Vinyl record sales surpass CDs for the first time since 1980

The "boom" of vinyl records (2016)

New York (CNN Business) -

The days when vinyl records were a nostalgic relic of the past are long gone.

This year, vinyl sales surpassed CD sales for the first time since the 1980s in America.

Vinyl records accounted for $ 232.1 million in music sales in the first half of the year, compared to CDs, which generated just $ 129.9 million, according to a report by the Recording Industry Association. of the United States (RIAA, for its acronym in English).

• The return of vinyl: Sony 'revives' these records after 28 years

Vinyl records, also known as "wax-pressed records," were common before cassettes and CDs became the preferred way of listening to music.

But that hasn't stopped vinyl records from making a comeback.

Since 2005, vinyl sales have grown consecutively.

In the first half of 2020, vinyl revenue was up 4%, while CD revenue was down 48%, according to the RIAA.

However, the rise in interest in vinyl has not been enough to prevent physical sales from falling.

Physical sales fell 23% to $ 376 million in the first half of the year.

This as the pandemic continues to paralyze the norms of the music industry.

Concerts and visits to music stores practically disappeared.

Vinyl records vs.

streaming services

Despite the lag in physical sales growth, music streaming services have continued to grow.

Broadcasting, which includes revenue from paid broadcasting, ad broadcast and radio broadcast, grew 12% to $ 4.8 billion during the first six months of 2020, the RIAA found.

• A compliment to vinyl records

For streaming services alone, more listeners have been willing to pay to access the music.

Subscriptions to paid streaming services, such as Spotify and Apple Music, increased by 24%, the RIAA reported.

That makes streaming the dominant music format, accounting for more than 85% of the music industry's revenue.

So far, overall music industry sales have grown 5.6%, driven primarily by streaming, for a total of $ 5.7 billion during the first six months of this year.

United StatesMusic streaming