CDs vs. Vinyl: What’s Actually Selling in 2026 | We Buy Records Milwaukee
Vinyl has clearly led the physical music comeback for more than a decade. New vinyl outsells CDs by a wide margin, and used records remain the strongest collector category.
But something quieter has been happening alongside that growth. Used CDs are no longer being ignored — not because they’re suddenly rare, but because the conditions that made vinyl rebound now exist for CDs too.
If you’re in Milwaukee and trying to decide what to do with a shelf, closet, or basement full of CDs, here’s what actually matters.
Vinyl: ~43 million LPs sold
Revenue: ~$1.4 billion
CDs: ~37 million units sold
Revenue: ~$537 million
Average used vinyl price: ~$20
Average used CD price: ~$4–$5
Used CDs: ~25% of Discogs marketplace sales
What this shows: Vinyl dominates new physical sales by both units and revenue, but the used market tells a more nuanced story. Vinyl prices have matured, while CDs remain affordable and are seeing renewed movement through resale channels.
Sources: Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Discogs Marketplace sales summaries (2022–2024).
According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), vinyl records accounted for roughly 70% of all U.S. physical music revenue in 2023. Vinyl outsold CDs in unit sales for the second consecutive year.
U.S. consumers bought approximately 43 million new vinyl LPs in 2023, compared to about 37 million CDs. Vinyl revenue reached roughly $1.4 billion, nearly three times higher than CDs.
For sellers, this explains why vinyl remains the strongest physical format for resale and collector demand heading into 2026.
New CD sales collapsed through the 2000s and 2010s, reaching historic lows around 2020. Since then, CD sales have stabilized rather than continued their free fall.
RIAA data shows CD revenue rising in 2021, falling again in 2022, then recovering modestly in 2023 to approximately $537 million. That volatility reflects a format that still has buyers, but no longer drives mass growth.
In other words: CDs didn’t come back. They stopped disappearing.
Data from Discogs, the world’s largest physical music marketplace, shows that used vinyl sales surged during the pandemic and have since leveled off at historically high volumes.
At the same time, Discogs reports year-over-year growth in used CD transactions, with CDs now representing roughly one quarter of all marketplace sales. While volumes remain far lower than vinyl, the direction is notable.
Used CDs are not peaking — they are entering an early, price-driven rediscovery phase.
According to Discogs marketplace data, the average used vinyl record now sells for around $20. The average used CD sells for approximately $4–$5.
That gap has made CDs the most affordable entry point into physical music ownership — especially for younger buyers priced out of vinyl.
This is the same affordability dynamic vinyl benefited from in the early 2010s, before prices climbed.
If you have vinyl, CDs, or stereo equipment and want a simple, local option, we’re happy to take a look. No pressure. No sorting. Just honest answers from people who buy collections every day.