The CD comeback: a feel-good music industry story

CD回归:一则令人心情愉悦的音乐产业佳话

Round Table China

2026-09-01

18 分钟
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单集简介 ...

Vinyl gets all the attention, but CDs are actually the ones growing faster, and it's not nostalgic collectors buying them. It's a generation that grew up streaming everything and never owned a CD player in their life. So what's pulling them toward plastic cases and liner notes? Is this a real comeback, or just a moment that fades as fast as it showed up? On the show: Steve, Yushan & Yushun
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单集文稿 ...

  • Discussion keeps the world turning.

  • This is Roundtable.

  • You're tuned in to Roundtable.

  • I'm Steve Hatherly, today with Yushan and Yushin.

  • Coming up, CD sales are up.

  • In fact, they're way up, faster than vinyl, which no one saw coming.

  • And the surprising part isn't just the number, it's who's buying those CDs.

  • We're not talking about nostalgic Gen Xers.

  • We're talking about a generation that grew up on streaming platforms.

  • Is this a real revival or just a moment that'll fade as fast as it appeared?

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  • Picture this.

  • It's a weekday morning or afternoon in the CD aisle of a record store,

  • and it is packed with teenagers and 20-somethings, not a bunch of nostalgic 40-somethings reliving their youth.

  • Those customers are picking out CDs to play on their old CD players and thrifted players,

  • and more than one of them describes the feeling of holding a physical disc as something streaming just can't replicate.

  • This isn't a one-off.