Music Streaming Revenue Was Higher Than Downloads In 2015

Many years ago, music downloads were a huge source of revenue for the music industry, and this platform was championed by none other than iTunes. However fast forward to today, even Apple recognizes that music streaming is the new way of music consumption and it’s a good thing they recognized it when they did.

According to a report by the RIAA, it is found that the revenue from music streaming has outpaced those of downloads in 2015. If the numbers are accurate, music streaming managed to generate $2.4 billion worth of revenue out of a total $7 billion. It also accounted for 34.3% of total revenue, which at the same time edged out music downloads by 0.3%.

However despite the rise of music streaming, it seems that not everyone is too pleased about the numbers. According to the RIAA’s chairman and CEO Cary Sherman, “In 2015, fans listened to hundreds of billions of audio and video music streams through on-demand ad-supported digital services like YouTube, but revenue from such services have been meager – far less than other kinds of music services. And the problem is getting worse.”

Sherman goes on to point out that vinyl sales in 2015 accounted for $416 million in revenue, versus the $385 brought in by ad-supported streaming music (such as Spotify’s free listening tier) which is something many musicians have had a problem with in the past.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Audio
Tags: Music