The way people listen to music is constantly evolving. Since its invention in the 1990s, streaming has led recorded music sales. However, while streaming dominates, vinyl records have been making a quiet comeback, becoming the most popular physical category and the second most popular music category overall.
In Canada, the vinyl record category, which Statistics Canada groups with DVD audio, is the only physical music category seeing growth and next to streaming, is the second-most profitable. From 2019 to 2021, vinyl saw a 101 per cent increase in sales, from 31 million to 63 million, while streaming only experienced a 29 per cent increase in the same period. As of early November 2025, record sales were up 19 per cent from 2024, with Ontario driving the majority of sales at 39 per cent, followed by Quebec with 22 per cent.
In 2024, vinyl saw 18 consecutive years of growth in the United States, and like in Canada, it remains the second-highest revenue-earning category besides streaming. However, recent data suggests that the demand may be slowing. From 2023 to 2024, vinyl records only saw a one per cent increase in units sold. This data has not been adjusted to account for inflation, employment, or other economic factors.
Despite accounting for over three-quarters of physical music revenue, the Recording Industry Association of America’s (RIAA) 2025 mid-year report revealed that vinyl had a one per cent decrease in sales and an equal decrease in units sold.
Rising prices and inflation may explain the change. “The reason we’re up nineteen per cent this year [in Canada] is inflation, and what we call greenflation,” said Oakville PCV Records owner John Anczurowski. “Be careful when looking at units versus dollars.”
Though data up to 2023 shows that CD sales are declining in Canada, they are slowly rising in the United States. In 2021, CD sales revenue increased by 21 per cent to $584 million, marking the first year-over-year growth since 2004. The RIAA’s 2024 year-end report revealed that CD units sold were not far from those of vinyl records, following behind by only 11 million units. Anczurowski attributed CD sales to rising vinyl record prices. “The price of the vinyl has gotten so stupid that people are collecting CDs again.”
But why would anyone buy vinyl records or CDs when streaming, a more convenient and affordable way of listening to music, exists? Gaven Tretter, a music and vinyl content creator with more than 50 thousand followers across TikTok and Instagram, says the vinyl can sometimes be more reliable. He described a Spotify outage in April that affected users globally. “I can still listen to records when that happens, or when the WiFi goes out,” he said.
The appeal lies beyond just reliability. For some, it’s audio quality and nostalgia; for others, it’s collectability. “Colourful pressings album covers, and unique pressings are really what draw me to vinyl,” said Tetter. Much of Tretter’s social media content features him unboxing unusual and limited collectibles.
Record Store Day (RSD) is where some of those collectibles come from, such as a limited Billie Eilish vinyl record Tretter recently showed on his TikTok. RSD is a semi-annual, global event to support independent record stores with the release of exclusive vinyl records, CDs, and other collectibles. According to NME, a British music magazine, RSD-exclusive albums made up 37 per cent of total UK vinyl record market revenue in 2024. That week broke records, seeing the highest vinyl record sales in a single week since 1994. Taylor Swift’s eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, was released on April 19th, 2024, just one day before RSD. It accounted for nearly a quarter of album sales that week.
Even while streaming dominates recorded music sales, the market continues to shift, with vinyl (and possibly CDs) making a comeback.