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September 20, 2016 | News Articles

2016 Mid-Year RIAA Shipment and Revenue Statistics

The first half of 2016 signaled positive gains for the U.S. music industry as the growth in streaming revenues more than offset the declines in physical sales (CDs, etc) and digital download sales. Up 8.1% at retail (5.7% at wholesale), the industry is experiencing the strongest growth since the late 1990s. However, not all streaming is the same, and while revenues from subscription services like Apple Music, Spotify (paid), and TIDAL contributed more than $1 billion to the industry in the first half of the year, the explosion in listening on ad-supported on-demand services like YouTube has not translated into fair compensation for music creators. This ‘value gap’ is further explained in an accompanying Medium piece by Chairman & CEO Cary Sherman here.

Source: Recording Industry Association of America

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