U.S. music streaming subscriptions hit 100 million milestone

The United States has officially surpassed 100 million paid music streaming subscribers for the first time, marking a significant milestone for the industry. According to a new report from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), this achievement reflects steady growth in the digital music sector, with the number of paid subscribers rising from 96.8 million in 2023—a year-over-year increase of approximately 3%.

The RIAA report clarifies that these figures exclude limited-tier services, which offer restricted device access and limited catalog availability. Additionally, multi-user plans, such as family subscriptions, are counted as single paid subscriptions in the total tally.

Streaming continues to be the dominant force in the music industry’s revenue stream, accounting for 84% of total music revenue in 2024. The sector generated $14.9 billion through various sources, including paid subscriptions, ad-supported platforms, digital and personalized radio services, social media integrations, and fitness apps. Physical music sales were the next largest revenue driver, making up 11% of the total industry revenue.

The RIAA report also highlighted a 5% increase in revenue from paid subscriptions, reaching $11.7 billion in 2024. This category alone contributed 79% of all streaming revenue, underscoring the growing reliance on paid memberships for industry growth.

“Music revenues from advertising supported on-demand services (such as YouTube, the ad-supported version of Spotify, Facebook, and others) were down 2% to $1.8 billion. Ad supported services contributed 10% of total 2024 recorded music revenues,” the report says.