New York (AFP)

Sales of CDs almost halved in the first half of the year in the United States and are now significantly lower than those of vinyl records, according to figures released Thursday by the trade association RIAA, which had not happened since 1986.

During the first six months of 2020, 8.8 million vinyl records were sold in the United States, for a turnover of 232.1 million dollars, up 3.6% from the same period of 2019.

By comparison, CD sales slumped 47.6% to $ 129.9 million on 10.2 million compact discs, according to figures from the Recording Industry Association of America.

This is the first time since 1986 that vinyl sales have exceeded CD sales, according to the RIAA database.

In that year, the dominant format was audio cassette, which alone accounted for 58% of units sold.

LPs and other EPs, the two main vinyl record formats, have done better than withstand the closure of most physical outlets for several weeks, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

But even in full resurgence, carried by a new generation of collectors, vinyl only accounted for 4.1% of the turnover of the music industry in the United States in the first half of the year.

Unsurprisingly, the sector is dominated by digital, which accounts for 91% of music sales, including 84.8% for streaming.

In a difficult context, linked to the pandemic, the music industry recorded a 5.6% increase in its turnover compared to the first half of 2019, to 5.65 billion dollars.

A sign of the increase in online listening, the number of subscriptions to streaming services has further jumped 23% to 72.1 million.

© 2020 AFP