By Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone | CDs are booming again. According to an industry report by Luminate, the first half of 2026 saw a 16 percent surge in CD sales — and you might be surprised by who’s buying them. Gen Z and millennial fans are gobbling up those shiny, Nineties-coded aluminum discs, 16.3 million of them in the U.S. alone. This format is even outpacing vinyl, which rose by only 2.4 percent. It’s official: Today’s music fans have a bad case of Discman fever.
It makes sense that younger listeners are turning to physical media, to make that direct tactile connection. They want to go off the grid when they listen, instead of asking a screen for permission. CDs might not be as sexy or romantic or glam as vinyl or cassettes — but they’re the best format ever for getting up close and personal with your favorite music.
One key reason for the CD surge is Korean pop, which accounts for a substantial share of the boom. (BTS’ Arirang is the year’s top-selling disc so far.) But that’s only part of the puzzle. There are other cultural factors at play — especially the fact that 60 percent of Gen Z fans say they listen mostly to music from the Nineties or earlier. Five years ago, that figure was just 18 percent.
CDs remain the best invention ever for deep listening, when you feel like spending an hour with an album. You’re not logged in anywhere. Nobody’s tracking you or harvesting your data. No password or software updates. Alanis Morissette is never gonna pause in the middle of the Jagged Little Pill CD to send a six-digit verification code to your phone. Whatever happens in your listening time is between you and Alanis.
Also, CD sound is fuller, richer than the tinny bit rates of streaming. Sometimes audio quality matters. I mean, you claim to be a Steely Dan freak but you’re streaming Aja on your phone? Drink your big black cow and get outta here.
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Rolling Stone Staffers Share a Few of Their Favorite CDs
Deadicated, Various Artists
This 1991 compilation of Grateful Dead covers was the first piece of physical media that I stole from my dad. I loved hearing the Indigo Girls, Elvis Costello, and Los Lobos perform songs I grew up with. —Alison Weinflash
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Go here to read more:
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/music/articles/cds-back-think-know-why-150000313.html
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