Does Anyone Listen to CDs Anymore?

Human + Machine

Human + Machine

— 2 min read

If you listen to the narrative, CDs are dead.

Vinyl is back. Streaming is king. Cassettes are a novelty. And CDs? Supposedly gathering dust in the thrift-store discount bin.

But behind that storyline is a quiet truth: people still listen to CDs — and in some circles, they never stopped.

In fact, CD sales are starting to show signs of life again. Not in mass-market waves, but in slow, deliberate ripples of rediscovery.

So, who's still listening to CDs — and why?

1. Audiophiles Never Left

For those who care about audio fidelity but aren’t into vinyl’s quirks (surface noise, warping, or pricey turntables), CDs offer:

  • Consistently clean sound
  • Lossless quality at 1,411 kbps
  • No compression artifacts
  • No buffering, ever

They’re plug-and-play, reliable, and still sound better than most streaming tiers unless you’re subscribed to hi-res platforms like Qobuz or Tidal HiFi.

2. Collectors Value the Tangible

CDs are physical. They have:

  • Artwork and liner notes
  • Lyric booklets
  • Credits, session details, and photographs
  • That satisfying click when they snap into place

For collectors — and fans of certain artists — the CD represents ownership, identity, and curation. It’s an artifact, not just a file.

3. It’s About Permanence

Streaming can’t guarantee your favorite album will be there tomorrow. Tracks get pulled. Albums get replaced. Region locks happen. Platforms fail.

A CD doesn’t care.

If you own it, it plays. Ten years from now. Twenty years from now. No app updates, no subscription tiers, no DRM. Just music that’s yours.

4. The Resurgence is Real — Sort Of

CD sales rose slightly in the early 2020s after a long, steady decline. Major retailers haven’t brought them back in force, but:

  • Indie labels have kept releasing CDs for collectors and niche audiences.
  • Japanese markets never really abandoned the format.
  • Bandcamp artists often offer CDs alongside digital downloads and vinyl — and fans buy them.
  • Secondhand markets (Discogs, eBay, thrift stores) are booming with rare and out-of-print releases.
  • Producing a CD is substantially easier today than in previous decades.

There’s also a new generation discovering CDs for the first time — especially younger listeners priced out of vinyl.

5. Cars Still Matter (for Now)

Despite the shift to CarPlay and Bluetooth streaming, millions of vehicles still have CD players. For long drives, rural areas with poor cell service, or people who just want to pop in an album and go — CDs remain practical.

And let’s not forget that CDs are:

  • Immune to bad reception
  • Easy to make your own mixes
  • Great for gifting, archiving, or loaning out

They might not be sexy, but they work — always have.

6. The Nostalgia Factor

We’re entering a cultural moment where early-2000s nostalgia is back. That includes:

  • Flip phones
  • MiniDiscs
  • CDRs with Sharpie writing
  • Disc wallets and portable players
  • Burned mixes with cringy titles like “SUMMER VIBEZ VOL 3”

CDs carry the emotional weight of adolescence, discovery, and those long bus rides with a skip-proof Discman.

For many, that feeling is worth far more than any playlist.

Final Thought: CDs Deserve Respect

They might not have the romance of vinyl or the immediacy of streaming. But CDs offer fidelity, ownership, and durability in a compact package that still holds its own.

So yes, people still listen to CDs.

Quietly. Steadily. Faithfully.

And as digital formats continue to evolve — and vanish — there’s something comforting about a shiny little disc that just plays… perfectly.

Every. Time.

Read more