Sales of music in physical formats outweighed digital downloads in 2017 in the US for the first time since 2011, according to new data released by the The Recording Industry Association Of America (RIAA).
Overall sales for physical and digital music in 2017 increased 16.5% to $8.7 billion according to the RIAA’s report, ybut the industry has only now returned to its 2008 revenue level, which is still 40% off peak numbers.
However, streaming now makes up 65% of total music revenue, with subscription to various music streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music having risen to 35 million from 2016’s total of 22.7 million. Downloads fell 25% in the US across 2017, while the physical market only lost 4% of its 2016 total, which the RIAA say is "a lower rate of decline than recent years"
You can read the full report here.
