CD Sales Are Skyrocketing Amid Streaming Culture — What Does This Mean?

It appears compact disks, a.k.a CDs, are making a comeback as nostalgia hits some fans of classics like The Red Album by the Beatles, the Grease soundtrack, and even music compilations of top hits from back in the day.

Understandably, the advancement of technology is supposed to make some processes easier, including visual and audio entertainment. However, some bodies of work do not resonate the same if not played in their original form.

Looking back on the CD era

Those from the ‘80s and early 2000s can recall those times as the peak of CD use when one had to use a CD player, usually a stereo with a lid and a disc reader underneath, to play music and what have you. With a longer process, you could also put the CD content on repeat, shuffle, skip, and reorder the song arrangement to your taste.

It was fun exploring the mini-vinyl discs and its possibilities, especially having experienced the cumbersome cassette tapes that fizzled out in the ‘90s. Next came the introduction of internet-shared music in the early 2000s thanks to music-sharing software like Napster. This caused people to drop their CDs for the shiny new way, while those who kept them have been smiling to the bank lately.

CDs are making a comeback

While the public was captivated by fast-rising inventions like the MP3 player, the iPod, which was first introduced in late 2001, and computer hard drives, some CD lovers had their pieces of vinyl stashed for keepsakes, not knowing they would become valuable again decades later.

Today, a nostalgic generation and a curious Gen Z are seeking CDs again, as their sales have reportedly skyrocketed in recent times. Taylor Swift fans are even opting for special edition copies of her albums in CD format, and collectors are making money from recycling or selling their old disk stash on websites like eBay, Facebook marketplace, or Bonavendi.