Currently, there is a considerable number of people who do not know what CDs and vinyl are, two formats that, with the arrival of streaming, seem to be disappearing little by little.
It has been 40 years since the CD appeared for the first time, the musical format that, to tell the truth, caused a great revolution.
Made by Royal Philips Electronicsthe boom of the CD or compact disc, the 90’s and the 00’s were the years of greatest boom of said format, as reported by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) Recently; however, with the appearance of the various streaming platforms that currently dominate the market, both CDs and vinyl are no longer part of the audience’s radar.
According to what the RIAA mentions, CD sales in the United States have fallen by as much as 95 percent since they peaked in 2000 and are currently at their lowest level since 1986, when Whitney Houston’s self-titled debut album topped the Billboard charts.
From 2005 to the present day, CDs have ceased to be the most valued artistic work by fans, although, yes, there are always those who prefer to buy the artistic piece as a matter of nostalgia.
Even in March of this year, for the first time in 10 years, sales of compact discs grew significantly in the United States. The RIAA reported that shipments increased from 31.6 million in 2020 to 46.6 million in 2021, and revenue for the format increased from 483.2 million to 584.2 million.
CDs, vinyl… what is that?
As we mentioned at the beginning, there is currently an audience that did not know -and does not know- compact discs or vinyl records, mainly because their way of accessing music is totally led by streaming (Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music , among others).
A recent study reveals that, in 2021, around 70 percent of the revenue generated by the recorded music industry worldwide corresponds to streaming, while physical audio media represented less than 20 percent.
Secondly, a survey conducted by Statista’s Global Consumer Survey reveals that CDs and other physical formats, such as vinyl, maintain a very small niche of followers.
If we look at the graph deposited above, in China, 87 percent of audiences avoid music in physical format at all costs, giving priority to the new dynamics of the market.
It is noteworthy that, within the Top 5, Mexico is in third position, where 83 percent of those surveyed responded that they do not listen to music on CDs or other physical media.
Be that as it may, what has become clear over the years is that the influence of music does not stop, but quite the opposite, since a significant number of people continue to be accompanied by music in their daily lives.