Streaming Dominates Music Industry Revenue

The music industry is generating the lion share of its revenue from streaming. A recent Recording Industry Association of America report found that three quarters of all revenue in the industry comes from streaming services like Spotify. Last year RIAA reported that only 65 percent of revenue came from streaming, pointing to how prevalent and essential streaming has become to making money in music.

Overall revenue from streaming music grew by 30 percent year-over-year, hitting a total of $7.4 billion for 2018. While the growth seems to be ramping up, the industry is rebounding from a low. This year is the first time the industry is even nearing what its total revenue was over a decade ago. The major reasons for the slump in recent years has been the digitization of music circulated on the internet.