The glorious return of the Compact Disc
I did not see this coming - twenty five years later the original topic of this website is trending.
It is happening. Vintage CD-players are flying off the flea market shelves and sales are hot on online marketplaces. Prices are up for classic hardware and rare models are precious collector's items. Also new and innovative CD player models from Moondrop, FiiO, S.M.S.L and others have been launched to the market, which is a clear signal that something is happening on the demand side.
New music is still produced and sold as physical discs, even thought Spotify and others came out nearly two decades ago. Actually, the CD sales bottomed around 2020 and have been on a single digit rise ever since. Subsequently there are now early market reports that black CD-R media sales are seeing a slight resurgence in 2025.
But why is this happening?
The phenomena is not new, but rather history repeating itself. Vinyl revival started almost 20 years ago, back in 2007, but has reportedly peaked around 2022. If you walk by your local hi-fi dealer you are likely to see vinyl record players at the sales windows. Besides the desire to be fashionably vintage, there are several rational reasons for the comeback of the CD:
- Streaming services are pricey. People spend a lot of money for all sorts subscription based digital entertainment. Movies, TV-series, live sports and even console gaming are now billed per month. All this may add up to a hefty monthly bill.
- Loss of audio quality. It is surprisingly difficult to get bit perfect CD quality audio these days. Smart devices like phones, televisions and media players, mess with the audio signal by resampling, compressing and manipulating it at will. In practice you need a lossless quality streaming service (Tidal, Qobuz, soon Spotify) and a dedicated WiFi-streamer.
- Vinyl is expensive, but CDs are not. New vinyl releases are expensive, costing twice as much or more than a CD version of the same album. On the second hand market the difference is even bigger. It is very expensive to build a decent collection of music on vinyl, so Compact Disc is a solution for the budget minded. For the money you spend on annually for a music streaming service can buy you a big stack of CDs. Flea markets are full of them.
- CDs can be ripped and used digitally. It is relatively easy to rip a CD to a computer and stream from there. Apply audio compression and your smartphone can hold a massive personal music collection on the go. You can also make perfect copies to CD-Rs, further expanding your physical music collection. The Compact Disc being digital does not limit your personal use cases.
- Subjectively better usability and musical experience. Am I the only one who is getting pissed at the fact that you need a smartphone for just about everything? I recently got back into CDs and it is surprisingly delightful to put a disc on the player tray and press play. Music albums should be listened as a whole, as good artists have put a lot of thought into them, while streaming services push you to endless skipping cycle.
Check your (parents') garage!
Compact discs and CD-Rs bring back golden memories for the generation X, but the millenials and younger have grown into streaming. The middle aged folk have mostly ditched their CD collections and players when Spotify and others emerged. But if you still have your CD collection and player stuffed at the back of the garage, now it is time to bring them back to the living room as the Compact Disc is starting to have that desirable vintage cool factor.
Personally I could not be happier about this surprising turn of a trend. If I only have the time, I will be writing some insightful articles on how to get (back) into the Compact Disc game. There is a lot to be covered, including ripping, burning and what hardware to buy in the 2020's.