Why are CD sales suddenly growing again?
Jay Peters is a senior reporter covering technology, gaming, and more. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme.
CD sales are apparently going up, reportedly thanks to fans realizing they’re an affordable way to support their favorite artists. According to a new report from research firm Luminate, 16.3 million CDs were sold in the first half of 2026 in the US, a 16 percent increase year-over-year. The growth in CD sales was driven by “collection building, price accessibility, massive albums such as BTS’ ARIRANG and a strong K-pop release schedule,” Luminate says.
Even if you remove K-pop sales from the data, CD sales still went up in the US, increasing 6.7 percent. And it appears that some people aren’t even buying the CDs to listen to them, as Luminate’s report notes that “approximately” half of the Gen Z and Millennial buyers picking up CDs...
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