The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has published its annual mid-year report on the overall state of the industry.
[metalwani_content_ad]
As a whole, the music industry has raked in $4.6 billion, which is a considerable jump from last year’s $4.2 billion and 2016’s $3.5 billion mid-year figures.
The report points out that streaming accounted for 75% of all music sales revenue. Digital downloads accounted for 12%, physical media totalled 10%, and synch made up 3%.
When it comes to physical products, the revenues from CD sales are down 41%, while vinyl revenues are up 13%.
Seeing that Best Buy has abandoned the CD format and that chains like Target are reworking their business model regarding CDs, the sharp drop hasn’t come as much of a surprise.
[metalwani_content_ad]
It’s also worth pointing out that although total revenue is up, the rate at which various streaming services pay royalties for their songs is considerably lower than what physical products offered in their heyday.
You can check out the full report here.