According to the RIAA’s 2017 year-end report, digital downloads are becoming a thing of the past.
Downloads from various services earned a total of $1.3 billion dollars in 2017. And while revenues fell across the board for the entire business, one bright spot was CD and vinyl sales.
Physical media sales came in at $1.5 billion, with CD’s and vinyl making up the largest percentage of that huge number.
Streaming was by far the dominant force for 2017, and continues to drive revenues for the music business.
Streaming music services delivered $5.7 billion in revenue, while paid music subscriptions generated the lion’s share of that amount — surpassing $4 billion for the first time — and now represent the largest recorded music format by value.
“More than any other creative industry, music companies successfully transformed themselves ahead of the transition to streaming, all while forging stronger relationships with their most important partner: the artist,” noted Josh Friedlander of the RIAA.
Although the labels may be investing significant sums in discovering new acts the profits are still trickling in for the creators of the music itself.
“We continue to operate in a distorted marketplace, replete with indefensible gaps in core rights, inhibiting investment in music and depriving recording artists and songwriters of the royalties they deserve,” Josh Friedlander added.
Check out some more stats in the video below.
