This thread is in response to a statement made on Glenn’s subforum that “vinyl is way more popular than CDs.”

This is not about singling out anyone so I hope this doesn’t get misconstrued. The thing is, this kind of statement is something I keep reading on social media, esp. Twitter. The Rolling Stone article that came out several months ago seemed to have sparked some misunderstanding about what was actually discussed regarding CD and vinyl sales. Even the article’s title states that vinyl is poised to outsell CDs, not that it has actually happened. Do people not really understand what “poised to” means? I am not being snarky, it’s a serious question - how can so many people ascertain from this that vinyl is now more popular than CDs?

I’m not the only one who has been taken aback by these declarations, as there has been a follow up to the RS article:

“No, Vinyl Records Aren’t Outselling CDs - Do the Math” by Paul Riismandel, Radio Survivor, October 9, 2019

The 2019 mid-year reports show that CDs sold 18.6 million units while vinyl sold 8.6 million units. That is a huge difference. Clearly CDs are outselling vinyl as far as unit-by-unit sales.

In terms of sales, which is what the record industry really cares about, CDs had $247.9 million in sales while vinyl had $224.1 million. It does look like vinyl is catching up to CDs in terms of sales, and could very well surpass CDs in the near future. But in general, a vinyl record costs a lot more than a CD. So sales figures alone do not translate to greater popularity.

There’s also the “hipster” factor where a certain percentage of vinyl purchases are by consumers who don’t even own a turntable. To them vinyl is just cool to have or display. That too doesn’t translate to greater popularity of the medium when it comes to how one listens to music.

I have nothing against vinyl. My earliest memories of listening to music are records and albums being spun on a record player - the Beatles, The Supremes, The Doors, The Rolling Stones, etc. But I do have something against, for lack of a better term, “fake news” and the spread of false information that becomes so quickly widespread that it is established as fact and few people question it. It is similar to the blog post that stated CDs will be dead by the beginning of 2020: exaggeration and apparent false hype.

Ok, that is my soapbox lecture for the day. Tune in next week when I rail against record stores that don’t organize their albums properly, LOL.