Vinyl Hits Billion Dollar Milestone as US Music Revenues Peak at $11.5B

The RIAA's 2025 Year-End report confirms US recorded music hit a new record high of $11.5 billion in wholesale revenue. While streaming maintains its 82% dominance at $9.5 billion, the real headline is the physical resurgence.

Vinyl sales officially crossed the $1 billion mark for the first time in the US, following 19 consecutive years of growth. With 46.8 million units sold, vinyl revenue now accounts for nearly half of the format's global value and more than triple the revenue generated by CDs.

Total paid subscriptions also reached a new milestone with 106.5 million accounts generating $6.4 billion. Despite the shift to wholesale reporting, the figures reveal an industry reaching technical maturity. Growth in premium subscriptions slowed to 6.8%, signaling that most of the US market is now captured. Labels are increasingly pivoting the narrative toward protective AI licensing and high-value physical collectables to sustain this revenue peak.