https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/riaa-vinyl-units-surpass-cds-1234693223/
Vinyl sold more units than CDs in 2022, according to a year-end report from the Recorded Industry Association of America
IT TOOK 35 years and an industry-altering digital music revolution, but for the first time since 1987, vinyl sold more units than CDs in the U.S. last year. The figure solidified vinyl’s dominance over an otherwise increasingly irrelevant physical music landscape.
The feat is among the most noteworthy stats from the Recording Industry Association of America’s 2022 year-end report released on Thursday, with consumers buying 41 million vinyl units last year compared to 33 million CDs. For decades, the thought that an ancient format like vinyl could outsell CDs was absurd, but as the vinyl boom started in the late aughts thanks to numerous factors like retro appeal and larger, more collectible album art, it eventually became more of an inevitability.
While vinyl just surpassed CDs in units, vinyl revenue itself has beat out CDs since the RIAA’s 2020 report. As per the most recent report, with $1.2 billion in revenue, vinyl now makes up 70 percent of all physical music sales…