CD sales are experiencing a revival, showing a renewed interest in this music format that was popular in the 1990s. Introduced by Sony in the early 1980s, the compact disc was designed to hold up to 74 minutes of music, which was ideal for recording Beethoven's 9th Symphony. It became a major innovation in the 1990s and reached its peak in the early 2000s, with Celine Dion's album D'eux selling over four million copies in France in 1995. However, the format declined with the rise of digital music and streaming services, and it gradually disappeared from major retailers. Recently, though, a study by the American organization Luminate, reported by Tsugi, shows that CD sales have increased by 16 percent in the first six months of this year. Younger music buyers, like 16-year-old Gaëtan, are purchasing CDs for reasons that go beyond just the music. They value the physical object and the experience of listening to full albums rather than individual tracks. "The CD is different. You don't just listen to a single sound," Gaëtan said. He recently bought CDs at a sale in Rennes, including an album by a French rapper currently in prison and the first album by the band Tryo. Other buyers, like 24-year-old Iréné, highlight the distinction between streaming and physical media. "I have a streaming subscription, but it's not the same. My parents always listened to a lot of CDs. And since I got a phone very late, it was my only way to listen to music. I kept this habit. I play the album on my hi-fi system and listen to everything, not just a song here or there. It's a different kind of pleasure. And I like the object itself." The resurgence of CDs is also being driven by record companies promoting physical discs of the most streamed artists. In the United States, the increase in CD sales is largely due to the popularity of K-Pop and the latest album by BTS. Jean-François, owner of It's Only, a record store in Rennes since 2014, notes that the CD allowed music to be democratized in the 1990s and remains popular because it's a beautiful object and has always been more affordable than vinyl. According to figures from the Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique (Snep), the French have bought eight million CDs and six million vinyl records, marking their best performance in 25 years. The consumption of CDs goes beyond just listening and is embedded in a relationship with the object and collecting. The CD's return is also due to a secondhand market where albums are sold for a few euros. Records are playing in cars (not too recent) and on hi-fi systems sold on Leboncoin or at flea markets. Jérémie, 53, noted that there are more and more collectors, creating a small community. He has "thousands of vinyl records" at home and has returned to searching for CDs, sensing the trend returning. "The CD has been somewhat denigrated. It was said that its sound was dull. But how many actually make a difference? It's an object that hasn't changed."