Vinyl sales to overtake CDs for the first time since the '80s

A vinyl record. New Zealand Herald photograph by Dean Purcell.

Vinyl records continue their meteoric ascent from obscurity and are tipped to hit a major milestone later this year.

According to the latest mid-year report put out by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), vinyl sales are skyrocketing while sales of the once dominant CD format continue to bottom out.

The figures suggest that CD sales are declining three times as fast as vinyl sales are growing, with vinyl records now accounting for more than a third of the revenue being raked in from physical format releases.

The report states that vinyl pulled in $224.1 million on the sale of 8.6 million units in the first half of this year, increasing revenue by 12.8%. In contrast CD revenue was slightly greater, but was stagnant, selling 18.6million CDs and generating $247.9 million.

If vinyls popularity holds and its growth continues, which is expected to be the case, RIAA says that record revenue will soon overtake CD revenue for first time since 1986.

However both formats pale in comparison to online streaming services which continue to dominate the market and how people listen to music these days.

In the big picture vinyl accounted for just 4 percent of total industry revenues while streaming subscriptions accounted for 62%.