Streaming continues to boost US music industry growth

[NEW YORK] The US music industry posted its fourth straight year of double-digit growth in 2019 to generate US$11.1 billion in revenue, an industry tracker said on Tuesday, citing the continued domination of streaming.

The year's total revenue jumped 13 per cent, the Recording Industry Association of America said in its annual report, with streaming accounting for US$8.8 billion, nearly 80 per cent of the sum.

The RIAA said paid subscriptions to streaming services like Spotify and Tidal contributed the largest share and marked the largest source of revenue growth - up 25 per cent versus 2018.

Paid subscriptions accounted for 61 per cent of total record music revenues stateside, with 60.4 million paid subscribers to on-demand services.

Revenues from ad-supported, on-demand streaming platforms like YouTube and Spotify's free version notably grew 20 per cent versus 2018 - but brought in just US$908 million in revenue.

These types of services saw more than 500 billion songs streamed to more than 100 million US listeners, but formed only eight percent of 2019's revenues.

Revenues from compact discs fell 12 per cent to US$614.5 million, dropping as expected - though not as quickly as digital download revenues, which fell 18 per cent to dip below US$1 billion for the first time since 2006, bringing in US$856 million.

But vinyl - the darling of hipsters, music nerds and collectors - marked its 14th consecutive year of growth, raking in US$504 million and swelling 19 per cent year-over-year.

Lovers of side A and side B propelled the format to its highest revenues in more than three decades.

AFP