RIAA Releases ’25 Year End Music Revenue Report
• The Recording Industry Association of America® (RIAA) today released its 2025 Year-End Recorded Music Revenue Report, which reported that US wholesale annual revenue achieved a record high of $11.5 billion. Fostered by record labels’ commitment to using technological innovation to deepen the connection between artists and fans, streaming is an important part of industry revenues that also creates pathways to new formats and experiences. The U.S. remains the world’s largest paid subscription market with 106.5 million accounts generating $6.4 billion in revenue. Premium paid subscription revenues grew by 6.8% to $5.88 billion. That sustained growth is enabling deeper investment, experimentation and agility to make the most of emerging opportunities. U.S. vinyl sales also grew for a 19th consecutive year, representing nearly 50% of the format’s global value.
“Fans are consuming music from the artists they love in more ways than ever, and that passion is reflected in today’s report,” said Matt Bass, RIAA VP of Research and Gold & Platinum Operations. “2025 reveals a strong and stable music economy resulting from committed label investment and identification of new spaces to expand artists’ creativity. From the ease of streaming to new vinyl to licensing responsible AI tools and services, labels are diversifying fan engagement. U.S. recorded music has demonstrated sustained growth globally, reaching $6.4 billion alone in paid subscriptions and tallying 50% of global vinyl revenue, leading the way for fans to listen and connect with their favorite music whenever, wherever and however they want.”
2025 Highlights: U.S. recorded music hit record high at $11.5B • Streaming revenues grew to $9.5B • For the fifth straight year, streaming represented 82% of total U.S. revenue • Paid streaming grew to 106.5M accounts, with associated revenues reaching $6.4B, or 55.3% of total U.S. revenue • The U.S. remained largest paid subscription market, comprising 1/3 of format’s global value • In its 19th consecutive year of growth (+9.3% in 2025), vinyl surpassed $1B in the US sales — nearly 50% of the format’s global total • Vinyl continued to lead physical formats in 2025, adding more than 3x the revenue of CDs and selling 46.8M units versus 29.5M.
RIAA Chairman & CEO Mitch Glazier remarked, “The last 20 years have been marked by unprecedented transformation for recorded music — from the steady rise to dominance of anytime, anywhere streaming options as listeners enjoy tunes from their favorite artists to a resurgence of vinyl as both a listening experience and collectable art. And now, our industry is advancing free-market licensing, building responsible AI partnerships that enhance discovery, deepen fan engagement and unlock new creative possibilities for how music is made and experienced. Through it all, music remains a cornerstone of culture and a growing economic powerhouse for the U.S., contributing $212 billion to our GDP and supporting more than 2.5 million American jobs.”
Read the entire RIAA 2025 Year-End Recorded Music Revenue Report HERE.
