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How to Collect CDs
When I started collecting physical media in 2009 at 13 years old, CDs still dominated the market. Big-box retail stores had music sections with rows and rows of sealed jewel cases, and it was normal to spend $25 on a deluxe album or a box set.
Less than a decade later, streaming had taken over. Vinyl records outsold CDs for the first time in 2022. The Compact Disc began to feel like an afterthought.
But now the CD is enjoying a surge in popularity thanks to cultural shifts like the rise in K-pop, the backlash against the streaming platforms’ policies, and Gen-Zers driving hand-me-down cars without Bluetooth connectivity. When I walked into a record store in July and found a deluxe CD for Madonna’s new album, Confessions II, on sale for $34, more expensive than some of the vinyl pressings, it finally felt like the format was officially back. (And yes, I bought it.)
According to 2026 data from the entertainment industry research firm Luminate, K-pop groups like BTS, Enhypen, and ATEEZ contributed to an overall 16 percent increase in CD sales so far this year, thanks to collectible editions that encouraged fans to buy multiple copies of the groups’ albums. This seems to be the major shift between the old way of buying music and the new normal: CDs are looked at more as merch—collectibles that support the artist—than as necessities to hear the songs. According to the same Luminate report, if K-pop were taken out of the data, disc sales would’ve still increased 6.7 percent.
Though the numbers show solid growth, CDs are nowhere near as hot as they used to be. The music industry sold 16.3 million discs in the first half of this year, a paltry number compared to the CD’s heyday around the turn of the millennium, when annual sales topped 900 million. Still, their collectible physicality has brought them back into fashion.
There really is no right or wrong way to collect CDs. If you keep a CD in its packaging, it will be protected for years to come. But here are some tips if you want to elevate your collecting experience and get more out of your collection, whether you’re new to the format or rescuing an old box of discs from the garage.
It might seem that owning a CD player is the obvious first step to collecting CDs. But according to Luminate’s report, only half of millennials and Gen-Zers that collect CDs have a player. Luckily, finding a good CD player is easier and more budget-friendly than buying a record player.
You might even have a CD player without knowing it; a Blu-ray player hooked up to a nice sound bar is a convenient set up to play CDs, since most Blu-ray and DVD players can handle audio discs. Even your Xbox can play them, though the disc drives on Sony PlayStation 4 and 5 consoles weirdly cannot play CDs.
If you need a CD player, the first thing to consider is what kind you want. A personal portable player lets you take your music anywhere. If your record player setup includes a stereo receiver, chances are it has a CD input that you can use to hook up a hi-fi player for at-home listening. This will give you the best audio from your discs. These component players can still be found at big-box retail stores or online music shops like Turntable Lab or RETROSPEKT that specialize in hi-fi systems.
Del Bravo Record Shop, one of the oldest record stores in Texas, has seen an increase in demand for personal CD players that it ships out of its San Antonio store. “They’ve been flying off the shelves,” says Jessica Campa, Del Bravo’s sales associate and social media manager. “We’ve also had about a 12.6 percent increase in CD sales so far this year.”