A new report published by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has now determined that streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora and others like them have continued to grow in popularity so much that they now account for 75 percent of total music industry revenues in the United States.
The report shows that since 2016, streaming revenue continues to grow by 30 percent. In 2016 the figure matched $7.6 billion and in 2017 it was $8.8 billion. By the end of 2018 streaming accounted for $9.8 billion in revenue.
Digital downloads on platforms such as iTunes accounted for 11 percent in 2018 while physical sales in CD and vinyl formats made up 12 percent. Although, vinyl sales did see an increase of 8% from 2017, reaching its highest level of revenue since 1988. CD sales, however, have dropped 34%.
Once again, these numbers further speak to the power that streaming has garnered over the years, and its role in positioning hip-hop as the foremost genre of the time. Currently, five of the top 10 artists on the Billboard 200 charts are hip-hop artists, primarily off the strength of streaming units. The accessibility the reason we see artists like Post Malone and Travis Scott float in and out of the top 10 albums in the country on any given week.
Check out the full report here to see the full scope of revenue-generating activities within the music industry.