Music streaming revenue in the US surpasses that from downloads

Music streaming revenues have overtaken that of permanent downloads in the US. This is according to a study by the Recording Industry Association of America into music sales in the United States in 2015.

According to the RIAA, music streaming accounted for 34.3 percent of revenue in 2015. This means that revenues have surpassed the turnover from digital downloads for the first time: that share remained at 34 percent in 2015. The US music industry believes that the growth in streaming revenue is partly due to the introduction of new much-talked-about services such as Tidal and Apple Music. Turnover from other digital sectors such as downloads and ringtones declined, as in previous years.

The number of paid subscriptions grew by 40 percent to an average of 10.8 million for the whole year. This made it the most important contribution to the growing turnover of the music industry. Total paid subscription revenue was $1.2 billion, slightly more than the other two sources, Internet radio and On-Demand Ad-Supported combined, which grossed $803 million and $385 million, respectively. The latter two, which include revenue from YouTube advertising and the like, have also grown compared to previous years, but significantly less than subscription revenue.

In total, according to the RIAA, music sales in the United States have brought in just over $7 billion, growing 0.9 percent since 2014. The share of digital revenue is nearly $4.8 billion, or 70 percent of the total. the total turnover, with which the growth of the digital share continues compared to the 67 percent of 2014.

The US is one of the most important markets for music sales and developments in this market are representative of the worldwide turnover over time, as the past has shown.