Vinyl Record Sales Soar, Outselling CDs for the First Time Since 1980s
I was so excited when my husband and I got married and my parents gifted us with a record player. I'm guessing that most people would think that was a strange wedding gift but the sentiment behind it meant it was the absolute perfect gift for us.
When I was a little girl, I used to wake up every weekday morning at 5:00 a.m. and start the day by playing Glen Campbell's "(Sittin' On) the Dock of the Bay" from his album, "Wichita Lineman."
I have always loved listening to music on vinyl. Not only because the uncompressed format means the audio sounds even better, but because there's something nostalgic about the sweet crackle of the record player.
I've collected records for my entire life and just before I got married, my record player broke. Being gifted with a new one was extra special for that reason and the player has gotten tons of use all these years and now, we share it with our little boy. Saturday night family dance parties are a real thing in our house and the first song we always kick off with is..."(Sittin' On) the Dock of the Bay."
It seems like the rest of the world has jumped aboard the vinyl loving train because for the very first time since the 1980s, vinyl record sales have surpassed CD sales and in a massive way.
According to CNN, in the first half of 2020, CD sales came to $129.9 million dollars while vinyl record sales came in at $232.1 million dollars. That means that vinyl records sold $102.2 million more. Crazy, right? Record sales went up 4 percent in the first half of the year while CD sales were down 48 percent.
If you're looking for an all-in-one record player that will not only play records, but also the radio, CDs, and any cassette tapes you've got collecting dust, this is the device gifted to me and my husband on our wedding day that we absolutely love: