Physical Single Sales by Format 1988-2005
Printed From: Top 40 Music on CD
Category: Top 40 Music On Compact Disc
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URL: https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10193
Printed Date: 03 November 2025 at 10:37am
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Topic: Physical Single Sales by Format 1988-2005
Posted By: Todd Ireland
Subject: Physical Single Sales by Format 1988-2005
Date Posted: 19 March 2025 at 2:30am
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There has been significant interest on the chat board recently in trying to determine the most popular 2-track commercial single format on a year-by-year basis for chart years in which multiple formats were made available in the U.S. market, particularly from the late '80s through the late '90s. So, I've taken the liberty of citing the number of units sold in millions (M) for each available commercial single format from 1988 through 2005, using data from the https://www.riaa.com/u-s-sales-database/ - U.S. Recorded Music Sales Volume by Format chart published by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). I'm hoping this will help serve as a valuable reference guide for determining "official" single versions in cases where different versions of a Top 40 hit are featured as the lead track on multiple format releases. (For easier reference, I've highlighted the most popular format for each year in red italicized bold print):
1987 Vinyl 45 - 82.0M Cassette single - 5.1M 1988 Vinyl 45 - 65.6M Cassette single - 22.5M 1989 Cassette single - 76.2M Vinyl 45 - 36.6M 1990 Cassette single - 87.4M Vinyl 45 - 27.6M CD single - 1.1M 1991 Cassette single - 69.0M Vinyl 45 - 22.0M CD single - 5.7M 1992 Cassette single - 84.6M Vinyl 45 - 19.8M CD single - 7.3M 1993 Cassette single - 85.6M Vinyl 45 - 15.1M CD single - 7.8M 1994 Cassette single - 81.1M Vinyl 45 - 11.7M CD single - 9.3M 1995 Cassette single - 70.7M CD single - 21.5M Vinyl 45 - 10.2M 1996 Cassette single - 59.9M CD single - 43.2M Vinyl 45 - 10.1M 1997 CD single - 66.7M Cassette single - 42.2M Vinyl 45 - 7.5M 1998 CD single - 56.0M Cassette single - 26.4M Vinyl 45 - 5.4M 1999 CD single - 55.9M Cassette single - 14.2M Vinyl 45 - 5.3M 2000 CD single - 34.2M Vinyl 45 - 4.8M Cassette single - 1.3M 2001 CD single - 17.3M Vinyl 45 - 5.5M 2002 CD single - 4.5M Vinyl 45 - 4.4M 2003 CD single - 8.3M Vinyl 45 - 3.8M 2004 Download single - 139.4M Vinyl 45 - 3.5M CD single - 3.1M 2005 Download single - 366.9M CD single - 2.8M Vinyl 45 - 2.3M I didn't think there was a practical need to compile single sales volume by year any further because it's quite evident by this point that download singles have since remained the most popular singles format by a huge margin. So, based on RIAA data, the "dominant" commercial single format by era can be summarized as follows from 1955 to the present day: 1955-1988: Vinyl 45 1989-1996: Cassette single 1997-2003: CD single 2004-present: Download single |
Replies:
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 19 March 2025 at 8:15am
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Awesome post, Todd! This is incredibly helpful. Thanks for taking time to research it. ------------- Aaron Kannowski http://www.uptownsound.com" rel="nofollow - Uptown Sound http://www.919thepeak.com" rel="nofollow - 91.9 The Peak - Classic Hip Hop |
Posted By: ChicagoBill
Date Posted: 19 March 2025 at 8:20am
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Not real surprising to me. In 1989, the decline in sales of the vinyl singles can be
attributed to the lack of availability, especially in the lower rungs of the Hot 100. The Hot Country singles in 1990 still had a 90% or so availability on vinyl. The Hot Soul singles at that time mirrored the Hot 100. I remember some Top 10 singles in 1991 were still not available on vinyl and some were released after the single had already peaked. -Bill |
Posted By: Paul Haney
Date Posted: 19 March 2025 at 9:54am
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Thanks for posting this. It looks like Record Research was
pretty close on the 1990-98 "cassette single" era used for the Top Pop Singles book. I think the fact that a lot of collectors personally didn't like the cassette single has clouded their judgement on just how popular they were with the singles buying public at the time. |
Posted By: Todd Ireland
Date Posted: 19 March 2025 at 12:47pm
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I think you're probably right about that, Paul. For one thing, I didn't realize how cassette singles' popularity had exploded in 1989, though I do recall purchasing my first ever cassette single that spring (Jimmy Harnen with Synch's "Where Are You Now", a song that could have easily been mistaken for an REO Speedwagon "power ballad"!). I was always a CD guy, but occasionally I would buy cassette singles just to have a professional sounding copy of current hit songs that I could play endlessly in my car's cassette deck.
It does surprise me a bit, though, how long it took CD single sales to eventually surpass cassette single sales in 1997, given that regular CD sales overall had overtaken that of cassettes five years prior. I do recall in late 1992/early 1993 when I first became interested in seeking out CD singles and being frustrated by the lack of product available on that format at the time. I distinctly remember a standard 2-track CD single typically retailing for $4.99, while maxi-CD singles went for $6.99. These were expensive price points in those days, especially for looking to acquire only one song, so I imagine this was probably a significant reason why CD singles sales seemed to catch on rather slowly in the U.S. market. |
Posted By: Todd Ireland
Date Posted: 19 March 2025 at 1:43pm
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A couple of other thoughts that have occurred to me... I firmly believe that CD singles were really never marketed properly in the U.S. and therefore never truly enjoyed a bonafide sales boom here. By the time this format had finally emerged as the preferred one among consumers, record labels began to stop making popular hits available as retail single releases in favor of forcing consumers into having to purchase these songs on their more expensive album counterparts.
Meanwhile, there was no uniform packaging standard with U.S. CD single releases. Thus, consumers were treated to a messy hodgepodge of the product being issued in everything from standard jewel cases to slimline jewel cases to cardboard sleeves to "digipaks", etc. which made storing them both a pain and an eyesore. I give full credit and props to European countries for marketing CD singles the right way... As far back as 1989, or even 1988 in the U.K., one could reliably find pretty much any hit song available on CD single and uniformly issued in a slimline jewel case! |
Posted By: Scanner
Date Posted: 19 March 2025 at 6:58pm
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Nice try, Paul. The split between the Pop books should
have been between the Hot 100 as a record chart versus the song chart it became in late 1998. Perhaps you can address this if/when future editions of the Pop books are published. I think one problem with CD singles was also content...or lack thereof. CD singles and albums were the same size making singles seem like a ripoff when the same medium could have so much more content. At least a 45 was smaller than an album - you got less music and less physical product. Cassingles were the same - seeing so little tape through the window felt like such a ripoff especially when cassettes were not that durable in the first place. |
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 19 March 2025 at 7:52pm
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I have always loved CD singles and never considered them a rip off. Product size really has very little to do with the price (which is true of many physical products), and in the case of singles, the price was adjusted according to content on the disc (or tape). “More content” was on the full-length album, and those were usually 3X the price of a maxi single.
I’m quite glad the physically smaller 3” CD didn’t become popular as a single format. They are a lot harder to handle, can’t be played in slot loading players, and look like mini replicas of a normal CD. ------------- Aaron Kannowski http://www.uptownsound.com" rel="nofollow - Uptown Sound http://www.919thepeak.com" rel="nofollow - 91.9 The Peak - Classic Hip Hop |
Posted By: eriejwg
Date Posted: 19 March 2025 at 8:14pm
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As a wedding DJ, in the days before (legal) downloads
became available, I always preferred CD singles for the newer and newest music back then. That way, I was only buying it for the hit vs. buying a whole album CD for one song that might not turn out to be a hit. By 1994, I was so happy to discover Top Hits U.S.A. for DJ's so I could get all the potential hits on one disc. Eventually, I switched to PrimeCuts in 2005 and then Promo Only in 2018 when Primecuts ceased. ------------- John Gallagher Erie, PA Celebrating 28 years as a full-time wedding & special event DJ! |
Posted By: prisdeej
Date Posted: 19 March 2025 at 9:51pm
I always believed the Walkman had alot to do with this. Cassettes would play without skipping, as they really didn't perfect the CD versions until later. ------------- DJ L. |
Todd Ireland wrote:Posted By: Todd Ireland
Date Posted: 20 March 2025 at 1:39am
| I never thought about that, Dave, but that's a valid observation. Younger consumers with limited spending budgets may have been more likely to select cassette singles over CD singles for perhaps at least partially that reason (and lower pricing). I remember how the early portable CD Walkman and car CD players were very sensitive to bumps and thus prone to "skipping" and mistracking. You're right about how this issue didn't seem to get remedied until at least the mid- to late '90s. The one positive attribute with cassettes compared to all other formats is that they're obviously not vulnerable to "skipping" problems! |
Posted By: Hykker
Date Posted: 20 March 2025 at 5:16am
Not sure what you mean by "never marketed properly". As I recall, many songs were only released as (ugh) cassette singles from the late 80s on. You can't buy what doesn't exist. And there seemed to be little to no pattern as to what was issued in what format. Add to that the fact that singles (regardless of format) were only produced in limited quantities so if you didn't get something early, there was a good chance you were outta luck. |
Posted By: CountryPD
Date Posted: 20 March 2025 at 7:17am
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I too recall that the availability of CD singles was pretty low.
The larger music stores that I shopped usually carried a decent sized selection of cassette singles. But if CD singles were sold at all it was in very small quantities. Perhaps that was related to the quantity of CD singles being made available to them by music labels. Or perhaps the store's sales history or corporate policy regarding CD singles dictated they carry less inventory. Oddly I recall seeing more CD singles in the discount bins than when they were current hits. Perhaps the proliferation of the "Now That's What I Call Music" type compilations contributed to their demise. |
Posted By: PopArchivist
Date Posted: 20 March 2025 at 4:48pm
I can attest that the CD single sometimes came in awkward packaging (a cardboard slip cover around 93-98 was very common offering no protection). They were not as nicely done as an album of the era which has a jewel case. I can agree that Europe marketed the CD single the way it should have been. By 1999 Billboard had finally allowed album tracks to chart. The CD single was still very popular. The point where the CD single fell off the cliff was after 2009. The 2007-current period is dominated by digital downloads, including Itunes and Amazon exclusives etc. As Aaron can now attest, and as Pat before him CD releases of new stuff do not exist. Many of us board members for our personal collections saw this coming decades ago with Napster and P2P. Storage is now affordable to the point where you can amass thousands of tracks and unload your physical CD collection. The times they are a changin'..... ------------- Favorite two expressions to live by on this board: "You can't download vinyl" and "Not everything is available on CD." |
Posted By: PopArchivist
Date Posted: 20 March 2025 at 4:52pm
Oddly enough they stopped the Now series after Vol 90. That's how far the CD itself has fallen off in sales. A great series but you are correct why buy 16 of the newest songs that are popular when I can get the CD for 10-15 bucks every 3 months? It didn't make financial sense. ------------- Favorite two expressions to live by on this board: "You can't download vinyl" and "Not everything is available on CD." |
Posted By: PopArchivist
Date Posted: 20 March 2025 at 4:57pm
I used to have the same argument for cost purchases. A CD single had 1, maybe 2 and sometimes 3 song/mixes. The Beatles red could fit the 2nd cd and even a few songs that were not on there. Instead of maxing out space no one did or chose not to from the label. And yea a 45 had an a and b side. Elton's 1997 charity single was a perfect example of how huge the CD single had become by then as that one sold a ton. It pretty much ushered in the CD single as the dominant format and that is supported by the above research. Do I think Record Research should have recognized and did the 1955-1998 book and 1999-present. Yes. That is the true divide between yesterdays music charting and today's. ------------- Favorite two expressions to live by on this board: "You can't download vinyl" and "Not everything is available on CD." |
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 20 March 2025 at 5:46pm
It's not the disc's potential capacity that comes into play. It's the costs involved vs. what the buying public is willing to spend. The more music you cram onto a CD, the more the artists and songwriters make, which means the price of the CD has to go up to cover those expenses. When the CD price goes up, demand and sales go down. It's all a business decision that has nothing to do with the cost (or size) of the plastic holding the music. ------------- Aaron Kannowski http://www.uptownsound.com" rel="nofollow - Uptown Sound http://www.919thepeak.com" rel="nofollow - 91.9 The Peak - Classic Hip Hop |
Posted By: Todd Ireland
Date Posted: 22 March 2025 at 12:04am
Pretty much everything you just said here, Hykker, is exactly what I meant when I said that CD singles were never marketed properly in the U.S. There was simply no consistency whatsoever with the product that the record companies made available to consumers. This, in turn, made it difficult for consumers to get into the habit of buying CD singles because the availability of titles was so hit-and-miss (it was more often "miss" until around 1995 when CD single sales finally began to gain some steam). |
Posted By: Todd Ireland
Date Posted: 22 March 2025 at 1:22am
Man, how I have always passionately hated to see CD singles packaged with the cheap plastic trays and awful cardboard slip covers that you describe! In fact, that rotten packaging deterred me from buying a number of CD singles during the mid-'90s that I otherwise was willing to purchase! Meanwhile, judging by the sales data put out by the RIAA, I'd argue the point that CD singles really "fell off a cliff" was closer to 2000 and 2001. And the thing is, this was not due to declining interest and demand from consumers, but rather from record labels intentionally suppressing the release of CD single product. It's as though the labels never really wanted to see CD singles truly maximize their popularity out of fear that album sales would become cannibalized as a result, thus reducing profits. Yet, despite these unfounded fears, we witnessed cases like Santana's improbable comeback album Supernatural get certified a phenomenal 15x platinum (for shipping 15 million copies to retail), while still yielding two huge #1 platinum-selling singles, "Smooth" (featuring Rob Thomas) and "Maria Maria" (featuring the Product G&B)! |
Posted By: edtop40
Date Posted: 22 March 2025 at 3:31pm
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just found my recollection from 2009 about the format
leadership.....man we are getting old!! ------------- edtop40 |
Posted By: edtop40
Date Posted: 22 March 2025 at 3:32pm
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in the semi-charmed life post.. ------------- edtop40 |
Posted By: Todd Ireland
Date Posted: 23 March 2025 at 1:17am
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I just replied to your initial post about correctly estimating the cassette single domination era in the https://www.top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=5209&PN=1 - Third Eye Blind - Semi-Charmed Life message thread, Ed!
Also, congratulations once again on surpassing 5,000 message board posts! |
Posted By: Paul C
Date Posted: 25 March 2025 at 11:43am
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A significant reason that sales of 7-inch singles fell from
65.6M in 1988 to 36.6M in 1989 was the decision by record companies to stop accepting returns from merchants of unsold 45s, which caused many retailers to stop stocking them. The label numbers listed on the Billboard Hot 100 were for the 7-inch single until July 21, 1990. The listed label numbers were for the cassette single from July 28, 1990 to June 20, 1998, and for the CD single starting June 27, 1998. |
Posted By: Todd Ireland
Date Posted: 25 March 2025 at 11:17pm
| Wow, I never knew that, Paul! That certainly goes a long way to help explain the sudden, very drastic drop in vinyl 45 sales between 1988 and 1989. When I initially saw those figures, I wondered if this might have been an reflection of public dissatisfaction with the state of the popular music at that time. But if that was the case, then it didn't make sense to me how album sales could have simultaneously increased during that same time period. So, thanks for relaying that information! |
Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 01 May 2025 at 2:01am
| Paul (Todd), that's fascinating data. While it's not all that surprising to see each format rise and fall, to see the actual #s for each year was really cool. Thanks for sharing. |