In this bar race I take a look at the most popular music formats by revenue share from 1972 to 2022. This data comes from the RIAA, so it only includes legally sold music and legal streaming.
The popular formats from 1972 until today include:
Vinyl - This format has been around since the 1800s and is still pretty popular today thanks to hipsters and DJs.
8-Track - The 8-track format was originally developed for looping messages on Learjet planes. It featured great audio quality and 4 looping stereo audio tracks but its delicate system and larger size allowed cassette tapes to take the lead.
Cassette Tape - The cassette tape was developed before the 8-Track but did not take the lead until the sound quality became on-par with 8-Track.
CD - CD's portability and audio quality dominated the format wars, but not it's price and the price of the new gear. As prices dropped it became the dominant format until MP3s and streaming became popular.
Digital Download - Although Napster was the first to start selling MP3s, they quickly flopped while the iTunes Store became the main legal provider of digital downloads.
Streaming Services - In 2002 Rhapsody started the first subscription based music streaming service. In 2011 it acquired Napster and used it as its brand name in 2016.
