Music Revenues Stall
The revenue of the American recorded music industry grew by less than 1% compared to 2024 in the first half of this year, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Premium Subscriptions Lead as Primary Revenue Increase of 2025
With a total revenue of $5.6 billion wholesale, total growth in the music industry overall has slowed, but one place where significant change was seen was when it came to premium subscriptions to music streaming services. The RIAA recorded 105.3 million subscriptions in the first half of 2025, 6.3 million more than were counted in 2024. As a result, premium paid subscription revenues grew 6.3% compared to 2025 to nearly $3 billion.
So, What Gives?
But aside from streaming, the overall stillness of the industry stands, driven by declines in ad-supported streaming revenue, non-premium paid subscriptions, and digital radio service use. So even in just the streaming corner, overall growth was only up 2.3% from 2025. The last real drag on overall revenue would be the decline in the popularity of the two most popular mediums of physical media. Despite vinyl’s resurgence in the past decade, the format’s sales fell 1% compared to 2024, and CDs fared even worse, dropping a steep 22% compared to 2024.
A Strong Global Lead
Synchronization licensing also declined nearly 8%, but in a piece of silver lining for the American industry, one third of global streams feature American musicians, with America maintaining the highest number of music exports out of any country (so many that the country is considered to have a surplus in music).
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