dataviz

Vinyl Is Back

U.S. recorded music revenue by physical format, 1973-2025. Vinyl tops $1B for the first time since 1983 and now runs about 3.3x CD revenue.

Stacked area chart of U.S. recorded music revenue by physical format from 1973 to 2025, in nominal USD. Vinyl peaks at $1.5B in 1978, cassettes peak at $1.9B in 1990, and CDs peak at $7.5B in 2000 before collapsing. An inset zoom on 2010-2025 shows vinyl overtaking CDs in 2020 and reaching $1.04B in 2025 versus $0.31B for CDs.

Hard to miss the CD peak in 2000. $7.5B nominal, about five times what vinyl did at its 1978 peak.

Vinyl crossed $1B in 2025, first time since 1983, and now runs about 3.3x CD revenue. Before 2020, the last full year vinyl outsold CDs was 1986.

All nominal here. In 2025 dollars the 1978 vinyl peak would be around $7.4B and the 2000 CD peak around $14.1B, so the older peaks loom larger than the chart suggests, and the CD-to-vinyl peak ratio narrows from ~5x to ~2x.