Paid streaming music services including Apple Music and Spotify now have over 96.8 million subscribers in the United States alone. This number of subscribers helped music streaming providers rake in more than $11 billion in music revenue throughout 2023, according to a new report released by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
The report outlines music revenue generated through various means including streaming services, digital downloads, and physical purchases like vinyls and CDs. Paid streaming services including Apple Music generated $11.2 billion in revenues thanks to year-over-year growth of nine percent. Paid subscriptions continue to dominate the music streaming market, representing 78 percent of total streaming revenue.
The RIAA further estimates that there are now over 96.8 million subscribers to paid music streaming services, a YoY growth of 5.7 percent. The number of paid music streaming subscribers in the US has continued to exhibit strong growth over the past several years, adding more than 36 million new subscribers between 2019 and 2023. The RIAA counts multi-user plans as a single subscription, meaning the actual number of individuals relying on music streaming is likely much higher than reported.
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The rest of the music streaming sector includes ad-supported tiers and music licensed for use on the radio and fitness apps, with those categories representing the remaining 22 percent. Overall, paid and ad-supported music streaming services are responsible for the absolute majority of recorded music revenue in the US, accounting for 84 percent of total recorded music revenue in 2023.
On the other hand, digital music downloads from the likes of iTunes continue to experience an annual decline, shrinking by 12 percent to achieve revenues of just $434 million. Physical music products achieved formidable growth and revenue last year thanks to strong vinyl record sales, achieving a total high of $1.9 billion on the back of $1.4 billion in sales from vinyl albums alone.
These figures showcase why Apple is so focused on its Services sector as a new source of growth, particularly with its content streaming and entertainment services like Apple TV+ and Apple Music. Apple has taken recent steps to increase the uptake of Apple Music from subscribers and artists alike, such as providing financial incentives for supporting Spatial Audio and introducing monthly listening statistics with Apple Music Replay.
