US music industry revenues grew 12 percent to USD 9.8 billion in 2018, up 12 percent year on year thanks to the ever-increasing popularity of streaming services, said the annual report from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Revenues from streaming music platforms including the premium subscription services of Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music and Amazon as well as on-demand streaming services including YouTube, Vevo and the ad-supported Spotify grew 30 percent year on year to USD 7.4 billion, accounting for three-quarters (75%) of total industry revenues in 2018, up from 65 percent the year earlier.
The number of paid subscriptions to music streaming services exceeded 50 million for the first time, compared to 35 million in 2017. On average, more than 1 million new subscriptions were added on a monthly basis, said the RIAA. Revenues from digital downloads fell for the sixth consecutive year to USD 1.0 billion in 2018, while CD sales plunged nearly 34 percent to USD 698 million. Physical sales of vinyl records on the other hand, were up 8 percent year on year to USD 419 million, the highest level since 1988.
