CD sales are making an unexpected comeback amid a retro tech boom

Retro tech is making a comeback, and this week, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) put hard numbers to that trend in terms of music consumption habits.

Surprisingly, the organization reported that CDs — yes, the shiny, round things that Spotify supposedly killed — are growing once again.

According to the RIAA’s new report, CDs generated $171.1 million in revenue during the first half of 2026 — up 58.6% from roughly $107.9 million in the first half of 2025 — on 17.5 million units sold, up 45.7% from about 12 million units in the same period last year. That rebound is all the more interesting because it follows a rough 2025.

Last year’s full-year report showed CD revenue had actually fallen 7.8% for the full year, from $338.9 million in 2024 to $312.4 million in 2025, while units sold dropped 11.6%, from 33.3 million to 29.5 million. The growth comes amid a surge of renewed interest in simpler tech, like so-called “dumbphones,” digital cameras, typewriters, landlines, and physical media like CDs and vinyl, among other categories.

For Gen Z, the demand for these devices represents a sort of yearning for an era of tech they never got to experience — where you had more control over when you engaged with technology and how, and tech itself had less room to invade your life with its notifications, addictive apps, and algorithms.

Several startups are playing in this space now, too, including landline makers like Tin Can, Ooma, and Pinwheel, and non-smartphones like those from Light, Dumb Co, Minimal, and others, including the soon-to-launch BlackBerry-like Clicks. Meanwhile, Gen Z consumers are snapping up old gadgets at thrift stores or on vintage tech websites like eBay or Retrospekt.

And to be fair, the trend could be bigger than the RIAA’s numbers demonstrate, as they don’t include used CD sales, like those discs bought from thrift bins or garage sales, nor do they account for how many CDs have now been handed down from Gen X parents to their kids. We should note there’s one caveat to the trend here.

The RIAA changed how it calculates dollar figures in 2025, switching from estimated retail value to wholesale value. That means the 2024 and 2025 revenue numbers aren’t directly comparable. But unit sales, which aren’t affected by that change, tell the same fundamental story: 29.5 million CDs sold in 2025, down from 33.3 million in 2024.

So CDs were still declining before this year’s unexpected rebound. Vinyl sales continue to grow, too. In fact, so-called physical media revenue in the first half of 2026 jumped 25.9% to $731.5 million, driven ⁠not only by the 58.6% increase in CD revenue but also by a 17.7% increase in vinyl revenue.