Record Roundup 38: Vinyl Sales Up Again, But Outpaced By CDs
Record Roundup 38: Vinyl Sales Up Again, But Outpaced By CDs. The UK recorded-music market topped £1.5 billion in 2025, with vinyl sales up around 18% on the year. In Record Roundup 38, CD and Vinyl sales are up again (with CDs staging a surprise surge), plus new turntables from Crosley, Flaunce and Andover Audio. […]
Suno Scores BMG Licensing Deal As New Model Takes Shape
The first half of this year saw $2.77 trillion worth of deals inked worldwide, up 48% from the year-ago period and the best first half for mergers and acquisitions since the dot com bubble burst in 2002, the New York Times recently reported, citing data from the London Stock Exchange Group. Those events have created […]
Growth Trends and Strategies in the $40 Billion Music Royalty Market, 2026-2031
Spotify paid a record $11 billion to the music industry in 2025, up roughly $1 billion year over year, and IFPI reports paid subscription revenue grew 8.8% in 2025. Yet per-stream economics stay flat because streaming pays from a pro-rata pool: more revenue also means more subscribers and more streams splitting it. Spotify announced its […]
CD Sales Rise as Vinyl Growth Slows: What the 2026 Data Really Means
The report suggested that “price accessibility” could be a factor behind the trend, while also show the importance of physical fandom in K-pop culture, and the success of BTS’s March comeback album ‘ARIRANG’. Back in 2024, more than half of 18-24-year-olds surveyed by Key Production, the UK’s biggest vinyl packaging firm, revealed their preference for […]
AI Music Generator Suno Inks Major Music Label Licensing Deal
AI Music Generator Suno Inks Major Music Label Licensing Deal. As it prepares to roll out a fully licensed model, Suno has secured a global partnership agreement with BMG. The Beatles‘ rights-holding company Apple Corps has come together with Universal Music Group to ink a wide-ranging licensing and merch deal for all things related to […]
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View AllTop Selling Vinyl Records 2026: Trends & Picks
The report suggested that “price accessibility” could be a factor behind the trend, while also show the importance of physical fandom in K-pop culture, and the success of BTS’s March comeback album ‘ARIRANG’. Back in 2024, more than half of 18-24-year-olds surveyed by Key Production, the UK’s biggest vinyl packaging firm, revealed their preference for […]
Vinyl Records Statistics 2026: Sales, Growth & Data
The report suggested that “price accessibility” could be a factor behind the trend, while also show the importance of physical fandom in K-pop culture, and the success of BTS’s March comeback album ‘ARIRANG’. Back in 2024, more than half of 18-24-year-olds surveyed by Key Production, the UK’s biggest vinyl packaging firm, revealed their preference for […]
Independent labels explore new revenue streams as streaming royalties fall short
What most people don’t realize is that the system is explicitly designed so that the corporation takes almost zero risk, keeps permanent ownership of the valuable assets, the music itself, and passes all financial debts onto the creators. Universal Music Group is the largest music company in the world, capturing roughly thirty-two percent of the […]
Music Industry News
The first, “AI-generated,” would apply to a track built entirely by AI from a text prompt, or one where a machine produced the lead vocal or the main instrumental takes. The second, “AI-assisted,” would flag a track that is mostly the work of people but leans on AI in places. For the music business, the […]
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Vinyl Record Sales Are Up 108.2% This Year, But Not Everyone Is Thrilled
## CD Sales Are All the Rage For the last decade, physical sales have climbed. But, until now, most of the conversation has been around vinyl record sales. Now, U.S. CD sales are surging, up 16% to 16.3 million units in the first half of 2026, outpacing vinyl, which grew by 2.4%. Luminate did not […]
WMG settles Udio lawsuit, strikes licensing deal for ‘next-generation’ AI music platform coming in 2026
Nine Predictions For The Music Industry In 2026: How AI Reshapes Licensing And Power
Dance Music, Decoded — In Your Inbox
Weekly drops, chart moves, and the stories behind the records. No spam, no filler — just the floor.