The number of paid subscriptions to on-demand music services has grown to 18.3 million in the first half of this year, more than twice the amount from H1 2015, according to [pdf] the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). First-half revenues from paid subscriptions also soared, more than doubling to surpass $1 billion for the first time.
As a result, revenues from paid subscriptions ($1.01 billion) now are virtually on par with paid downloads ($1.02 billion) as the single largest source of recorded music revenues.
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The growth in paid subscriptions and revenues is attributed to the entrance of new services including Apple Music and TIDAL, as well as continued growth from others such as Spotify Premium.
Other streaming music revenue sources also experienced a year-over-year increase in H1, though their growth was much more incremental. Nevertheless, as a result, streaming accounted for an impressive 47% share of all US recorded music revenues in the first half of this year, up from 32% share in H1 2015.
