Why are compact discs becoming popular again?

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It is the format when streaming services came along with turned up our noses at, but the humble compact disc is making a quiet, steady comeback in 2025.  But what has led to the surge in interest again, and why are CDs more cost effective for artists than the grand old vinyl format?

Transcript

00:00So, that format that you use as a frisbee or a coaster these days, the humble compact

00:06disc, is making a bit of a comeback in 2025.

00:11Now not to the extent of vinyl sales or streaming, which are still the most predominant ways

00:15we access our music, but they have seen a rise in interest once again thanks in part

00:20to Gen Z, who have gravitated towards older technology such as Polaroid cameras and Walkmans

00:26and yes, I do feel incredibly old having said that statement.

00:30An article in 2024 by Billboard looked at why CDs were starting to become the format

00:35du jour once again, with retail outlets and manufacturing companies suggesting that CDs

00:42have become staples of merchandise tables around the world and that they fall under

00:46the keepsake category of gig memorabilia.

00:49Plus, let's be honest, despite buying vinyl, many of us still use Spotify or other streaming

00:55services to listen to our music on the move.

00:59But there's also the financial relief, for lack of a better word, for artists to release

01:04on CD, and I speak from experience having released on vinyl in a previous life running

01:09an independent record label, and it's not cheap.

01:13Let's put it into perspective, let's take a look at how much it costs to press 100 copies

01:18of an album on vinyl and 100 copies of an album on CD, let's take a look at CD Baby

01:24and the costs they offer for both.

01:27Now 112-inch records and jackets with the whole package and shebang will cost you around

01:33£745, and that's not including test pressings to ensure that the vinyl sounds correct, you

01:41only make that mistake twice.

01:44For £511 though, you can get 300 CDs in wallets and digital distribution to boot.

01:53So that's a cost of £7.45 per vinyl compared to the £1.73 per CD, which for a smaller

02:01record label is cost effective, what we call in the business the minimum viable product.

02:07But you might argue though that an album could be sold for more than £7 when marked up,

02:13and you'd be correct, but are you prepared to pay album prices for a 4 track EP?

02:19Be honest with yourself, that's when the CD format comes into play once again, there's

02:24also a ubiquity of the compact disc, by that I mean that almost everyone has a means to

02:34listen to a CD, got a car?

02:36CD player.

02:37Gaming device that tastes discs?

02:40CD player.

02:41Toaster?

02:42Well not yet, but who's to say, we're in the 21st century.

02:46But the collectability of the format is also on the rise, with rare promo CDs eliciting

02:52high prices on discogs.

02:54That Foo Fighters promo you got from a DJ in a nightclub back when you were at university

02:59in the early 2000s might now be worth triple its value, and the more scarce the item, the

03:05more value it holds.

03:06Now there's always going to be a market for vinyl and cassette tapes seem to have come

03:11and gone over the years, so until many discs make their triumphant breakthrough from the

03:15underground noise scenes to when Taylor Swift releases variants on that format, then start

03:21investing back in the humble CD.

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