Streaming music already accounts for 75% of the music industry in the united states

Streaming music services such as Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play Music, Pandora and the like continue to grow in popularity. Such is the increasing rate that in 2018 they accounted for 75 percent of the total income of the music industry in the United States.

Streaming music wins the battle

Revenue from streaming music platforms has grown by thirty percent and has reached $ 7.4 billion. To put this figure in perspective, it is necessary to highlight that the total income of the music industry for 2018 was 9.8 billion dollars, compared to 8.8 billion in 2017 and 7.6 billion in 2016.

Digital music downloads from online stores like iTunes accounted for 11 percent of total revenue in 2018, and physical record and CD sales accounted for 12 percent. Digital downloads fell for the sixth consecutive year and were overshadowed by physical sales, which also declined, with the sole exception of vinyl record sales reaching 8%.

Subscription streaming music services, such as Apple Music, were responsible for much of the revenue growth of the music industry, while ad-supported services and radio services account for a smaller part of that growth..

Total subscription revenue increased a total of 32 percent from 2017 to 2018, reaching $ 5.4 billion, thanks to an average growth of 42 percent in the number of paid subscriptions.

The RIAA, responsible for this report, does not breakdown revenue for each specific music service, but at the last count, Apple Music already had 50 million paying subscribers, keeping Spotify first with 87 million.

Via MacRumors RIAA Source (pdf)