You don’t need me to remind you how awful 2020 was from every possible vantage point. While musicians bore the brunt of the government-ordered shutdowns intended to stop the spread of COVID-19 that forced clubs and live music venues to close, fans supported their favorite acts by buying physical music by leaps and bounds.
According to a report issued by the online music database Discogs, 16,290,197 pieces of physical music were sold worldwide in 2020. The result led to an overall 40.12 percent increase in year-over-year growth in global physical sales through the Discogs Marketplace.
The most popular physical music format sold in 2020 was vinyl.
Vinyl sales have once again crossed a landmark threshold: a stunning 11,961,998 records sold through the Discogs, up 40.75% from 2019. CDs have also increased 37.18% year-over-year with 3,441,769 compact discs purchased. Interest in cassettes hasn’t died down, with a total of 282,798 sold through the Marketplace, a 33.33% increase over 2019. These statistics and more are all included in the Discogs 2020 Report.
Likewise, Discogs says its platform saw sales of CDs increase 37.18 percent and purchases of cassettes increase ironically by 33.33 percent from 2019.
You can read the report in its entirety here.