CD’s are Still A Big Part of the Music Business

CD’s are still a big part of the music business, even though music streaming is a hot topic recently, and we’ve seen several streaming services that have been making their mark on the music industry…from Spotify, and Amazon Prime Music, to Tidal.

Despite many discussions turning towards music streaming and the downfall of music downloads, the physical CD is still a huge part of the muic business.  In fact, the latest report from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) shows that CD sales in 2014 was $1.85 billion.  This amounts to 27% of the total U.S. music revenue that has been recorded.

Even though CDs may be a thing of the past in the not so distant future (unit CD sales fell 16% in 2014 compared to 2013) , there are many CDs that are not accounted for in the total reporting e.g. CDs sold at band gigs or on artists websites, worship events, or bootlegs.

Streaming services like Spotify and Pandora have outpaced CD sales for the first time in 2014 accumulating $1.87 billion. Despite the apparent decline in CDs in the market, it may take longer than people think to finally become a thing of the past.