RIAA Reports Physical Music Sales Surge in 2026 as Vinyl and CD Revenue Grows 25.9%

Physical music formats posted a 25.9% overall revenue increase in 2026, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). CD sales climbed 58.6%, while vinyl rose 17.7%. Streaming nonetheless remained the largest source of recorded music revenue at $4.9 billion, a 4.7% gain over 2025. The RIAA published the figures in its mid-year report on recorded music revenue, which showed growth across every major category. The shift toward tangible media is attributed to streaming's controversial economics for artists and the impermanence of licensed catalogues, since albums can vanish from platforms when agreements change. Physical purchases also provide a more direct route to supporting musicians, as streaming services pay only fractions of cents per play. Analog listening additionally allows audiences to hear records as artists intended, without skipping tracks. The trend extends beyond music: Gen Z has embraced flip phones, analogue cameras, and other vintage gadgets as a respite from digital life. The RIAA's data was reported by My Modern Met, which also cited related coverage of vinyl surpassing CD sales for the first time since 1987, the Internet Archive's digitization of more than 100,000 vinyl records, and Australia's ban on fully AI-generated music from its official song charts.