Physical music sales growth has accelerated during the first half of 2026, Music Week can reveal.
According to Music Week analysis of BPI figures based on Official Charts Company data, vinyl sales are driving that performance – and the format is closing in on CD for supremacy in terms of volume. Based on the current trajectory, vinyl should become the leading format later this year.
After 19 years of decline, album sales across all physical formats grew for a second consecutive year in 2025, maintaining 2024's 1.4% growth level to come in at 17.6m units.
During the first half of 2026, physical albums sales increased further by 3.7% year-on-year (8,125,574 units). The rate of growth for physical music increased again in Q2 with year-on-year consumption up 6.1% (3,950,111 units), compared with 1.5% growth in Q1.
The strong performance reflects another successful edition of Record Store Day, alongside major new releases and the continuing robust catalogue business.
Drew Hill, MD Proper Music Distribution, said: "It’s fantastic to see physical music enjoying such a robust first half of the year, driven by double-digit growth for vinyl. While the CD has remained a stalwart format, the fact that vinyl sales are up overall, and are on course to overtake CDs in units, is a testament to the format’s incredible appeal.”
Harry Styles has the biggest physical release so far in 2026 with Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally with 157,189 physical units.
Following 100,000-plus units in the opening week for Olivia Rodrigo’s new album, You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love, the US artist already has the second biggest physical album so far this year (66,587 physical sales in 2026.)
In the latest chart week, Muse are already performing strongly with 26,996 physical units registered in the first three days.
Based on consumption across physical, downloads and streaming, Olivia Dean’s The Art Of Loving leads the way for overall albums consumption with 384,869 units in 2026 (and 663,322 units in total since its release in September 2025). The Art Of Loving is No.3 on physical sales in 2026 (64,086 units).
It’s fantastic to see physical music enjoying such a robust first half of the year, driven by double-digit growth for vinyl
Drew Hill
Vinyl is, of course, driving the performance of physical sales with the format on course for a 19th year of consecutive growth.
The half-year vinyl results for 2026 show an impressive growth rate of 16.4% year-on-year (3,796,251 units) – beyond what you might expect almost two decades into a sales revival.
Furthermore, the second quarter was even more spectacular with year-on-year growth accelerating to 17.9% for vinyl (1,837,536 units), compared with growth of 15.1% in Q1.
While catalogue perennials have helped to drive the revival, new releases from pop acts are performing strongly – underlining the growing appeal of vinyl and physical music for younger fans.
BTS’ comeback Arirang is No.4 on physical sales in 2026 (48,247 units), followed by This Music May Contain Hope by Raye at No.5 (47,159 units). The rest of the Top 10 physical sellers for the first half of 2026 included new albums by Robbie Williams, Paul McCartney, Noah Kahan, Gorillaz and Mumford & Sons, while Louis Tomlinson and Maisie Peters are just outside the Top 10.
Vinyl has already overtaken CD in terms of value – but now it is on track to surpass the format in volume and regain its crown as the most popular physical format. In Q2, the sales difference between vinyl (1,837,536 units) and CD (2,050,792 units) was only 213,256 units (representing just 5.4% of the total physical market in the second quarter).
However, the decline in CD sales has slowed with Q2’s -2.7% an improvement on the Q1 slump of -7.5%. For the first half of 2026, CD sales were down -5.2% year-on-year at 4,198,230 units. That puts the format 401,979 units ahead of vinyl sales for the first six months – representing 4.9% of the whole physical market.
According to ERA, the average cost of a vinyl LP is £29.03. With some vinyl albums topping £30, that kind of price point may be contributing to the resilience of CD, which has an average cost of £12.24.
The revival in cassette sales has proved more erratic than vinyl – a sign that it remains a niche market. Sales growth for tapes was up 16.2% in Q2 (33,427 units), but down 25.3% for the year to date (68,815 units).
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