https://www.engadget.com/2018/03/22/cds-vinyl-outsell-digital-music-downloads/
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-22/music-industry-sees-fastest-growth-since-hootie-was-hot?utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=bd&utm_campaign=headline&cmpId=yhoo.headline&yptr=yahoo

While Spotify and Apple aren't going anywhere any time soon, neither are CDs or vinyl.

The music business posted its fastest growth since Boyz II Men and Hootie & the Blowfish topped the charts 23 years ago.

U.S. recorded music sales climbed 17 percent to $8.7 billion last year, the second straight gain in domestic revenue, the Recording Industry Association of America said Thursday.

Subscription services such as Spotify and Apple Music led the charge, with sales from paid streaming climbing 63 percent to $4.09 billion. Streaming services, including internet radio, now account for almost two-thirds of industry revenue. Sales of CDs and other physical formats are second at 17 percent.

Digital music downloads began to outsell physical media since 2012. It took four more years for digital music revenue to surpass those from physical media as well. Then streaming happened, and last year generated more money in the US than all the other formats. Now, digital downloads are coming in dead last, with fewer sales than CDs, vinyl or other physical media, according to the latest annual report from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Even though shipments of physical media dropped 4 percent to $1.5 billion, digital download revenues fell 25 percent to $1.3 billion in 2017, putting CDs and vinyl back on top of non-streaming music formats. Streaming continues to rule the roost, however, accounting for almost two-thirds of the total US music industry revenues in 2017, which represents most of the growth in the sector. One promising new streaming category is the "limited tier" service, like Amazon's unlimited Prime streaming to a single Echo speaker.

It's great to hear that CDs and physical media aren't quite dead. So you might wanna hold off on writing any obituaries. Maybe Best Buy will reconsider?

C'mon it's 2018! Who pays for digital music anymore? :D

But seriously, like your article said, it's not that CD/Vinyl sales are up, it's that digital downloads have plummetted due to competition from streaming.  :-X

It's good to hear that the music industry is making more money though.

Digital sales are plummeting really fast, they prob will die in a few short years (rumors say Apple is projecting to close iTunes somewhere maybe in the near future)

The physical sales are also pretty bad, but that has been in process since the mid 2000s so it's a really slow one. Unlike the digital ones which were the most succesful way only a decade ago and fell into nothingness in short ammount of times.

And yeah, happy to hear the music industry is still thriving.

Many are returning to vinyl because of the quality of sound.  It's convenience versus quality. Normally, convenience wins in the end!

C'mon it's 2018! Who pays for digital music anymore? :D

But seriously, like your article said, it's not that CD/Vinyl sales are up, it's that digital downloads have plummetted due to competition from streaming.  :-X

It's good to hear that the music industry is making more money though.


most people listen to internet music and internet music stations these days.

most people listen to internet music and internet music stations these days.
True, I need my daily dosis of 24/7 live Vaporwave YouTube broadcasts for instance

C'mon it's 2018! Who pays for digital music anymore? :D

But seriously, like your article said, it's not that CD/Vinyl sales are up, it's that digital downloads have plummetted due to competition from streaming.  :-X

It's good to hear that the music industry is making more money though.


I do. I prefer to own my music. I don’t want to have to rely on a streaming service. I hope Apple doesn’t shut down iTunes.

I do. I prefer to own my music. I don’t want to have to rely on a streaming service. I hope Apple doesn’t shut down iTunes.

Same here. I still purchase cds and digital downloads.

True, I need my daily dosis of 24/7 live Vaporwave YouTube broadcasts for instance


I'm signed up with Slacker, Accuradio, Pandora and Online Radio Box to name a few, ever heard of them? ???