Whether you think vinyl or CD provides the best sound quality doesn't matter when it comes down to proving the popularity of one format over the other.
Here, the truth behind a format's popularity lies in sales figures. And vinyl has given CD quite the drubbing in the 2020 sales wars.
Vinyl Outsells CD in 2020
The figures are in, as the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) 2020 year-end report crowns vinyl the victor in the physical format war, announced via an RIAA blog post.
2020 saw vinyl sales grow by almost 29% in value, year-over-year. At the end of December, vinyl sales had amassed a value in excess of $625 million.
By contrast, the CD continues down its slippery slope, with a reduction in sales of around 23% based on last year's figures. The value of all CD sales accounted for $483 million of all physical sales. The CD has seen marked decreases in sales (year-on-year) for several years, now.
What Other Formats Accounted for Physical Sales?
Other physical sales come from CD singles, cassettes, vinyl singles, DVD audio, and SACD. You will notice how vinyl and CD singles are both included in other formats.
We equate physical vinyl sales to vinyl albums (LPs, or long-plays) and EPs (extended plays). CD sales are the same, based on CD albums and CD EPs.
The total revenue from physical products stands at $1.1 billion. Really, streaming stole the show in this year's report.
That's right, the total streaming revenue for 2020 grew by 13.4%, netting $10.1 billion. Streaming services even outstripped digital downloads. It would seem that people seem to care less about owning something than they do simply being able to access it.
Streaming is showing no sign of slowing down its sales, but there is no doubt that the 2020 pandemic will have had a major hand in the revenue streaming services saw last year.
Will Vinyl Continue to Sell?
The vinyl resurgence is clearly happening. Despite the fact that vinyl never actually went away, its sales suffered at the hands of the CD for over three decades. You can't deny there is a certain satisfaction to the whole ceremony of vinyl playing.
With websites like Bandcamp giving musicians the opportunity not just to sell their own vinyl, but to have Bandcamp organize having the record pressed, it is no surprise that sales are on the up.
We'll just have to watch this space and see whether the vinyl trend continues, given the streaming model that the music industry so actively pushes. The sales peak might not last that long...