Ever since the 1950s vinyl records dominated the music scene until CDs came out in 1982. CDs were first invented in 1980 and were released in 1982 in Japan and introduced to the United States and Europe in 1983 and were prominent for years. The first idea of streaming came out in 1999 with Napster which was a platform where you could download music files. The reign of online streaming has continued along with the new growth of vinyls. In the late 2010s, vinyls started to come back. Since then the growth of vinyls has kept increasing rapidly due to the new generation’s fascination with them. 

Since the start of the vinyl revival in 2010, sales have increased for the new generation.  According to statistics  from Luminate Music Consumption Data, there were 49.6 million albums sold in 2023. However, streaming platforms took the music industry by storm. So while there were still lots of vinyl sales, streaming is still taking over.

After Napsters launched in 1999 it shut down in 2001; however, the platform led the way for streaming websites like Soundcloud, Spotify and Apple Music. Spotify is the most popular platform with 615 million users and 239 million premium users and is the most successful music streaming platform due to offline listening, multi-platform streaming and more. Apple music follows with 93 million, Amazon Music with 78.9 million and then follows Pandora with 43.7 million subscribers. 

While streaming is taking over and vinyl sales have decreased , most people can argue that listening to  vinyl is an experience that no other music listening service can give you. The nostalgia of vinyls are, arguably, the most appealing aspect of them for their vintage and retro appeal. Additionally, many believe vinyl has a superior sound quality compared to the digital formats of streaming that compresses music quality. However,  there are also many pros to listening to music via streaming platforms  based on cost efficiency, accessibility and environmental awareness. Based on a 2023 study by CBC, they said that five hours of streaming music is roughly equivalent to the carbon footprint of one plastic CD case.

So, while it is subjective which platform one prefers to listen to their music on, arguably, the vinyl revival can’t live up to the popularity of streaming music because it will only continue to take over the music industry.