If it was any other year, this would be pretty shocking, but 2020 just about has me fully numb.  Still, it’s a little crazy.  For the first time since the 1980s, vinyl records have outsold CDs.  

In the first half of the year, vinyl accounted for $232.1 million of music sales.  CDs only brought in $129.9 million.  Vinyl grew by 4% in the first half of 2020, while CD sales were down 48%.  Overall, physical sales are down 23%. 

Which isn’t all THAT surprising, since the world is pretty much moving to streaming and digital music . . . and records are the only physical medium that’s “trendy” right now.

Streaming by the way, is up 12%, and accounts for more than 85% of music industry revenue.