Turnover from vinyl record sales rose 4% in 2022 year-on-year to $1.7 billion, according to data released Thursday by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

In 2020, the proceeds from vinyl sales had already exceeded that of CD sales, or compact discs.

But, for the first time, the number of traditional discs sold with the famous black A and B sides and analog playback exceeded that of the small compact plastic disks with digital playback invented and developed by Philips and Sony and which revolutionized the 1980s. .

Forty-one million vinyls against 33 million CDs were sold in 2022 in the United States.

By a double effect of fashion and nostalgia and while it had almost disappeared, vinyl has made a comeback in recent years, triggering the revival of the manufacture of turntables with analog reading heads which can be of very good quality and at least high price.

But streaming music reigns supreme: $13.3 billion in revenue in 2022, or 84% of the $15.9 billion in total music sales.

And on the streaming part, paid music by subscription to a platform accounts for 77%, or more than ten billion dollars for the first time.

Some 92 million people listen to music online and pay for it in the United States, up from 84 million last year, according to the RIAA.

A record number as well.

© 2023 AFP