2023 US music revenue: Vinyl outsells CDs for the second year in a row
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has released its annual statistics on US music revenue for 2023. Below are my thoughts on this year’s report.
Overall, music revenue grew by 8% from 2022 to a record high (not adjusting for inflation) of $17.1 billion.
Here’s a chart summarizing 2023 US music revenue. The full report is available here.
Digital formats
As usual, streaming is the dominant music format, making up 84% of all revenue ($14.4 billion).
“Old-school” digital downloads (i.e. buying MP3s from Bandcamp, iTunes, Amazon, etc.) continues to be a shrinking portion of sales, making up only 3% of revenue. Earnings declined 12% from 2022 for a total of $434 million. If wondering, the RIAA says digital download sales peaked back in 2012, when it made up 43% of revenue.
Physical formats
Physical format revenue grew 11% from 2022, for a total of $1.9 billion. While CDs saw some growth (up 11% from 2022, for a total of $537 million), this category’s pretty much dominated by vinyl records. Vinyl earned $1.4 billion in sales (up 10% from 2022), making up about 74% of physical format sales. Vinyl also dominates in unit sales, outselling CDs for the second year in a row.
My personal music usage
My own music usage has changed since last year’s music revenue post. I’ve cancelled Apple Music and gone back to buying music, both online (via Apple Music or Amazon) and from a local record store's used CDs section. I also rip my CDs to lossless FLAC files, and put the CDs in storage. Said digital music files are also on my Jellyfin server, so I can play them on any device in my apartment. I can also transfer my songs to my Android phone via the Finamp app.
As for why I axed streaming music services, I don’t listen to enough new music to justify an endless monthly payment to Apple. Spotify's also not seeing a dime from me, especially as long as Joe Rogan’s collecting Spotify checks. Thus, it seems easier and cheaper to just buy new music when I feel like it.
Conclusion
How do all of you listen to music? Spotify? Apple Music? Vinyl records?