Streaming Accounted for 75% of Recording-Industry Dollars in First Half, Says RIAA
Total U.S. revenue from recorded music jumped 10 percent in 2018's first half to $4.6 billion, from the same 2017 period, said RIAA’s midyear report Thursday. With streaming music generating 75 percent of industry revenue, “overall market trends in the…
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first half of 2018 continued to reflect the music industry’s rapid transition from unit based physical and digital sales towards streaming music sources,” said the association. Revenue from streaming music grew 28 percent to $3.4 billion, it said. “Paid subscriptions have become the biggest format for music by revenue.” Growth of 33 percent brought total subscription revenue to $2.5 billion, so while 75 percent of industry revenue came from streaming, 75 percent of that came from paid subscriptions, it said. In physical formats, the industry shipped 18.6 million CDs in the first half, a 47 percent year-over-year decline, and CD dollar shipments declined 42 percent to $246 million, said RIAA. Vinyl saw an upsurge, rising 13 percent in units to 8.1 million and 13 percent in dollars to just under $200 million, the group said.