If you ever wanted to see the music industry summed up in 30 seconds, now is your chance. Digital music news has made a gif of which format music has been purchased from the years 1983-2013.
The results aren’t that surprising, but it is amazing to see how our buying habits have changed over the years.
The pie chart features statistics from CD, cassette, vinyl, digital download, and paid subscription.
In the first picture, the cassette and LP/EP are kings in 1983, splitting nearly all the sales between them. Cassettes hold 47.8% of the market and LP/EP are grasping 44.6% of sales. Vinyl is at 7.1% and poor old CDs are selling a pathetic 0.5%, they’ll never catch.
All through the 1980s cassette leads the way but by 1989 the CD market has grown to 39.3% in just six years. LP/EP sales have slumped to 3.3% and vinyl is crushed to 1.8%.
The 1990s is the beginning of the CD domination, we all remember it. In 1990, CDs and cassettes are nearly dead even in sales but by 1999, CDs hold 87.9% of the purchasing market.
The beginning to mid 2000s, are the CD’s Celtic Tiger days. They are in complete control until about 2007, the emergence of new music technologies heralds the death of CDs. Digital downloads and ringtones and subscriptions are about to take over.
By 2013, the gif pie chart, is a collage of different colours. CDs are down to 30.4%, the download market holds a combined 40% of the market and the remaining pie chart is made up of a mix of formats.
Watch the gif below.
