Music CD units shipped in the US

Americans bought fewer CDs in proportion to how many pet insurance policies they purchased, which is the kind of generational transition you can almost hear: a jewel case clicking shut as a vet's bill arrives in the mail.

Two opposing trends with separate causes that both define the same demographic shift. CD shipments have collapsed since their 1999 peak as digital music took over, while pet insurance has grown sharply as millennials entered prime pet ownership years and treated vet costs as a planned category. The same age cohort that stopped buying physical music started buying coverage for their dogs.

So the correlation is one form of physical media dying as one form of intangible coverage thrives. The disc is gone. The dog, well-protected.