CD sales growth outpaced vinyl in the first half of 2026 • Hacker News Board

Re: CD sales growth outpaced vinyl in the first half of 2026

#131

Post by gib444 » Fri, Jul 17, 2026, 10:57 AM UTC

herrh wrote: post #107

In order to make my kids (2 and 4) be able to play music on their own without having to use a smart device or screen i bought an old boombox for like 10 dollars a couple of years ago. We buy a lot of records, though exclusively in goodwill-like stores, and they love it. They have a lot of audiobooks for kids but also cd:s with music. A favourite right now is Aquas debut album Aquarium (the one with Barbie Girl) I thi…

> A favourite right now is Aquas debut album Aquarium (the one with Barbie Girl)

That's awesome. I remember when that song came out. Those were the days...

(I hope it isn't driving you crazy haha(

Re: CD sales growth outpaced vinyl in the first half of 2026

#132

Post by steveBK123 » Fri, Jul 17, 2026, 10:59 AM UTC

I started buying physical media again, first vinyl and now CDs too.

It started as an impulse purchase and then evolved into hunting down various electronic remixes from the 90s heyday that are not available (legally) in electronic form.

Then I started to notice more & more how my streaming services were revoking songs out of my playlists, which reminded me I don't own anything I can't hold with in my hands.

My final annoyance with the enshittification of streaming music is just the UI/UX of these apps now. I don't want the buttons to move, I don't want a notification, I don't want a popup. I want to press play and listen to music like a big boy. Despite our phones being 100x faster, it seems to take longer and longer to simply do that.

Re: CD sales growth outpaced vinyl in the first half of 2026

#133

Post by xienze » Fri, Jul 17, 2026, 11:11 AM UTC

asciimov wrote: post #92

piskov wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

However if you’ve tried to read those cd-rw after 20-30 years, they would most likely be corrupted. Factory stampted cds are better in this regard

Factory stamps are still not immune to bit rot, even when stored in ideal conditions.

Maybe not, but I think the concerns are a bit overblown. Just like the other poster, I've had CDs and DVDs that lived for over 10 years in an attic and a fair number of them are 25+ years old. No problems reading them!

Re: CD sales growth outpaced vinyl in the first half of 2026

#134

Post by jeroenhd » Fri, Jul 17, 2026, 11:19 AM UTC

ColdStream wrote: post #24

About 10 years back I figured that this was coming. CDs are the best of both worlds. Near perfect audio quality, not too big physically, cannot have the rights revoked, no subscription fees but really easy to rip and put on your phone or whatever. A few years back I saw some people buying collections of thousands of discs for maybe $100. Even if 10% of it was good, that was still a huge win. Those huge hauls are beco…

slotMusic/slotRadio has tried to sell music through SD cards. They never took off, but a full SD card would probably be the best balance in terms of reliability, size, and capacity in my opinion. Plus, a surprising amount of media devices still carry SD card readers.

Flash storage developments came too late, but the spinning disks and risk of physical damage to the plastic are an annoying risk to have to deal with. Even Minidisc still required some form of physical motion.

Re: CD sales growth outpaced vinyl in the first half of 2026

#135

Post by prmoustache » Fri, Jul 17, 2026, 11:20 AM UTC

Kirby64 wrote: post #66

999900000999 wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple has ruined audio for a generation. I have a budget android phone with a jack and it's miles more convenient than a dongle or Bluetooth headphones which are never comfortable to me. Nothing could sell a phone with a jack, but then you don't need to pay 300$ for some crappy Bluetooth headphones

> Nothing could sell a phone with a jack, but then you don't need to pay 300$ for some crappy Bluetooth headphones Have you looked at the price of actually mediocre Bluetooth headphones recently? They’re like… $20 for a distinct fine set of true wireless headphones, including the case, even from a real brand. Certainly comparable to $20 wired headphones.

All <$100 bluetooth headphones sound like shit though while you can somehow get, not hifi quality but decent cabled ones for less than $50

Re: CD sales growth outpaced vinyl in the first half of 2026

#136

Post by bityard » Fri, Jul 17, 2026, 11:25 AM UTC

xattt wrote: post #79

shimman wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there a reason why or is it just the quality of the materials?

Stamped = Data pits are a physical, unalterable thing on the disc. CD-R = Pits are still physical, but they are on a die layer that can fade. Some discs are more resilient (blue, gold) than others (cyan). CD-RW = Pits are (mostly) bistable for practical purposes, but will degrade to a neutral state on a long-term basis.

"Unalterable" is a matter of some debate... The physical pits and lands are on a super thin layer of aluminum. Ideally, this is protected with a laquer coating, but a lot of CD manufacturers in the 90s and 00s skimped on this to save money. I owned a lot of CDs where the coating didn't hold up over time and the aluminum just sort of flaked off, or became damaged/scratched easier than they should have with normal handling.

Re: CD sales growth outpaced vinyl in the first half of 2026

#137

Post by throw0101d » Fri, Jul 17, 2026, 11:29 AM UTC

imp0cat wrote: post #101

q7xvh97o2pDhNrh wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And here I am driving a 2003 Golf with a tape deck (and CD player). That sounds wonderful. There was a brief, magical moment in history when cars would come with AM/FM radio, a tape deck, a CD player, and an aux port so that you could plug in audio from every other device that humanity would invent for the rest of time. It feels like the most fleeting of moments, and it was so long ago. Maybe it was just one summer…

If you could go back in time and show your younger self Spotify streamed wirelessly from a phone via AA/AC, now that would be magical. Pretty much endless amount of music delivered instantly. But I understand that it is a different kind of magic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-kqUkZnDcM (VW Cabrion Pink Moon ad)

> But I understand that it is a different kind of magic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-kqUkZnDcM (VW Cabrion Pink Moon ad)

I also found the 'night drive' ad to be interesting:

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U9I7QrpSkk

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Under_Milk_Wood

* https://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0608221h.html

Re: CD sales growth outpaced vinyl in the first half of 2026

#138

Post by intrikate » Fri, Jul 17, 2026, 11:29 AM UTC

HackerThemAll wrote: post #124

Sorry but vinyls don't offer anything but nostalgia for "old, good times", and approach to the audiophile crowd of insane people. I don't buy into these crackles. I stopped using MP3. A high quality OPUS file format is the way to go for me. I can take the whole music library in my pocket to the places with no internet, listen through good enough in-ear headphones, or with a small speaker (if for more people), and cha…

I mean, I could take an amplifier, my speakers and my turntable all with a big battery station anywhere I want to play records. Less convenient, sure, but "I can take it with me!" is not the win you expect here, haha.

Re: CD sales growth outpaced vinyl in the first half of 2026

#139

Post by wvh » Fri, Jul 17, 2026, 11:36 AM UTC

I've been digitising my music collection since 2000 and still buy CDs or, if available, lossless FLACs. I really wonder how many people still bother "owning" the music they like instead of "renting" it. It might be irrational, but buying it and owning it feels very different than getting it over the radio or some streaming service.

Re: CD sales growth outpaced vinyl in the first half of 2026

#140

Post by herrh » Fri, Jul 17, 2026, 11:50 AM UTC

gyulai wrote: post #126

herrh wrote: post #107

In order to make my kids (2 and 4) be able to play music on their own without having to use a smart device or screen i bought an old boombox for like 10 dollars a couple of years ago. We buy a lot of records, though exclusively in goodwill-like stores, and they love it. They have a lot of audiobooks for kids but also cd:s with music. A favourite right now is Aquas debut album Aquarium (the one with Barbie Girl) I thi…

I've been on a journey to rediscover cassettes as a medium this year, both for myself and my kid. For myself, the motivation was ownership over streaming and wanting to support the long tail of artists (or, anyways, the subset whose music I happen to like). For my kid, my motivation looks just like yours: not wanting to give him access to smart devices and wanting to keep him away from screens. The big learning was t…

Yeah, i also started considering introducing cassettes for several of the reasons you state above, especially the ease in which you can make the cassettes. I have been a little hesitant because it feels like buying empty cassettes is pretty hard when it comes to the cost, it is pretty cheap to buy a lot of empty CD:s (In Sweden you can get 10 for less than a dollar each) but cassettes are several times more expensive and there is a much bigger lack of options for cassettes in second hand-stores.

But you have a great point regarding the durability (and the sound and esthetics). I have been a bit afraid of them playing with the tape and me having to detangle it, but maybe that is not such a big problem. Especially when it comes to compact players, i bought a cheap second hand portable cd-player for my 4 year old to listen to with headphones, but they seem very easily breakable compared to an old tape deck. But now i'm feeling pretty inspired so I think I might try getting hold of an old portable tape deck and try!