Why are people buying so many CDs?

为什么人们又开始大量购买 CD 了？

A new report shows that CD sales are up over the first half of 2026. 一份最新报告显示，2026 年上半年 CD 销量有所增长。

CD sales are apparently going up, reportedly thanks to fans realizing they’re an affordable way to support their favorite artists. According to a new report from research firm Luminate, 16.3 million CDs were sold in the first half of 2026 in the US, a 16 percent increase year-over-year. The growth in CD sales was driven by “collection building, price accessibility, massive albums such as BTS’ ARIRANG and a strong K-pop release schedule,” Luminate says. CD 销量显然正在回升，据报道，这归功于粉丝们意识到这是一种支持心仪艺人的经济实惠方式。根据研究公司 Luminate 的一份新报告，2026 年上半年美国共售出 1630 万张 CD，同比增长 16%。Luminate 表示，CD 销量的增长是由“收藏需求、价格亲民、BTS 的《ARIRANG》等重磅专辑以及强劲的 K-pop 发行计划”所推动的。

Even if you remove K-pop sales from the data, CD sales still went up in the US, increasing 6.7 percent. And it appears that some people aren’t even buying the CDs to listen to them, as Luminate’s report notes that “approximately” half of the Gen Z and Millennial buyers picking up CDs don’t own a CD player. 即使从数据中剔除 K-pop 的销量，美国 CD 销量依然增长了 6.7%。而且看起来有些人购买 CD 甚至不是为了听，因为 Luminate 的报告指出，购买 CD 的 Z 世代和千禧一代消费者中，“大约”有一半人根本没有 CD 播放机。

The data suggests that “the CD has been recontextualized from a functional audio format into an affordable collectible,” Luminate says. “This behavior underscores that for younger generations, the act of buying physical music is as much about aesthetic ownership and direct financial support for the artist as it is listening to the music on the product itself.” Luminate 表示，数据表明“CD 已经从一种功能性的音频格式被重新定义为一种经济实惠的收藏品。这种行为凸显出，对于年轻一代来说，购买实体音乐不仅是为了聆听产品本身，更在于审美上的拥有感以及对艺人的直接经济支持。”

Physical album sales — vinyls, CDs, and cassettes — were up overall as well, increasing 7.8 percent year-over-year. Vinyl sales were at 21.8 million units and cassette sales hit around 205,000 units, Luminate’s Denise Schenasi tells The Verge. The higher vinyl sales continues a trend of the format outselling CDs that has been going for a few years now. 实体专辑（黑胶唱片、CD 和磁带）的整体销量也呈上升趋势，同比增长 7.8%。Luminate 的 Denise Schenasi 告诉《The Verge》，黑胶唱片销量达到 2180 万张，磁带销量约为 20.5 万盒。黑胶唱片销量超过 CD 的趋势已经持续了几年，目前仍在继续。