No, Vinyl Records Aren’t Outselling CDs - Do the Math | Radio Survivor

Paul Riismandel writes for Radio Survivor about the inaccuracies in all of those articles trumpeting the demise of the CD corresponding to the rise in vinyl purchases. He notes initially that the number of units moved based on the total sales is deceiving, because CD’s are much cheaper than vinyl.¹ CD’s, in fact, are holding their own as a physical medium on which to acquire music.

As vinyl sales dropped in the 90s in favor of digital discs, companies pressed fewer records, and pressing plants gradually shut down. While CD sales have slowed in the last decade, they haven’t yet experienced the kind of drop-off that vinyl did. Although the last ten years have seen a vinyl resurgence, aging plants struggled to keep up with demand, and new plants came on line, all increasing costs. CDs, on the other hand, became a mature technology, with production costs having pretty much bottomed out in the early 2000s, and not having increased much since then.

(🔗 Source: twitter.com)