The U.S. music streaming industry continues to strengthen itself daily, confidently surpassing 100 million subscribers here in this country in 2024, as recorded by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in its latest revenue report. Overall sales are flourishing, driven by a remarkable resurgence in physical media, especially vinyl. The RIAA highlights that total revenue from paid subscriptions, ad-supported services, digital and customized radio, social media platforms, digital fitness apps, and more surged by 4%, reaching a remarkable record high of $14.9 billion—an inspiring increase of approximately half a billion dollars from the previous year.
According to an article from The Verge, a key driver of this streaming success is Spotify, which proudly showcased its first full-year profit in 2024. This year, the company embraced price increases while expanding its Premium subscriber base to an impressive 263 million worldwide, although it has not disclosed the number of U.S. subscribers. In the realm of physical media, vinyl has triumphed, achieving a significant 7% growth and outselling CDs for the third consecutive year, generating $1.4 billion of the total $2 billion spent on physical media. CD revenue also enjoyed a modest 1% rise, earning $541 million for the year. However, digital downloads faced a decline of 14.9% compared to last year, now making up only 2% of overall revenue.
