People in the United States are once again spending more on compact discs, but the financial consequences extend beyond a desire to remember the past. The music industry might be realising that customers will pay for having physical copies of music even if the same songs are already available via streaming subscriptions.
The Recording Industry Association of America’s September 1, 2026 report shows that U.S. CD revenue rose by 58.6 per cent to $171.1 million in the first six months of 2026; CD unit shipments increased by 45.7 per cent to 17.5 million, and vinyl revenue went up by 17.7 per cent to $543.8 million.
The figures are especially interesting since streaming kept on expanding; digital streaming revenue rose by 4.7% to $4.89 billion and made up about 82% of the recorded music industry’s nearly $6 billion in first-half revenue. Physical albums seem to be developing a different commercial role rather than being replaced by streaming.
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Perhaps the reason why CDs are making a comeback has less to do with how Americans listen to music and more to do with what they are willing to buy. Nowadays, physical albums are increasingly being treated as collectibles, giving fans something tangible that a music streaming subscription fails to offer, such as special packaging, artwork and exclusive editions.
A study released by Luminate on July 15, 2026 offers further evidence on the issue. The entertainment analytics firm noted a 16% rise in U.S. CD sales amounting to 16.3 million units, the increase being largely due to collectible K-pop releases. Indeed, CD sales rose by 6.7% even when the K-pop recordings were left out.
The sales figures produced by Luminate are different from those of the RIAA since the two organizations measure the market in different ways. Yet both sets of data show that there is renewed commercial interest in compact discs, and Luminate’s results point to collectors and loyal fans playing an important role in this growth.
Jaime Marconette, Luminate’s vice president of Music Insights and Industry Relations, explained the changing relationship between music and consumer spending:
“The mechanics of modern music consumption are shifting toward culture-driven growth and community engagement.”
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The financial implications are more interesting if you go beyond the percentage rises. According to the RIAA’s figures, CD revenue increased from $107.9 million in the first half of 2025 to $171.1 million in the corresponding period of 2026, which amounts to an extra $63.2 million passing through the wholesale market.
Revenue increased at a faster rate than unit shipments. When the reported wholesale revenue is divided by the number of units, the average value per CD in 2026 is approximately $9.78, as compared with $8.99 the previous year. This corresponds to an increase of about 8.7% in the average wholesale value per unit, indicating that the industry’s recovery goes beyond merely selling additional discs.
It does not therefore follow that retailers increased their prices by the same amount or that the record companies ended up more profitable. Changes in the proportion of albums sold, in special editions and in other commercial arrangements can have an effect on the average value of the shipments. Furthermore, the RIAA data do not include information about manufacturing expenses, distribution costs or the royalties received by individual artists.
A key point from the financial standpoint is that during its time in the market a single recording can yield various types of revenue. While an album is sold separately as a physical item to be collected, the song itself can generate ongoing streaming income.
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Even though the figures for CD revenue are impressive, streaming is still by a long way the more popular option. In the first six months of 2026 the RIAA recorded streaming revenue of about $4.89 billion, as compared to $171.1 million from CDs. Premium paid subscription accounts rose by 5.5% to reach 111.1 million, which shows that Americans have not suddenly abandoned digital listening.
There is one other point that is important. In the first half of 2025 CD revenue had declined sharply, so some of the rise in the most recent period is due to a recovery compared with a weaker previous period. Whether or not this recovery turns into long-term, sustained growth will depend on future consumer demand and not on a single exceptionally strong six-month span.
The main reason for considering CDs not to be a direct rival to streaming is that the two formats now offer different experiences: streaming gives convenient access to huge music libraries, whereas physical albums allow you to permanently own a particular recording and, more and more, give you a collectible link with an artist.
The difference could prove to be of financial value to record companies and musicians who are able to build loyal audiences; it enables firms to offer access to music via digital services while at the same time promoting physical products to those listeners who prefer something more personal than a subscription.
The return of CDs thus offers the music industry in America an unusual opportunity. It’s possible that the future will see consumers not having to make a choice between streaming and owning music at all, since the same group could keep paying for the convenience of digital services while buying physical albums for a completely different reason.
The next chance for the music industry might be to get people to see hearing a song and owning it as two separate products for which it is worth paying.