CDs Become Collectibles as Half of Young US Buyers Lack a Player, Luminate Finds

Roughly half of Gen Z and Millennial CD buyers in the US don't own a CD player, according to Luminate's 2026 midyear report. US CD sales reached 16.3 million units in the first half of 2026, up 16% year-over-year. Luminate frames the CD as shifting from a functional audio format to an affordable collectible that coexists with streaming rather than competing against it.