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
67 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
67 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
67 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
67 months ago

dont they let you download them for offline listening? I know Spotify does
Yes
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cylack Avatar
67 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

maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
top stories 2025 03 29

Top Stories: WWDC 2025 Announced, iPhone 17 Pro and iOS 19 Rumors, and More

Saturday March 29, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
Apple's big developer event is a little over two months away, and rumors about what we can expect to see in Apple's next major operating system updates are becoming increasingly frequent. A public release of iOS 18.4 is also imminent with a number of updates and improvements, although we won't be getting the major Apple Intelligence Siri upgrades that had reportedly been planned for this...
Magic Mouse Green

What to Expect From the Magic Mouse 3

Saturday March 29, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple is reportedly working on a new Magic Mouse. Below, we recap what to expect. The two key rumors for the Magic Mouse 3 so far include a relocated charging port, along with a more ergonomic design. It was briefly rumored that the Magic Mouse 3 would also feature voice control, but that was misinterpreted information. Relocated Charging Port While the Magic Mouse switched from...
iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Expected Next Week - Here Are the Release Notes

Friday March 28, 2025 2:01 pm PDT by
With the second release candidate of iOS 18.4 that Apple seeded out today, the company finally provided us with release notes that give a full rundown on what to expect. There's an Apple Vision Pro app, new Apple Intelligence features for notifications and additional language support, plus an Apple News Food feature for Apple News+ subscribers, and several updates that should improve the...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Homescreen

Six Things to Know About Apple's Upcoming Foldable iPhone

Friday March 28, 2025 3:54 pm PDT by
We've been hearing rumors about a foldable iPhone for almost a decade now, but it looks like we might finally see the device come to fruition in 2026. We're going to be waiting many more months for the foldable iPhone, but so far we're hearing good things. Apple wants to make it creaseless. It's taken Apple multiple years to design a foldable iPhone that it's satisfied with because Apple ...
iOS 19 Mock WWDC25 Feature

iOS 19 Expected to Run on These iPhones

Monday March 31, 2025 5:28 pm PDT by
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past. The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
iOS 19 visionOS UI Elements

Apple Codename Provides Clue About iOS 19's Rumored New Design

Sunday March 30, 2025 6:40 am PDT by
Multiple sources have claimed that iOS 19 will introduce a new design with more translucent buttons, menus, notification banners, and more, and there is now another clue that points towards this glass-like appearance. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today said the new design project is codenamed "Solarium" internally. A solarium is a room with glass walls that allow in plenty of sunlight, so this...