Music sales in 2024 were dominated by streaming, but the market was not uniform. US recorded music revenue reached $17.7 billion at estimated retail value, while global recorded music revenue reached US$29.6 billion. Paid subscriptions expanded, vinyl revenue grew, downloads continued to contract, and several regional markets posted faster growth than the overall industry.
Contents
- US recorded music revenue
- Streaming and subscriptions
- Downloads and digital formats
- Physical music sales
- Global recorded music revenue
- Regional and Latin music statistics
US recorded music revenue
The RIAA 2024 Year-End Revenue Report put US recorded music revenue at $17.7 billion at estimated retail value in 2024. That was a 3% increase from the previous year. At wholesale value, US recorded music revenue reached $11.3 billion, according to the same RIAA year-end report.
The distribution of that revenue shows how central digital listening has become. Total digital value reached $15.2474 billion in 2024, up 3.1%. Total US streaming revenue reached $14.8777 billion, up 3.6%, making streaming the main commercial engine for recorded music sales.
Physical formats were smaller but grew faster than the total market. Total physical revenue rose 5.4% to $2.0145 billion, and physical units rose 2.1% to 78.7 million. Physical formats accounted for 12% of US shipments in 2024, compared with 11% in 2023. Digital formats accounted for 88%, down from 89% in 2023.
The RIAA counted 220.4 million total US recorded music units in 2024, a 12.9% decline. Unit totals and revenue therefore moved in different directions: lower reported unit volume coexisted with higher retail and wholesale value, reflecting the different economics of subscriptions, downloads, and physical products.
| US category | 2024 result | Year-over-year change |
|---|---|---|
| Retail recorded music revenue | $17.7 billion | 3% increase |
| Wholesale recorded music revenue | $11.3 billion | Not reported in supplied figure |
| Total digital value | $15.2474 billion | 3.1% increase |
| Total streaming revenue | $14.8777 billion | 3.6% increase |
| Total physical revenue | $2.0145 billion | 5.4% increase |
Synchronization royalties also increased, rising 2.5% to $412.6 million in the United States during 2024. This category captures another route through which recorded music generates sales value beyond ordinary listening subscriptions and purchases.
Streaming and subscriptions
Paid streaming reached a major US milestone in 2024. Average paid subscriptions to on-demand music services grew 3% to 100 million, the first time the United States crossed that level. The RIAA also reported that paid subscription revenue grew 5% to $11.7 billion.
Paid subscriptions accounted for 79% of US streaming revenue in 2024. They contributed nearly two-thirds of total US recorded music revenue, showing why subscription performance is so important to the wider sales market. For listeners of electronic music, this subscription-led model is especially relevant because it places an enormous catalog of tracks, albums, mixes, and playlists inside recurring-access services rather than one-time purchases.
Not every streaming category expanded. Limited-tier paid subscription revenue fell 2% to $998.3 million. On-demand streaming ad-supported revenue fell 2% to $1.8319 billion, while other ad-supported streaming declined 3.5% to $306.5 million.
SoundExchange distributions moved in the opposite direction, rising 4.9% to $1.0540 billion in 2024. Taken together, these figures show a streaming market with strong subscription scale, but mixed results across paid tiers, advertising-supported listening, and rights distributions.
The US subscription total is also useful as a benchmark against the global market. The IFPI Global Music Report 2025 reported 752 million paid subscription accounts worldwide in 2024, up 10.6%. The US figure of 100 million average paid subscriptions is measured within the United States, while the IFPI figure counts paid accounts globally; the measurements are not interchangeable.
Downloads and digital formats
Digital music remained the largest broad category in the United States, but permanent downloads continued to shrink. Digital download revenue fell 14.9% to $369.7 million in 2024, according to the RIAA year-end report.
Download singles generated $162.4 million, also down 14.9%. Download single units fell 19.0% to 122.1 million. Download albums produced $166.7 million, down 18.6%, while download album units fell 17.7% to 16.8 million.
The decline extended to older mobile-oriented products. Ringtones and ringbacks fell 47.3% to $5.6 million. Meanwhile, other digital revenue rose 23.1% to $35.1 million. These results describe a digital market that is still expanding in total value, but whose growth is concentrated in streaming and other categories rather than conventional ownership downloads.
The difference between digital value and download value is substantial. Total digital value reached $15.2474 billion, while digital downloads represented $369.7 million. The two figures should not be treated as equivalent: total digital value includes streaming and other digital categories, whereas the download figure describes permanent-download revenue.
Physical music sales
Physical music sales grew in the United States during 2024, despite their smaller share of the overall market. CD revenue rose 0.7% to $541.1 million, and CD units rose 1.5% to 32.9 million.
Vinyl LP and EP revenue rose 6.9% to $1.4429 billion. Vinyl LP and EP units rose 1.0% to 43.6 million. On the supplied figures, vinyl generated substantially more revenue than CDs, while both formats increased in units. Vinyl was also the faster-growing of the two formats by revenue.
Together, CDs and vinyl made up the core of the $2.0145 billion total physical revenue reported by the RIAA. Total physical units reached 78.7 million, up 2.1%. The unit total includes the report’s broader physical category, so it should not be reconstructed by adding only the CD and vinyl figures.
| Physical category | 2024 revenue or units | Year-over-year change |
|---|---|---|
| CDs | $541.1 million revenue | 0.7% increase |
| CD units | 32.9 million | 1.5% increase |
| Vinyl LP/EP | $1.4429 billion revenue | 6.9% increase |
| Vinyl LP/EP units | 43.6 million | 1.0% increase |
| Total physical revenue | $2.0145 billion | 5.4% increase |
| Total physical units | 78.7 million | 2.1% increase |
The shipment mix changed only modestly: physical rose from 11% of US shipments in 2023 to 12% in 2024, while digital fell from 89% to 88%. That shift is consistent with physical revenue growth, but it does not mean physical formats overtook digital listening or sales.
Global recorded music revenue
The global picture was larger and somewhat faster-growing than the US market. IFPI reported global recorded music revenues of US$29.6 billion in 2024, up 4.8%. Global subscription streaming revenue increased 9.5% during the year.
Streaming revenues exceeded US$20.4 billion and represented 69.0% of global recorded music revenue. Performance rights revenues reached US$2.9 billion, up 5.9%. These figures place streaming at the center of the worldwide recorded-music economy while showing that performance rights remain a significant separate revenue stream.
Regional results varied. Europe represented 29.5% of global recorded music revenue in 2024 and grew 8.3%, faster than the global 4.8% rate. The Middle East and North Africa grew 22.8%, the fastest regional growth rate reported by IFPI for the year.
The global subscription figure of 752 million paid accounts and the global streaming revenue figure above describe different measures: one counts accounts, while the other measures revenue. Neither should be used to infer an average subscription price without additional data on geography, plans, currency, and reporting methodology.
Regional and Latin music statistics
The RIAA Mid-Year 2024 US Latin Music Revenue Report recorded US Latin music revenue of $685.5 million in the first half of 2024, up 7.3% year over year. This is a first-half measurement, not a full-year result.
Streaming accounted for most of that market. US Latin paid subscription revenue reached $468.1 million in the first half of 2024, up 6.4%. US Latin on-demand ad-supported streaming revenue reached $166.3 million, up 10.2%. Total US Latin streaming revenue reached $670.3 million, up 6.8%.
Digital value was slightly higher than streaming alone. US Latin total digital value reached $674.2 million in the first half of 2024, up 6.6%. Permanent download revenue fell 21.2% to $3.9 million. Synchronization royalties rose 11.0% to $2.3 million.
Physical categories showed very high percentage growth from a small base. US Latin CD revenue rose 73.3% to $1.7 million, while LP revenue rose 108.1% to $7.3 million. Total US Latin physical revenue reached $9.0 million, up 100.4%.
US Latin physical formats accounted for 1.3% of shipments in the first half of 2024, compared with 0.7% in the first half of 2023. Digital accounted for 98.7%, compared with 99.3% in the first half of 2023.
| US Latin category | First half of 2024 | Year-over-year change |
|---|---|---|
| Total revenue | $685.5 million | 7.3% increase |
| Paid subscription revenue | $468.1 million | 6.4% increase |
| Total streaming revenue | $670.3 million | 6.8% increase |
| Total digital value | $674.2 million | 6.6% increase |
| Total physical revenue | $9.0 million | 100.4% increase |
The US Latin results reinforce the broader sales pattern: subscriptions and streaming supplied most measured revenue, while downloads declined and physical formats grew rapidly from a comparatively small base. The first-half period and US-only geography are essential when comparing these figures with full-year global or US totals.