CDs and vinyl remain popular with music lovers, BPI research shows

With the popularity of streaming services such as Spotify, Tidal, Deezer, Apple Music, Amazon Music and Qobuz - among others - you might think there's no need for physical music.​

But research from the British Phonographic Industry, in its publication All About The Music shows that CD and vinyl still has a place (not that we ever doubted it).

The vinyl revival has pushed up the sales of records and turntables, but more surprisingly, the CD has been resilient too. 47m discs were sold across the country in 2016, and the BPI says that 2017 should have similarly strong sales.

And a third of music lovers still rely on physical music - spending their hard-earned cash on CDs or LPs. That could be because of how popular it is as a gift, with a quarter of CDs bought in 2016 being presents. That rises to over 40 per cent in the final weeks of the year, presumably because of the Christmas rush.

The BPI also found that physical music is often a more impulsive purchase, in comparison to the planning people do before buying something online. The more music shops there are, the more people will purchase music. Take that, supply and demand.

Read more:

Best CD players

The best 15 turntables of What Hi-Fi?'s lifetime

The best What Hi-Fi? deals of the month

Best turntable deals 2017

SoundCloud cuts staff and closes London office

Roberts celebrates its 85th anniversary with a turntable

Adam was a staff writer for What Hi-Fi?, reviewing consumer gadgets for online and print publication, as well as researching and producing features and advice pieces on new technology in the hi-fi industry. He has since worked for PC Mag as a contributing editor and is now a science and technology reporter for The Independent.