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Washington, D.C. (September 10, 2020) – The RIAA today released its mid-year 2020 report showing subscription growth more than offsetting revenue declines in other areas of the U.S. recorded music market, and detailing ways the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the industry.

“The music industry today is healthier than it’s been in more than a decade,” Josh Friedlander, the senior vice president of research at the Recording Industry Association of America, told CNN Business. “Revenues from streaming services are more than offsetting decreases in physical sales and digital downloads.” See the article …

In the first half of 2017, growth in revenues from music subscription streaming services continued to offset declines in traditional unit based sales. Estimated retail revenues from recorded music in the United States grew 17% in the first half of 2017 to $4.0 billion. At wholesale value, the industry was up 14.6% to $2.7 billion. This growth reflects a continuation of the trends from 2016, but

For the first half of 2016, strong growth in revenues from subscription streaming services more than offset declines in unit based sales of physical and digital music download products. Overall revenues at retail increased 8.1% on a year-over-year basis to $3.4 billion, the strongest industry growth since the late 1990’s. At wholesale, value increased 5.7% to $2.4 billion. Source: Recording

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.

For the first half of 2015, strong growth in revenues from streaming services offset declines in digital downloads and overall wholesale revenues increased 0.8% to $2.3 billion on a year-over-year basis. At retail, the overall value decreased 0.5% to $3.2 billion. Source: Recording Industry Association of