Music fans return to CDs for ownership, focus and album listening
CDs are enjoying a resurgence as some music fans turn to physical albums for a more deliberate listening experience and greater control over what they hear. John Lewis reported a 96% rise in searches for CD players since July, while a separate trend report found CD sales had increased by 16%.
Fans cited different reasons for returning to discs: London collector Andrew Wales owns well over 10,000 CDs and values their compact size and availability of some classical recordings; Gabriela Crowley says CDs help cut through streaming’s abundance of choice; and Neil Cumming buys directly from independent musicians to support them. Others value owning music that can disappear from streaming services, or listening to albums in sequence. Some still use streaming to discover new music, while choosing CDs for everyday listening.
In short
- Searches for CD players at John Lewis are up 96% since July.
- A separate report found CD sales rose 16%.
- Fans value ownership, focused listening and support for musicians.
Explained simply
For most of the past two decades, many people have listened to music through streaming services, which offer large libraries for a monthly fee or free with adverts. The services make it easy to explore new music, but listeners do not own the recordings and their choice can feel overwhelming.
A CD is a small physical disc that stores an album and can be played on a CD player or computer with a disc drive. Buying one gives the listener a copy they can keep, and can provide a way to support musicians directly, especially when buying from independent artists.
Albums are often arranged as a sequence, with songs intended to be heard together. Some listeners choose CDs for that focused experience or for recordings that may not be available on streaming services, while still using streaming to find new music.
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Originally published by The Guardian as “‘Algorithms make everything predictable’: why the CD is making a comeback”.