YEAREND 2023
RIAA REVENUE STATISTICS
Matthew Bass | Director, Research and Gold & Platinum Operations
Recorded music revenues in the U.S. in 2023 continued strong growth for the eighth
consecutive year. Total revenues grew 8% to a record high $17.1 billion at estimated
retail value. Streaming continued to be the biggest driver of growth with record levels
of engagement in paid subscriptions, continued growth in ad-supported revenues, and
growing contributions from new platforms and services. At wholesale value revenues
grew 7% to a record high of $11 billion.
STREAMING
Streaming continued to account for the great majority of
recorded music revenues in 2023. Paid subscriptions, ad-
supported services, digital and customized radio, social
media platforms, digital fitness apps and others grew 8%
to a record high $14.4 billion in revenue. These services
collectively accounted for 84% of total revenues for the
second year in a row.
FIGURE 1
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 3
Revenues from paid subscriptions grew 9% to $11.2
billion in 2023, accounting for 78% of streaming
revenues, and nearly two-thirds of total revenues.
Limited tier subscriptions (services limited by factors
such as mobile access, catalog availability, product
features, or device restrictions) fell 4% to $1.0 billion.
Services like Amazon Prime, Pandora Plus, music
licenses for streaming fitness services, and other
subscriptions are included in this category.
The number of paid subscriptions to on-demand music
services continued to grow and reach new highs in
2023. The average number of subscriptions for the
year grew 5.7% to 96.8 million, compared with an
average of 91.6 million for 2022. These figures exclude
limited-tier services, and count multi-user plans as a
single subscription.
PHYSICAL PRODUCTS
Revenues from physical music formats continued to grow
after their remarkable resurgence in 2021. Total physical
revenues of $1.9 billion were up 11% versus the prior year.
Revenues from vinyl records grew 10% to $1.4 billion – the
seventeenth consecutive year of growth – and accounted for
71% of physical format revenues. For the second time since
1987, vinyl albums outsold CDs in units (43 million vs 37
million), even as revenues from CDs also show growth,
up 11% to $537 million in 2023.
NOTE – Updates were incorporated for historical data for
2019 – 2022. Formats with no retail value equivalent included
at wholesale value. RIAA presents the most up-to-date
information available in its industry revenue reports and online
statistics database: https://www.riaa.com/u-s-sales-database
FOR NEWS MEDIA INQUIRIES, PLEASE CONTACT:
Erin Burr, [email protected]
Music revenues from advertising supported on-demand
services (such as YouTube, the ad-supported version
of Spotify, Facebook, and others) grew at a slower
pace than previous recent years, up 2% to $1.9 billion.
Ad supported services contributed 11% of total 2023
recorded music revenues.
Digital and customized radio music revenues grew
8% to $1.3 billion in 2023. The category includes
SoundExchange distributions for revenues from services
like SiriusXM and Internet radio stations, as well as
payments directly paid by similar services, included
in this report as “other ad-supported streaming”.
SoundExchange distributions grew 5% to $1.0 billion,
while other ad-supported streaming revenues of $318
million were up 22%.
DIGITAL DOWNLOADS
Revenues from digitally downloaded music continued to
decline in 2023, down 12% to $434 million. Both digital
album sales and individual track sales were down double
digits to $205 and $191 million respectively. Downloads
accounted for just 3% of U.S. recorded music revenues in
2023, down from a peak of 43% of revenues in 2012.
RIAA data analysis by Matthew Bass, Director,
Research and Gold & Platinum Operations
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 6
United States Estimated Retail Dollar Value (In Millions, net after returns)
DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTION & STREAMING 2022 2023
% CHANGE
‘22 to ‘23
(Units)
(Dollar Value)
Paid Subscription
1
91.6
$9,179.0
96.8
$10,149.7
5.7%
10.6%
Limited Tier Paid Subscription
2
$1,063.0 $1,021.4 -3.9%
On-Demand Streaming (Ad-Supported)
3
$1,822.1 $1,864.5 2.3%
SoundExchange Distributions
4
$959.4 $1,004.8 4.7%
Other Ad-Supported Streaming
5
$261.5 $317.7 21.5%
Total Streaming Revenues $13,285.0 $14,358.1 8.1%
DIGITAL PERMANENT DOWNLOAD
(Units)
(Dollar Value)
Download Single
172.5
$214.1
142.0
$190.8
-17.7%
-10.9%
Download Album
24.5
$241.9
20.5
$204.7
-16.3%
-15.4%
Ringtones & Ringbacks
4.4
$11.0
4.1
$10.1
-8.0%
-8.0%
Other Digital
6
1.0
$27.7
0.8
$28.5
-20.4%
3.1%
Total Digital Download Revenues $494.7 $434.1 -12.2%
TOTAL DIGITAL VALUE
$13,779.7 $14,792.2 7.3%
Synchronization Royalties
7
$382.5 $410.9 7.4%
PHYSICAL
(Units Shipped)
(Dollar Value)
CD
37.7
$482.6
37.0
$537.1
-1.9%
11.3%
LP/EP
40.5
$1,224.4
43.2
$1,350.2
6.6%
10.3%
Music Video
0.8
$11.3
0.6
$10.7
-26.1%
-5.7%
Other Physical
8
0.7
$12.7
0.9
$14.0
17.2%
10.5%
Total Physical Units
Total Physical Value
79.8
$1,731.0
81.7
$1,912.0
2.4%
10.5%
TOTAL DIGITAL AND PHYSICAL
Total Units
9
Total Value
282.1
$15,893.2
249.0
$17,115.1
-11.7%
7.7%
% of Shipments
10
Physical
Digital
2022
11%
89%
2023
11%
89%
Retail Value is the value of shipments at recommended or estimated list price
Formats with no retail value equivalent are included at wholesale value
Note: Historical data updated for 2022
1
Streaming, tethered, and other paid subscription services not operating under statutory licenses
Subscription volume is annual average number of subscriptions, excludes limited tier
2
Paid streaming services with interactivity limitations by availability, device restriction, catalog limitations, on
demand access, or other factors
3
Ad-supported audio and music video services not operating under statutory licenses
4
Estimated payments to performers and copyright holders for digital and customized radio services under
statutory licenses
5
Revenues for statutory services that are not distributed by SoundExchange
and not included in other streaming categories
6
Includes Kiosks, music video downloads, and starting in 2016 other digital music licensing
7
Includes fees and royalties from synchronization of sound recordings with other media
8
Includes CD Singles, Cassettes, Vinyl Singles, DVD Audio, SACD
9
Units total includes both albums and singles, and does not include subscriptions or royalties
10
Synchronization Royalties excluded from calculation
Permission to cite or copy these statistics is hereby granted, as long as proper attribution
is given to the Recording Industry Association of America.
YEAREND 2023
RIAA REVENUE STATISTICS