Vinyl sales outpaced CDs for third consecutive year

In the United States, total music revenue grew by 3 percent last year, reaching $17.7 billion. This increase is a result of rising income from both streaming services and physical formats like vinyl records. For the first time, paid streaming subscriptions exceeded 100 million. Streaming contributes to most of the revenue, generating $14.9 billion. Out of this, $11.7 billion comes from paid subscriptions, with other income sources including ad-supported services and internet radio. Surprisingly, revenue from physical formats increased even more, by 5.4 percent. Vinyl records played a big role in this growth. In 2024, vinyl revenue hit $1.4 billion, the highest since 1984. Vinyl sales have now grown for eighteen consecutive years. In fact, 44 million vinyl albums were sold, outpacing the 33 million CDs sold for the third year in a row. Although physical format revenue is growing, digital downloads are still declining. They dropped 18 percent to $336 million, making up only 2 percent of total music revenue. Meanwhile, other physical formats, including singles and cassettes, saw a significant growth of over 50 percent.