For years, the compact disc seemed destined for the same cultural graveyard as cassette tapes, VHS tapes and other relics of a pre-streaming world.
Then something unexpected happened: Young people started buying them again.
Recent headlines have declared that CDs are making a comeback, with a new generation embracing the format that once seemed hopelessly outdated. The Washington Post reported in September that CD sales in the first half of 2026 had jumped 16% to 16.3 million units, outpacing the growth of vinyl. Rolling Stone reported similar numbers, noting that Gen Z and millennials are helping drive the renewed interest in CDs.
But talk to a few Kent State University students who collect CDs, and the word “comeback” doesn't quite fit.
For them, CDs never really went away.
“I’ve always had CDs because it was my parents’ thing and they had CDs in the car,” said Chance Stratton, a sophomore digital media production major from Elyria, Ohio. “My dad would burn CDs all the time. I’ve never had a room without a CD player in it.”
Stratton’s collection grew from there, in part because of something streaming can't replicate: having an album in your hands.
“A lot of albums I loved were on vinyl, and I wanted a physical copy just because I like to hold art,” Stratton said. “I think it's awesome.”
That desire for something tangible is a common thread among the Kent State students who collect CDs.
Economics major Damion Alberino, a first-year student from Parma, Ohio, estimates that he owns at least 500 CDs. He’s been collecting them since he was about 7 years old.
“I think that physical media is just something that you can’t replace with digital copies,” Alberino said. “It’s worth it to have the item and be able to play it yourself and make it your own. It feels like it’s your own and not just everybody’s like with streaming.”
Alberino doesn’t see the recent attention being paid to CDs as the beginning of a trend.
“I think The Washington Post is catching up to something that's been going on for years,” he said.
He finds many of his CDs at Savers, Goodwill stores and garage sales, often buying music from people who no longer want their collections.
The Physical Part Matters
The Kent State collectors aren’t necessarily rejecting streaming. They use it too.
That’s part of what makes the CD resurgence different from simply replacing one music format with another.
Students can have Spotify in their pockets and still want a shelf full of CDs.
For Stratton, streaming is useful when he’s walking to class. But when he's at home with his roommates, putting on a CD becomes a shared experience.
“But there’s something about all four of us being together and putting a CD on,” he said.
His roommates have even turned listening to their physical music collection into art. They have a wall of records, several chosen based on their covers.
“I’m a very big album listener,” Stratton said. “I try to listen to at least two new albums a week.”
He prefers hearing an album in the order the artist intended.
Stratton’s roommate agrees.
“If you’re listening to an album for the first time, you cannot shuffle it — you have to listen to it in the intended track order,” said Vincent Vinay, a junior digital media production major from Barberton, Ohio.
“I don’t think the average listener sits down and actually listens to an album,” said Melora Shue, a first-year communication studies major from Barberton, Ohio. “The artist put them in that order for a reason.”
Lunar Litfin, a first-year exploratory student from Columbus, Ohio, has a collection of roughly 250 to 300 CDs. More than 50 of them are Christmas albums.
For Litfin, the appeal is partly ownership and partly the physical package that comes with an album.
“I like knowing that I own the thing that I enjoy and listen to,” Litfin said. “That’s part of it.”
The artwork, alternate covers, lyric books and other extras are part of the experience too.
“I hated the cover on streaming,” Litfin said of one album in the collection. “And so eventually I’m like, ‘I’ll just buy the CD.’”
And then there’s the sheer weirdness of what can be found on a physical disc.
“You can just get some nonsense on a CD,” Litfin said. “It’s awesome.”
A Different Kind of Collecting
The recent national attention isn’t entirely misplaced.
The Washington Post reported in 2023 that young CD collectors were helping give the format new life, describing the discs as an affordable extension of fandom and noting the appeal of their artwork, packaging and physicality. At the time, however, the Recording Industry Association of America cautioned that the broader CD market was still in decline.
The latest numbers suggest the picture is changing.
According to the association’s 2025 year-end report, CD sales declined 11.6% in unit volume from 2024 to 2025 while vinyl continued to grow. But Luminate’s first-half 2026 numbers tell a different story, showing CD sales up 16% year over year.
So perhaps “comeback” depends on what you’re looking at.
For the Kent State students, the better description may be continuation.
Some inherited collections from their parents. Others found CDs at thrift stores and garage sales. Some bought rare imports online. Others simply never stopped accumulating them.
Stratton, for example, has tracked down Japanese releases through Amazon and eBay, including music connected to an anime series. One of his CDs is a first-edition release that sold out and was later re-pressed in a different edition.
Those details turn a $5 or $10 piece of plastic into something more like a collectible.
And CDs can be relatively inexpensive compared with vinyl.
Litfin estimates that a good used CD can cost between $3 and $8 when purchased in person, making it possible to build a sizable collection without spending a fortune.
Asked whether streaming the same music for less would feel the same, Litfin said, “I don't think I would value it as much because part of a CD is you have to sit down and listen to the whole album.”
