Receipt

Vinyl revenue hit one point zero four billion dollars in twenty twenty-five. That was the first time since nineteen eighty-three. The format had returned.

• F1 ← “Vinyl revenue hit one point zero four billion dollars in twenty twenty-five” ⇢ US vinyl revenue passed $1 billion in 2025, reaching $1.04 billion
• F1 ← “the first time since nineteen eighty-three” ⇢ the first time since 1983

For decades, vinyl was a collector's footnote. CDs had won the format war decisively. The medium everyone assumed was dead had somehow returned to the market.

Forty-six point eight million vinyl records sold in the United States. That outsold compact discs by a wide margin. The numbers tell the story.

• F2 ← “Forty-six point eight million vinyl records sold in the United States” ⇢ 46.8 million LPs sold against 29.5 million CDs

But revenue tells a different story. Vinyl brought in more than three times the revenue that CDs generated. The price premium mattered more than the unit count.

• F2 ← “vinyl brought in more than three times the revenue that CDs generated” ⇢ vinyl brought in more than three times CD revenue

The numbers seem impossible until you remember: people chose vinyl deliberately. They paid the premium price. They wanted the format back, and they voted with their wallets.

A dead medium had become the living format. Vinyl was no longer a relic gathering dust. It was now the market leader by revenue.