRC Data: a first since 1991.
However, this good momentum could be stopped short by supply problems. The vinyl factories in activity are not numerous, and traffic jams are frequent at the end of the year. In addition, a price increase is expected following various shortages of components. If this return of the physical medium is interesting, remember that streaming remains by far the most popular platform: paid subscriptions have brought in more than 8.6 billion dollars in the United States and represent more than 57.2% of revenues. measured by the RIAA.
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