Music Revenue Falls In First Half of 2015

The income of the US recorded music market fell 0.5% at retail in the first half of 2015, according to new figures released by the RIAA Monday.

Total revenues in the six months to end of June across physical, digital and sync amounted to $3.166bn, down from the $3.182bn generated in the same period of 2014.

Revenues did grow 0.8% year-on-year on a wholesale basis in H1 2015, up to $2.3bn – suggesting that labels are getting a better return on their goods from retailers than they did a year ago, as streaming takes a bigger share of the market.

The standout stat from the RIAA’s figures is that streaming services generated over $1bn in the six months for the first time in history, according to musicbusinessworld.com.