Vinyl records outsold (and out-grossed) CDs in Canada again last week

It’s fascinating to read through Luminate’s weekly music consumption stats, especially when it comes to the sales of vinyl vs. CD. Vinyl has been on a tear in Canada since the beginning of the year, selling 43.4% more units than in January 2023.

For the month, 127,688 pieces of new vinyl were sold across the country. Compare that to CD sales, which sit at 117,136, a 15.3% decline over the same period last year. And because vinyl is more expensive than CDs (crazy, I know), the revenues it generate are substantially higher.

What year is this again?

Let’s focus on just last week. Canadians bought 26,023 vinyl albums (+10.3% from the previous week), not counting sales of used records through indie stores and record stores (those are pretty much impossible to track). Meanwhile, 26,701 CDs, just 678 units more and 17.2% more than a week earlier. I’m going to give credit to Green Day for that with the release of their Saviors album.

Streaming is also on a tear. On-demand audio streams sit at 2.648 billion for the week (up 2%), which I think is an all-time high.

Oh, and for anyone who believes that the cassette is undergoing a revival, they’re part of the sales category labeled “other.” Only 1,086 “other” things have been sold across the entire country so far this year.