CD revenue in the United States rose 58.6 percent in the first half of 2026, reaching $171 million, according to the Recording Industry Association of America's mid-year report. Consequence and Exclaim both covered the figures on September 1.
The comparable total a year earlier was roughly $108 million. Unit sales moved from 12 million discs to 17.5 million, an increase of 45.7 percent, so the revenue jump reflects both more discs sold and more money per disc.
Vinyl still earns considerably more. The format brought in $554 million across the same six months, but grew 17.7 percent, well short of the CD's rate. The RIAA's catch-all "other physical" category grew fastest of all in percentage terms, up 73.4 percent from 0.9 million to 1.6 million units, which Exclaim guessed is mostly cassettes.
Physical revenue overall rose 25.9 percent. That is the headline the trade body will point to after a decade in which the CD was written off as dead technology.
The RIAA is not the only body counting. Luminate, which tracks consumer sales rather than wholesale revenue net of returns, previously reported a 16 percent rise in US CD sales to 16.3 million units for the same period, with vinyl up 2.4 percent. K-pop, with its collectible packaging and multiple album variants, accounts for part of the growth, though Luminate found CD sales still up 6.7 percent with K-pop releases removed.
None of it moves the balance of the business. The US recorded music industry generated $6 billion in the first half of 2026, with streaming responsible for $4.9 billion, about 82 percent of the total. Paid subscription revenue alone climbed 7.8 percent to $3.1 billion across 111.1 million subscriptions, while download revenue fell 12.7 percent. The subscription side was covered here in Warner Music's 11 percent quarterly streaming gain, Luminate's other recent findings appear in its survey on AI disclosure, and the format story sits beside label results such as Reservoir Media posting $41.5M for the June quarter.
The facts
- US CD revenue rose 58.6 percent to $171 million in H1 2026.
- CD units climbed from 12 million to 17.5 million.
- Vinyl earned $554 million but grew 17.7 percent.
- Physical music revenue overall rose 25.9 percent.
- Luminate separately found CD sales up 16 percent by consumer count.
- Streaming made $4.9 billion of a $6 billion US total.
- Download revenue fell 12.7 percent.
How this checks out
Developing
Reported by 2 independent outlets
A few outlets have it so far, short of the bar we set for confirmed.
Cited sources 2
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