When we started The Lazy Geeks back in 2010, Spotify wasn’t in the United States yet. I made a music player on my MySpace profile. But, I was using iTunes. Still am, for the most part. Use it to update my classic black 250 GB iPod. While I did lose most, if not all, my physical media to a leaky roof, my personal iTunes back up are still up and running. However, I am still planning to rebuild it. In this day of overpriced streaming, physical music media is seeing a surge in sales.

News of the latest increase in physical media sales comes from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It revealed that recorded music revenues for H1 2026 were up 6.9% from the first half of 2025 and outpaced inflation, with both streaming and physical formats posting gains.

Revenue in this sector grew 25.9% as vinyl saw 17.7% growth and CD revenue went up a massive 58.6%. Streaming, of course, remains the largest source of recorded music revenue by far. It generated $4.9 billion, up 4.7%. Paid subscriptions reached $3.4 billion, up 6.4%, while ad-supported free subscriptions were up 3.7% to $900 million.

It is impossible to think that a majority of consumer will flip and purchase physical media. However, seeing gains like this in the music market could bring out more physical sales, much like what we could see in physical movies and television discs.

Physical Music Media Surges at an Interesting Time

Do I believe that this was a response to Sony? Not at all. I do believe in coincidences, which this appears to be one. Right now, you can’t even get gamers to agree on the issue. Especially since Sony is playing semantics with the definition of owning. In a legal case, they are trying to confuse people into thinking that when someone buys a game, they own the IP rights. Which is silly on its face. But that’s what they want to make the case about.

They could win at that case. Given that I posted a story about that last week and no one viewed it. Sony is doubling down on that by reminding people that “buying” a game, doesn’t mean you own it. So, they can take it away from you.

As someone that is waiting to come into some money, I have decided that the PlayStation 5 will be my final gaming console. Maybe the Xbox Series X will be too. Yes, the disc drive will be a part of it, due to being able to use previous disc games to play on it. However, if I decide to switch to PC gaming, you have options to buy.

Too many online blow-hards keep repeating the line “PC gaming has been digital for years”. Again, like Sony, they are willfully missing the point. Sony wants to stop competition. Remember when Sony was going to release games on PC, then suddenly pulled back on it. It was to reduce competition. If they make games exclusive to Sony – or even Xbox for that matter – you will need to get a console. Difference is that Microsoft will offer them for PC because that is part of their core.

Could This be a Turning Point?

That’s doubtful. For gaming, the strategy is different. Boycott games isn’t the answer. I explained that a bit in a previous post. However, for movies, TV, and music, purchasing that physically can make a difference. If they start seeing a big enough turn for physical media, they will start off small. Then we could see a boom like we did in the early 2000s.

Streaming has it place.

Ad-supported media offers more classic or obscure content that over-the-air broadcast never did. Until the advent of DVDs, and streaming, older classic shows never had a reach. Only popular older shows would be seen on reruns. Now, with free live streaming TV, some of the more obscure shows find an audience.

I plan to restore my old physical music media. No, I won’t be purchasing cassette tapes. They break too easily and I lost so many devices because it ate them. Although, I am looking into getting vinyl again. There is something to listening to vinyl that is soothing. Very nostalgic. When I start doing that, I’ll share it all with you.