Almost a century after the first long-playing record was pressed, it seems that vinyl is still spinnin’. A new report from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) yesterday revealed that people in the US bought a collective 43 million vinyl records last year — some 6 million more units than the number of CDs sold, marking the second year running that the vintage format has won out.
While streaming remains king, making up ~84% of US recorded music revenues, vinyl sales still raked in an estimated $1.4bn, compared with just $537m for less pricey CD formats.
With sales peaking in the late 1970s, before it was dethroned by CDs/cassettes in the 80s and throughout the 90s and 00s, vinyl’s popularity has seen a resurgence over the past decade, in no small part because of its modern day consumer advantage over other mediums: the “cool factor”.
But, hipsters aside, the recent uptick can also be attributed to vinyl records breaking into the mainstream, with Kendrick Lamar, Harry Styles, and Lana Del Rey all releasing their latest albums on wax — as well as megastar Taylor Swift, whose album 1989 (Taylor's Version) was the best-selling vinyl LP of 2023, making up 7% of all US vinyl album sales last year.
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Disney could be well on its way to its third billion-dollar film of the year following a $345 million opening weekend for “Avatar: Fire and Ash.” The film’s opening gross puts the “Avatar” franchise’s total box office earnings at $5.6 billion — and counting.
The latest film, the second “Avatar” entry under Disney’s tent, earned about 75% of its total box office gross internationally — in line with previous movies in the (as of now) trilogy. Domestically, this one earned $88 million, falling short of expectations.
“Fire and Ash” was the widest Imax release ever, debuting on 1,703 screens globally and earning $43.6 million through the format. The $345 million “Fire and Ash” opening weekend was the second-highest of 2025, behind Disney’s “Zootopia 2,” which recently passed the $1 billion mark, globally.
Year to date, Disney has earned $5.8 billion globally at the box office.
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In less than 3 weeks, Disney’s “Zootopia 2” becomes the second billion-dollar film of 2025
The global film industry officially has its second billion-dollar film of the year, as Disney’s “Zootopia 2” surged past the $1 billion box office mark in just 17 days. The other billion-dollar film this year, the live-action “Lilo & Stitch,” was also made by Disney.
“Zootopia” was the fastest to reach 10 figures of any animated film. The animated hit, which had the highest-grossing global debut of the year over Thanksgiving weekend, has benefited from massive numbers in China.
Disney also logged two billion-dollar films last year with “Inside Out 2” and “Moana 2.” (The latter also came out over the Thanksgiving holiday.) The only other film to cross the mark in 2024 was “Deadpool and Wolverine,” which featured Disney’s IP.