STREAMING PUSHES BIZ TO $15.9B IN 2022

Streaming accounted for 84% of all revenue in 2022, the Recording Industry Association of America reported Thursday, as the U.S. recorded-music business pulled in an all-time high of $15.9b in estimated retail value.

Streaming revenue of $13.3b was driven by 92m paid subscriptions, which were up 8% to $10.2b. Subscriptions accounted for 77% of streaming revenue and nearly two-thirds of total revenue.

“2022 was an impressive year of sustained ‘growth-over-growth’ more than a decade after streaming’s explosion onto the music scene,” said RIAA Chairman & CEO Mitch Glazier. “This long and ongoing arc of success has only been possible thanks to the determined and creative work of record companies fighting to build a healthy streaming economy where artists and rightsholders get paid wherever and whenever their work is used.”

Music revenue from ad-supported on-demand services such as YouTube and the free tier of Spotify were up 6% to $1.8b. Digital and customized radio revenue was up 2% to $1.2b.

Revenue from physical formats also maintained an upward trajectory, up 4% to $1.7b. For the first time since 1987, vinyl albums outsold CDs in units (41m vs 33m). Licorice pizzas accounted for 71% of physical revenue, growing 17% to $1.2b in the format's 16th consecutive year of growth.