Streaming music subscriptions proceed to drive the U.S. music trade’s progress and revenues, based on a brand new report from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) launched this week. The group stated complete music income grew 18% to $5.Four billion within the first half of 2019, with streaming music accounting for 80% of trade revenues. The report additionally famous the variety of paid subscriptions topped 60 million within the U.S. for the primary time.
Streaming revenues grew 26% to $4.Three billion within the first half of the yr.
This broad determine contains paid variations of Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and others, in addition to digital radio service revenues like these from Pandora, Sirius XM and different web radio, plus ad-supported streaming like YouTube, Vevo and the ad-supported model of Spotify. 
Meanwhile, paid subscription streaming is constant to develop, too, stated the RIAA. Year-over-year, paid subscriptions grew 31% to achieve $3.Three billion and stay the largest progress driver for trade revenues.
In the primary half of 2019, paid subscriptions made up 62% of all U.S. trade revenues and 77% of U.S. streaming music revenues.
The variety of paid subscriptions to full on-demand streaming providers grew 30% to 61.1 million within the first half of the yr, at a median tempo of greater than 1 million new subscriptions per 30 days.
This doesn’t embrace the “Limited Tier” subscriptions like Pandora Plus or that Echo-only subscription to Amazon Music, for instance, the place numerous components restrict entry to a full catalog throughout units or limit some on-demand options. This class noticed $482 million in revenues, up 39% from the yr prior.
“Thanks to that breakneck growth, plus continued modest drops in digital downloads and new physical sales, streaming now generates 80% of music business revenues and has fundamentally reshaped how fans find, share, and listen to the songs and artists they love,” wrote RIAA chairman & CEO Mitch Glazier, in regards to the new figures.
Ad-supported on-demand providers grew 25% year-over-year to $427 million, whereas digital radio service grew 5% to $552 million within the first half of 2019.
However, the features made by streaming had been considerably offset by declines in digital downloads, as Glazier famous.
Revenues on this class fell 18% to $462 million within the first half of the yr, with digital monitor gross sales down 16% year-over-year and digital album revenues down 23%. Overall, digital obtain solely accounted for 8.6% of complete trade revenues.
Physical product revenues grew 5% to $485 million within the first half of 2019, however the RIAA attributed this to a discount in returns.
