With more than 800 million people subscribing to a music streaming service, wireless speakers have become a familiar sight in homes. But expect to get reacquainted with a different object to play music soon: the CD player, once consigned to obsolescence, is back. John Lewis report that searches for CD players are up 96% since July, possibly owing to students heading to university and buying the systems for their rooms.
The £79 Crosley Voyager, and the £129 Pure Classic C-D6 are both sold out online, with the Voyager scheduled to return in October. Portable CD players are also popular. This tallies, of course, with sales of CDs themselves.
A report this year found that the growth of CD sales is up 16%, compared with vinyl’s 2.4%. HMV reports that sales of CDs are up 10% year on year – thanks to artists often providing unique content on the format. We’re seeing very strong CD demand around artists like Olivia Rodrigo, Ariana Grande and Olivia Dean.” The fact that a vinyl record is about £35, compared with £12 for a CD, is no doubt a factor.
Tom Morgan-Freelander, the deputy editor of the technology magazine Stuff, has noticed the change over the past two years. He puts it down to consumers wanting to move away from using their phone, a better audio quality, and limited disposable income. I want to spend £150 on an all-in-one system that comes with the CD player,’” he says.
In the CD aisle of an HMV in London on a weekday morning, people in their teens and twenties are browsing. Fourteen-year-old Milo Georgeaux-Healy has chosen two Dua Lipa albums as well as Brat by Charli xcx to play on an “old boombox”. He has selected a Madonna greatest hits, a Kacey Musgraves album and Private Dancer by Tina Turner.
It brings me joy.” Richard Farnell runs Vinyl Exchange in Manchester, where they also sell CDs. He says the people buying CDs are now younger, and cost is a big part of this. The standard vinyl reissue will be around £25-£30, but in our shop the CD version will only be £4.” The CD revival is part of a wider fashion for retro tech.
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