New cars in the UK are no longer manufactured with CD players, a move that the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) calls “short-sighted.”
In a recent survey by the ERA, 15% of adults reported listening to CDs in their cars, corresponding to 7 million people or 20% of individuals with an active driving license. The percentage of adults who listen to CDs at home is slightly higher, at 16.6%.
Although CD sales have declined in the UK over the past 20 years, from 170 million CDs in 2004 to 11.4 million in 2023, 2023 was the first year to see a 2% increase compared to 2022, reaching a value of approximately €150 million.
According to the World Economic Forum, in 2022, 10% of people worldwide listened to music on CDs, vinyl records or purchased digital albums.
The CEO of ERA, Kim Bayley, predicts that CDs may follow the path of vinyl, which, after a similar decline in the 1990s, saw its 18th consecutive year of sales growth in 2023 in the UK, with sales valued at approximately €213 million, 17.8% higher than in 2022.
Globally, 10% of the population consumed music in 2022 through CDs, vinyl records, and purchased digital albums, with “purchased music” being the fourth most popular way to listen to music, according to data from the World Economic Forum.
The most popular method was streaming, with platforms like Spotify at 24%, followed by video streaming platforms like YouTube at 19%, and radio at 17%. The fifth most popular way to consume music was through short videos on platforms like TikTok.
