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Yes—but the evidence is strongest for physical music, not for every format people group under “physical media.” U.S. vinyl revenue has grown for 18 consecutive years, and CD revenue also edged up in 2024. Cassettes show renewed buyer interest in a survey of audio hardware owners, while print books remain widely read without a recent surge. Available video-game spending totals combine physical and digital sales, so they do not show whether physical games are growing.

Which physical media formats are making a comeback?

The clearest recent sign of a physical-media resurgence is in recorded music. The Recording Industry Association of America’s 2024 year-end report, published in March 2025, puts U.S. physical music revenue at $2.0 billion, up 5% from 2023. These are recorded-music revenue and shipment figures, not a measure of all physical entertainment or household ownership. RIAA’s 2024 Year-End Revenue Report is the source for the figures below.

Format U.S. 2024 result What it indicates
Vinyl Revenue rose 7% to $1.4 billion; RIAA’s detailed table reports $1,442.9 million in value. Eighteenth consecutive year of revenue growth. Vinyl albums also outsold CDs by units for a third consecutive year.
CDs Revenue rose 1% to $541 million; the detailed table reports $541.1 million. A modest year-over-year gain, rather than growth on vinyl’s scale.
Other physical music $21.7 million in the detailed table. A small category that includes formats and products such as cassettes, CD singles, music DVDs and Blu-ray music videos, MiniDiscs, SACD and DVD-Audio.

RIAA’s summary rounds vinyl and CD shipments to 44 million and 33 million, respectively. Its detailed table lists 43.6 million LP/EP shipments and 32.9 million CD shipments. These are two presentations of the same report, rounded differently; the unit comparison supports vinyl’s lead, not a precise claim that the formats sold exactly 44 million and 33 million.

Vinyl has the strongest sales evidence

Vinyl is not just a nostalgic footnote in the U.S. music market: it is the largest physical format in the reported revenue figures and has the longest documented run of growth here. Revenue growth does not, by itself, tell us why people buy records, how often they play them, or whether the same pattern holds outside the United States.

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CDs are gaining, but more slowly

The 1% increase in U.S. CD revenue is evidence of a small improvement in 2024, not a dramatic comeback. CDs also remain a distinct format in the market rather than being subsumed into the RIAA report’s “Other Physical” category.

Cassettes attract interest, but the evidence is a survey

Futuresource Consulting’s June 2024 survey covered more than 10,000 audio hardware owners in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Japan and China. One in four respondents said they had bought a cassette in the prior year; the share among Gen Z respondents was nearly twice as high. The survey reports buyer interest, not a U.S. cassette revenue trend, and its respondents were audio hardware owners rather than a representative sample of all consumers. Futuresource’s account of the study also says interest in CDs and vinyl is increasing.

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Does buying a record mean people are listening to it?

Not necessarily. In the same Futuresource survey, 91% of vinyl buyers owned a turntable, but more than half said they did not listen to all the vinyl they bought. That distinction matters: sales, ownership of playback equipment and actual listening are different measures. The findings apply to the surveyed audio hardware owners across the five countries, not to all record buyers everywhere.

Futuresource Principal Analyst James Duvall described the trend this way: “The fascination with physical media continues to take hold,” and said consumers were showing “more intent to listen to them.” Those comments are the analyst’s interpretation of the survey; they do not establish that every physical format is growing.

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Do print books belong in the story?

Yes, as an enduring physical format—but current evidence does not make print books a fresh resurgence. Pew Research Center surveyed 8,046 U.S. adults from October 6–16, 2025. In the preceding 12 months, 64% had read a print book, compared with 31% who had read an e-book and 26% who had listened to an audiobook. Print reading has changed little since 2021, but Pew reports a longer decline from 72% in 2011 to 64% in October 2025. These are reported reading behaviors, not book sales. Pew’s analysis of reading formats supports describing print as widely used, not newly surging.

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Are physical video games growing too?

The available U.S. headline spending figure cannot answer that. The Entertainment Software Association’s 2025 total combines physical and digital full-game purchases with downloadable content, microtransactions, subscriptions, hardware and accessories. It is a broad industry-spending measure, not a physical-game sales series; its reported final 2025 figures were also updated in March 2026. Without a breakdown separating physical from digital game sales, the total cannot establish whether physical copies rose or fell. The ESA’s spending release describes the categories included.

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What the evidence supports—and what it doesn’t

  • Supported: U.S. physical music revenue grew in 2024; vinyl led that growth, while CDs posted a smaller gain.
  • Supported with a narrower measure: Futuresource’s survey found cassette purchases and interest in physical music among audio hardware owners in five countries.
  • Supported as continued use, not a new boom: Most U.S. adults surveyed by Pew had read a print book in the prior year, but print reading has softened since 2011 and changed little since 2021.
  • Not established by the cited figures: Whether physical video-game sales are increasing or whether all physical-media formats are in resurgence.

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