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Vinyl Sales Are Rising, Even as Streaming Dominates Music Revenue

Vinyl is growing alongside streaming, not replacing it. The latest global and U.S. reports show why growth rates, revenue shares and unit totals need to be read separately.
From TheFinanceBase Team3 min to read
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Vinyl is growing, but it is not overtaking streaming. In 2025, vinyl revenue rose 13.7% globally while streaming still generated 69.6% of global recorded-music revenue. The figures describe two trends happening at once—not evidence that vinyl is replacing streaming or that streaming causes people to buy records.

What the latest figures show

The strongest current comparison is between vinyl’s growth and streaming’s much larger share of revenue. IFPI’s Global Music Report 2026, covering calendar year 2025, puts global recorded-music revenue at US$31.7 billion, up 6.4%. Streaming accounted for 69.6% of that revenue; paid subscription streaming alone accounted for 52.4% and grew 8.8% in revenue.

In the same global market, vinyl revenue increased 13.7% in 2025, marking its 19th consecutive year of growth. That is a revenue growth rate, not a count of records sold. Vinyl can therefore grow faster by percentage while remaining far smaller than streaming as a revenue source.

Measure 2025 result What it measures
Global recorded music US$31.7 billion; up 6.4% Worldwide recorded-music revenue, IFPI
Global streaming 69.6% of recorded-music revenue Revenue share, IFPI
Global paid subscription streaming 52.4% of recorded-music revenue; revenue up 8.8% Revenue share and year-over-year revenue growth, IFPI
Global vinyl Revenue up 13.7% Revenue growth; 19th consecutive growth year, IFPI

What U.S. vinyl sales add to the picture

U.S. reports also show growth, but their totals should be kept in their own data series. The RIAA’s 2025 year-end report records 46.8 million vinyl units sold in the United States, up 7.9% from 2024. Its table lists $1,042.9 million in vinyl revenue, up 9.3%; RIAA describes these dollar values as U.S. wholesale value, in millions, net after returns.

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Luminate’s 2025 Year-End Music Report gives a separate U.S. total: 47.9 million vinyl units, up 8.6% year over year. Luminate also reports that four in ten vinyl records were sold at independent record stores. These figures are not interchangeable: RIAA and Luminate publish separate series, and their reports do not provide a reconciliation. The difference is not a reason to average the numbers or treat one as a correction of the other.

For scale, RIAA reports U.S. total streaming revenue of $9,474.5 million in 2025, compared with $1,381.0 million in total physical-format revenue. Those are category revenue figures, not unit counts; total physical revenue includes more than vinyl.

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Why the trends can coexist

Streaming and vinyl serve different roles in the market. Streaming is the dominant revenue category in IFPI’s global figures, while vinyl is a physical format whose revenue has continued to grow. A larger growth rate for vinyl does not mean it has become the larger business, and the reports do not show that one format is taking sales from the other.

The figures establish what happened to revenue and sales, not why individual listeners chose to buy a record. IFPI CEO Victoria Oakley said the global growth reflected “Great music from incredible artists, aided by record company partnerships and investment,” alongside more people paying for subscriptions. That statement describes the broader paid-streaming context; it does not identify a measured cause of vinyl purchases.

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What the sales data can—and cannot—tell a buyer

U.S. channel data indicates that physical records are sold through more than one route. Luminate says direct-to-consumer sales accounted for 13.6% of all U.S. physical albums sold in 2025, a 2.1 percentage-point increase from 2024. It also reports the independent-store share for vinyl. These channel observations help explain where purchases occur, but they do not establish buyers’ motivations or predict the price or availability of a particular album edition.

For a personal budget, the industry growth figures are context, not a recommendation to buy. A record purchase is a one-time product expense; streaming is typically a recurring subscription expense. Which costs less depends on how often someone listens, how long they keep a subscription, and which records they choose. The market reports do not compare household costs or establish that owning records is a better financial choice.

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How to read future vinyl headlines

  • Check the geography. IFPI’s figures are global; RIAA and Luminate’s vinyl sales figures here are U.S.-specific.
  • Check the metric. Revenue growth, revenue share, and units sold answer different questions.
  • Check the source and scope. RIAA reports U.S. wholesale revenue net after returns; Luminate reports its own U.S. consumption and sales series.
  • Separate growth from market size. Vinyl’s 13.7% global revenue growth does not make it comparable in scale to streaming’s 69.6% global revenue share.
  • Do not infer a cause from a trend. These reports document growth but do not establish why people buy vinyl or whether streaming drives those purchases.

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.

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