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Forget the vinyl revival. CD players and compact discs are back on Christmas lists this year amid a wave of 90s nostalgia and coveted “deluxe” releases from big acts such as Taylor Swift and Pink Floyd.
Demand for compact discs peaked in the mid-00s and many households ditched their systems and libraries as digital music took off. But the distinctive whirr is returning to bedrooms around the country, with retailers and marketplaces experiencing an uptick in appetite for vintage tech and music to play on it.
John Lewis has upped its range of CD players to meet resurgent demand and says sales are up 74% in the last year. “We’re seeing something of a retro renaissance,” said Heather Andrews, one of its electricals buyers.
The format’s cause is being helped by the return of classic 90s acts such as Oasis and Pulp – who peaked in the CD era – and filled stadiums this summer.
Although the lion’s share of music sales are through streaming, experts report a burgeoning demand for physical copies, complete with artwork and liner notes to muse over. Fans also know buying a physical copy of an album is a more effective way to financially support artists they like.
CD sales peaked in 2004 when music fans bought a staggering 162m, a towering stack in a year when the biggest sellers were the Scissor Sisters and Robbie Williams’ Greatest Hits. But the intervening years have seen a precipitous decline with just 10.5m sold in 2024, according to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). The BPI is due to publish sales figures for 2025 soon.
Neil Gibbons, the chief operating officer of Key Production Group, which manufactures vinyl, CDs and cassettes, said its orders to make CDs are up 15% year-on-year. “We saw a similar pattern with the vinyl decline … and look what happened there. CDs remain a very robust format for us.”
The company’s research found physical music has become increasingly important to young Britons. “In the last 12 months, gen Z have actually bought more CDs than millennials, gen X and baby boomers,” said Gibbons. “These purchases are done mainly online or in-store, such as record shops and high street stores, demonstrating that they are actively seeking these formats out.”
The poll also showed nearly half (46%) of gen Alpha were listening to physical music, including CDs. This age group “aren’t just buying CDs to keep on the shelf”, he said. “Over half of gen Alpha know how to use a CD player – a technology they’ve had to adopt from a previous generation.”
Physical music has become a big part of artists’ releases again and plays a significant role in official chart results. Swift released four CD editions of The Life of a Showgirl and at £12 they are less than half the price of the vinyl.
Sam Fender also released a deluxe CD version of his Mercury prize-winning People Watching with eight additional tracks and for the 50th anniversary of Wish You Were Here, Pink Floyd has released a £215 box set that includes two CDs aimed at deep-pocketed superfans.
In some circles, CDs never really went away as they are seen to offer a richer sound compared with digital streaming. However, the number of CDs sold each year is still falling, although the decline has slowed from double to low single figures as music buyers reassess the format, not least because at £10-£11 a go it is so much cheaper than vinyl.
Britons are also scouring marketplaces for secondhand music. Eve Williams, the general manager at eBay UK, said the number of people searching for CDs has increased as they seek to complement digital life with “more personal forms of collecting”.
The data gathered from the CD trade on online reseller MusicMagpie offers a revealing glimpse of what will be playing on the stereo this Christmas.
Top 20 bestselling secondhand CDs of 2025
Abba – Abba Gold: Greatest Hits
Adele – 21
Adele – 25
The Beatles – The Beatles: 1
Oasis – (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?
Amy Winehouse – Back to Black
Robbie Williams – Greatest Hits
Adele – 19
Madonna – The Immaculate Collection
The Verve – Urban Hymns
Elvis Presley – Elv1s: 30 #1 Hits
Simply Red – Greatest Hits
REM – In Time: The Best of REM 1988-2003
Alanis Morissette – Jagged Little Pill
Tina Turner – Simply the Best
Green Day – American Idiot
Queen – Greatest Hits II
Red Hot Chilli Peppers – By the Way
U2 – The Best of: 1980-1990
The Beautiful South – Carry On Up the Charts: The Best of the Beautiful South
Source: MusicMagpie
