Music streaming revenue increased by 25 percent last year and now accounts for 61 percent of all the cash brought in from recorded music in the United States, according to a new annual study from the Recording Industry Association of America (via Variety).

amazonmusic
The RIAA study found that recorded music revenues hit a total of $11.1 billion in 2019, up from $9.8 billion the previous year. Of that, paid streaming music services like Apple Music and Spotify accounted for $6.8 billion in revenue during 2019.

That figure rises to $8.8 billion when including ad-supported streaming revenue, or nearly 80 percent of the overall cash made in the recorded music business last year.

The number of paid streaming subscriptions increased by 29 percent, with 60.4 million in 2019, compared to 46.9 million the previous year. That's over five-fold increase in music subscribers since 2015, when the total number of monthly subscribers was just 10.8 million.

Physical sales now account for just 10 percent of the marketplace, according to the RIAA, although the vinyl boom ensured that it wasn't the worst performer in recorded music revenue. Digital downloads have fared even worse, and adding up to just 8 percent of revenue. The RIAA says 2019 was the first year since 2006 that the money brought in from paid downloads was less than $1 billion.

‌Apple Music‌'s subscriber count last June was over 60 million, while Amazon Music recently claimed it has more than 55 million customers worldwide, although that figure includes a tally over several tiers, including Amazon Music for Prime subscribers and its free ad-supported plan. Spotify announced in September that it had 113 million paying customers.

Top Rated Comments

Rudy69 Avatar
49 months ago

This. I have Apple Music and google play music subscriptions but I still like having my whole music library of purchased songs downloaded to my iPhone. Streaming services are a convenience for me but I like to have something physical to fall back on.
dont they let you download them for offline listening? I know Spotify does
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mrat93 Avatar
49 months ago

Crap. I mean, they always say the iTunes story isn't going anywhere, so I'm not that worried, really. But I never want to have to rely on an internet connection for music (or most entertainment for that matter). I'll check back in another ten years.
Have you not checked in at any point the last 8 years?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cgs1xx Avatar
49 months ago
I use Spotify because it’s a great music player, has equalizer etc but still buy my favourite tracks off iTunes. I have stopped buying physical albums though unless it’s one of my favourite artists. It still doesn’t make sense why streaming services pay less money even though the number of streams has gone up??
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cmaier Avatar
49 months ago

dont they let you download them for offline listening? I know Spotify does
Yes
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cylack Avatar
49 months ago
I have Apple music and its great that I can instantly add a song that I like to a playlist and I can listen to my entire music library through my Apple watch at the gym, but having to pay $120 a year for the rest of my life to have access to these songs bothers me.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

apple card 1

Apple Ending Apple Card Partnership With Goldman Sachs

Tuesday November 28, 2023 3:09 pm PST by
Apple is ending its credit card partnership with Goldman Sachs, according to The Wall Street Journal. Apple plans to stop working with Goldman Sachs in the next 12 to 15 months, and it is not yet clear if Apple has established a new partnership for the Apple Card. Apple and Goldman Sachs will dissolve their entire consumer partnership, including the Apple Card and the Apple Savings account....
ios 17 namedrop

Police Departments and News Sites Spreading Misinformation About How iOS 17 NameDrop Feature Works

Monday November 27, 2023 5:11 pm PST by
Apple with iOS 17.1 and watchOS 10.1 introduced a new NameDrop feature that is designed to allow users to place Apple devices near one another to quickly exchange contact information. Sharing contact information is done with explicit user permission, but some news organizations and police departments have been spreading misinformation about how functions. As noted by The Washington Post,...
Apple Logo

Apple Discontinued These 5 Products This Year

Monday November 27, 2023 7:03 am PST by
As the end of 2023 nears, now is a good opportunity to look back at some of the devices and accessories that Apple discontinued throughout the year. Apple products discontinued in 2023 include the iPhone 13 mini, 13-inch MacBook Pro, MagSafe Battery Pack, MagSafe Duo Charger, and leather accessories. Also check out our lists of Apple products discontinued in 2022 and 2021. iPhone Mini ...
iOS 17

iOS 17.1.2 Update for iPhone Likely to Be Released This Week

Monday November 27, 2023 8:24 am PST by
Apple will likely release iOS 17.1.2 this week, based on mounting evidence of the software in our website's analytics logs in recent days. As a minor update, iOS 17.1.2 should be focused on bug fixes, but it's unclear exactly which issues might be addressed. Some users have continued to experience Wi-Fi issues on iOS 17.1.1, so perhaps iOS 17.1.2 will include the same fix for Wi-Fi...
iOS 17

Everything New in iOS 17.2 Beta 4

Tuesday November 28, 2023 12:18 pm PST by
Apple is wrapping up development on iOS 17.2, with the update expected to come out in December. While we're getting to the end of the beta testing period, Apple is still tweaking features and adding new functionality. We've rounded up everything new in the fourth beta of iOS 17.2. Default Notification Sound Under Sounds & Haptics, there's a new "Default Alerts" section that allows you to ...
All New CarPlay Five New Features Article 2

What to Expect From All-New CarPlay, Still Listed as Coming 'Late 2023'

Tuesday November 28, 2023 7:44 am PST by
At WWDC in June 2022, Apple previewed the next generation of CarPlay, promising deeper integration with vehicle functions like A/C and FM radio, support for multiple displays across the dashboard, increased personalization, and more. Apple's website still says the first vehicles with support for the next-generation CarPlay experience will be announced in "late 2023," but it has not shared...
Google Drive

Some Google Drive Users' Files Have Mysteriously Vanished

Tuesday November 28, 2023 3:55 am PST by
Google Drive users have been warned not to disconnect their account within the Google Drive for desktop app, after a spate of reports of files going missing from the cloud service. Alarm bells began ringing last week on Google's community support site when some users reported files mysteriously disappearing from Google Drive, with some posters claiming six or more months of data had...