Thomas Hawk posted a photo:
"Approximately half of Gen Z and millennials who have purchased a CD do not own a CD player," according to midyear sales statistics from entertainment data company Luminate. It's driven in part by "collection building", according to their report [PDF]:
The CD has been recontextualized from a functional audio format into an
affordable collectible. This behavior underscores that for younger generations, the act of buying
physical music is as much about aesthetic ownership and direct financial support for the artist
as it is listening to the music on the product itself
"Among artists who had a direct impact on the resurgence of CDs, K-Pop icons BTS' 10th studio album, ARIRANG, was a big seller," Vice points out in their report on the new data. "However, Luminate also found that, beyond K-Pop's overall influence, CD sales still increased 6.7% year over year, even if the whole genre was removed from the equation, jumping 16% to 16.3 million units."
That's more than the growth of vinyl sales (2.4%) — but physical media in general seems to be making a comeback:
Through the first half of the year, total physical album sales on vinyl, CDs, and cassettes reached 38.2 million units in the United States. This equates to a 7.8% increase.... [I]t seems that younger music fans have been driving a lot of the retro revival. The report shows that in 2026, 60% of Gen Z listeners said they most often listen to music from the 1990s and older. This is a massive increase from the 18 percent marker in 2021.
The new report also revealed that the way music fans are buying physical media has shifted. Indie record stores have been the largest generator of physical album sales for some time, and they continue to be. However, big-box stores like Target and Walmart took significant strides in the first half of 2026. Collectively, their music sales made up about 30% of the market.
Thanks to Slashdot reader fjo3 for sharing the article.
The CD has been recontextualized from a functional audio format into an
affordable collectible. This behavior underscores that for younger generations, the act of buying
physical music is as much about aesthetic ownership and direct financial support for the artist
as it is listening to the music on the product itself
"Among artists who had a direct impact on the resurgence of CDs, K-Pop icons BTS' 10th studio album, ARIRANG, was a big seller," Vice points out in their report on the new data. "However, Luminate also found that, beyond K-Pop's overall influence, CD sales still increased 6.7% year over year, even if the whole genre was removed from the equation, jumping 16% to 16.3 million units."
That's more than the growth of vinyl sales (2.4%) — but physical media in general seems to be making a comeback:
Through the first half of the year, total physical album sales on vinyl, CDs, and cassettes reached 38.2 million units in the United States. This equates to a 7.8% increase.... [I]t seems that younger music fans have been driving a lot of the retro revival. The report shows that in 2026, 60% of Gen Z listeners said they most often listen to music from the 1990s and older. This is a massive increase from the 18 percent marker in 2021.
The new report also revealed that the way music fans are buying physical media has shifted. Indie record stores have been the largest generator of physical album sales for some time, and they continue to be. However, big-box stores like Target and Walmart took significant strides in the first half of 2026. Collectively, their music sales made up about 30% of the market.
Thanks to Slashdot reader fjo3 for sharing the article.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Argentina 24-31 England
Visitors run in five tries; hosts denied late score by TMO
It has been a long season but England’s well-travelled players can finally head to the beach with some degree of satisfaction. Spurred on by a fine performance from the wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, they had to weather a frantic finale to complete an eventful five-try win over Argentina, thus denying their hosts a notable sporting double over their English amigos this week.
Reduced to 13 and briefly 12 men at stages in the second half, with four players sent to the sin-bin along the way, they were ultimately indebted to Marcus Smith and Feyi-Waboso for all-important tries in the final quarter, along with a brace of first-half scores for Ben Earl. England also had to defend stoutly at times, with Ollie Chessum, Ellis Genge and Joe Heyes all showing up remarkably well at the fag end of an energy-sapping campaign.
Continue reading...Taylor Farms does not specify where products were served or sold, as US braces for weeks more of outbreak
Taylor Farms recalled potentially contaminated shredded iceberg lettuce in 27 states on Friday, including lettuce distributed as recently as Thursday, as cases of cyclosporiasis continue rising in the US.
The US is likely to see at least another two weeks of possible cases, since infections may have happened in recent days. And the expanding outbreak investigation could point to other products in coming days.
Continue reading...
banzainetsurfer has added a photo to the pool:
A footbridge with hot spring footbaths crossing over the Ginzan River to the historic Kosekiya ryokan, or traditional Japanese-style inn.
LONDEN (ANP/AFP/RTR) - De aantredende Britse premier Andy Burnham gaat de plannen van de regering voor een omstreden digitaal identificatiebewijs schrappen, meldt een woordvoerder van de nieuwe leider van de Labour-partij.
"Alle tijd en middelen die aan een nationaal identiteitsbewijssysteem zouden worden besteed, zullen nu worden ingezet waar ze het hardst nodig zijn, zoals het verlagen van de kosten van levensonderhoud", aldus de woordvoerder.
Keir Starmer, die maandag aftreedt als premier, kondigde het plan voor een identiteitskaart in september aan in een poging illegale migratie tegen te gaan. Hoewel de kaart niet verplicht zou worden, zou het in eerste instantie wel een voorwaarde zijn geweest om in het Verenigd Koninkrijk te kunnen werken.
De maatregel stuitte op felle tegenstand, onder meer vanwege de hoge kosten voor het systeem. Deze werden geschat op 1,8 miljard pond (ruim 2,1 miljard euro) over een periode van drie jaar. In januari besloot de regering de voorwaarden al te versoepelen.
Lando Norris delivered a magnificent lap to qualify third for the Belgian Grand Prix, but will be demoted to P13 due to a grid penalty.
Chris Medland picks out five key things to keep an eye on when the lights go out on race day at Spa-Francorchamps.
The drivers and teams report back on all the action from final practice and Qualifying at Spa-Francorchamps for the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix.