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 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% 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.

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.