On Wednesday (July 15), Luminate published their annual midyear report, revealing compact disc sales jumped 16 percent during the first half of the year to 16.3 million units. The surge significantly outpaced vinyl, which saw a 2.4 percent increase over the same period.

BTS' massive ARIRANG album helped drive the CD boom, but the format's resurgence isn't solely tied to K-pop. After removing BTS and the broader K-pop catalog from the numbers, CD sales were still up 6.7 percent year over year.

The numbers point to a larger revival of physical music overall. Sales of physical albums, including LPs, CDs and cassettes, increased 7.8 percent in the U.S. through the first half of 2026, with 38.2 million units sold.

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