U.S. Recorded Music Revenue Hits $5.6B in First Half of 2025 as Paid Subscriptions Top 100 Million: RIAA

The Recording Industry Association of America announced Tuesday that U.S. recorded music revenue reached $5.6 billion across all formats in the first half of 2025, marking a modest 1% increase compared to the same period in 2024. Streaming remained the dominant force in the market, generating $4.68 billion and accounting for 84% of total revenue, with paid subscriptions leading the way — growing 6.4% to 105 million accounts and contributing $3.2 billion, a 5.7% year-over-year increase.

This year, RIAA began reporting figures on a wholesale basis, aligning with international standards like IFPI’s Global Music Report. The change aims to better reflect the actual value returned to the creative ecosystem and enable “more consistent cross-market comparisons,” the organization said.

Vinyl sales totaled 22.1 million units, down 1% from 22.3 million a year ago, and were valued at $457 million. Other physical formats lagged, too, but the distance between them and vinyl grew. CD sales plummeted 22.3% to $108.1 million, with 11.7 million units sold — half of vinyl’s total. The other category — encompassing cassettes, CD singles, vinyl singles, DVD audio and SACD — dipped 2.9% to $11.4 million. Physical sales reduced its percentage of total revenue to 10% from 11.4% in the prior-year period. Vinyl represents over three-quarters of all physical music revenue, and for the fifth consecutive year, more vinyl records were shipped than CDs.

Streaming continues to lead the U.S. industry in revenue, generating $4.67 billion in the first half of 2025 — up 3.8% year-over-year and accounting for 84% of the market — driven largely by paid subscriptions, which rose 6.3% to $2.8 billion with 105.3 million average subscribers, showing no signs of churn despite recent price hikes from services like Spotify.

Other streaming segments saw mixed results: limited-tier subscriptions dipped 0.4% to $262.7 million, and ad-supported on-demand streaming fell 2.9% to $875 million. Download sales continued their steady decline, now making up just 3% of total revenue, with overall sales down 1.4% to $138.6 million — track sales dropped 0.3%, digital albums fell 13.7%, and ringtone/ringback sales declined 5% to $2.1 million. The “other digital” category, including kiosks and music video downloads, grew 41.5% to $24.1 million. Synchronization royalties declined, falling 7.9% to $196 million.

In a statement, RIAA chairman/CEO Mitch Glazier highlighted paid subscriptions reaching a milestone: “The number of paid subscriptions hit a historic milestone, surpassing 100 million accounts, while revenues from all formats reached $5.6 billion in the first half of 2025 – important markers that underscore music’s enduring value and demand for human artistry supported by record labels and collaborative partnerships.”

RIAA vp of research Matt Bass said the latest figures reflect a “stable and sustainable foundation” for the U.S. music industry, with American artists making up one-third of global streams—more than the next six countries combined — and that “aligning our reporting to international standards allows us to tell that story more clearly than ever.”