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The figures for the music industry’s revenue in 2015 have just been revealed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The music industry is currently in a serious transitional phase with the numbers from physical and digital sales, as well as music streaming figures constantly fluctuating. These new calculations show yet another surprising rise in the revival of vinyl sales.
According to a statement from RIAA Chairman & CEO Cary Sherman, vinyl sales generated more revenue than on-demand free streams in 2015. Though the overall revenue from last year spiked 0.9% to $7.0 billion at estimated retail value, the calculated results show that much of 2015’s revenue came from physical sales.
A total of 17 million vinyl albums sold last year racked up $416 million in revenue, while “hundreds of billions” of ad-supported music streaming fell behind with $385 million. The quickly rising numbers of streams don’t seem to match up to the total revenue earned from free streaming services.
Regardless of the success music streaming services experienced last year, the numbers prove that even though consumers may enjoy using free streaming services such as Spotify and YouTube, the music industry continues to see larger chunks of its revenue earned from vinyl sales rather than paid subscriptions.
