U.S. Music Subscriptions Surpass 100 Million: RIAA Report

The U.S. music market has now surpassed 100 million paid subscribers on streaming services, the RIAA confirmed in its 2024 year-end report released on Tuesday.

The milestone figure comes as the RIAA reported that U.S. recorded revenue grew to $17.7 billion, an all-time high, while vinyl sales stayed strong, growing to $1.4 billion in 2024. Those figures paint a significantly rosier picture than the pre-streaming days when rampant music piracy ate into labels’ and artists’ profits, but this year’s report confirms that streaming growth is slowing, down to just 3 percent compared to 8 percent a year ago.

With streaming revenue slowing in the U.S. as the market becomes increasingly saturated with less room for new subscribers, industry insiders are looking toward raising prices on subscriptions and adding new higher-priced tiers for superfans.

Streaming of course remained the dominant source of revenue last year, sticking at 84 percent of the market’s overall revenue. Physical sales kept steady at 11 percent. Vinyl once again outsold CDs in both revenue and number of units in 2024, but CD sales slightly rebounded, up to 32.9 million units from 32.4 million in 2023. Overall, physical revenue rose about 5.4 percent last year to just over $2 billion.

On the other end, sticking with trends from recent years, digital downloads kept on their downward trajectory, with revenue falling about 14.9 percent to about $369.7 million.

“Twenty years into the streaming era, over 100 million paid subscriptions now deliver two-thirds of industry revenues, a historic milestone powering America’s music economy forward,” RIAA CEO Mitch Glazier said in a statement. “It’s an extraordinary achievement by an industry that has successfully focused on its creative and commercial core by championing innovative new services, options, and experiences that add real value for fans.”