RIAA Reports $15 Billion In Recorded Music Revenue And A Rise of 24% In Streaming Revenues

The Recording Industry Association of America has reported an overall revenue of $15 billion in recorded music revenue – a record high – in 2021. The group’s streaming revenue’s from subscriptions and apps like TikTok grew to $12.4 billion – 24% in 2021.

Vinyl revenues also grew to $1 billion in 2021, for the first time since 1986; vinyl sales have reportedly increased since the start of the pandemic. Meanwhile, ad-supported streaming revenues from Spotify, YouTube and Pandora rose to almost 47% to 1.7 billion in 2020, and the average number of paid subscriptions grew 39%.

After dropping in 2020, CD sales jumped 21% in 2021, but still haven’t returned to pre-pandemic levels. Download revenues have deteriorated from $664 million in 2020 to $586 million in 2021.

Meanwhile, the RIAA still reports that the industry is 40% smaller than its 1999 peak due to inflation.