The annual year-end RIAA music revenues report has been released. It sees continued growth in the recorded music business, thanks to streaming, with streaming revenues totaling $8.8 billion and accounting for 79.5% of all recorded music revenue. Streaming music alone in 2019 was greater than the entirety of money generated from recorded music in 2017. Revenue as a whole jumped to $11.1 billion, with digital downloads, physical sales, and synch licensing making up the remainder of the total.
Digital downloads have continued their downward slump, falling to $856 million in 2019. This marks the first time since 2006 that revenue from digital downloads has totaled less than $1 billion. Physical sales totaled at $1.15 billion last year, a slight dip from 2018 (down 0.6%). CD sales are down 12%, but vinyl’s resurgence continues with growth for the 14th straight year, totaling $504 million in revenue in 2019.
Read “How to Be a Responsible Music Fan in the Age of Streaming.”
