Is Streaming The Endgame for Music Fans?

The music industry today is streaming plus a bit of everything else.

Just last week, Spotify revealed it paid out $10 billion in royalties to the music industry in 2024, marking the largest annual payout from a single retailer ever, according to the company. Fresh data from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) underscores that streaming isn’t just a one-sided boon—it’s a mutual lifeline for the business.

In 2024, the U.S. saw paid music subscriptions climb to an average of 100 million, a record high, as more people shelled out monthly for instant access to their favorite tracks via platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. Those steady payments fueled a massive $14.9 billion in streaming revenue, accounting for about 84% of the recorded music industry’s total haul last year—a clear sign of streaming’s grip on the market.

With the RIAA’s latest figures cementing streaming’s reign, it’s tough to picture a new format swooping in to redefine how we hear our favorite artists. Yet history hints it’s not impossible.

Few industries tied so deeply to culture have morphed as dramatically as music. The internet crashed the party just before Y2K, with Napster’s debut in 1999 flipping the script. CD and cassette sales plummeted, and only streaming’s rise has pulled the industry back into growth mode. Spotify, for one, boasts that 1,500 “rights holders” pocketed over $1 million from its platform last year—though how that cash trickles down to artists remains a hot debate.

Vinyl, buoyed by audiophiles, nostalgia buffs, and Taylor Swift devotees, hit a 36-year sales peak of $1.4 billion, but it’s a niche player next to streaming. For most Americans, convenience trumps sound quality, looks, or the feel of physical ownership, keeping streaming the industry’s undisputed heavyweight.

Looking broader, RIAA data shows inflation-adjusted U.S. recorded music revenue at 36% below its 1999 high of $27.5 billion, when Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys CDs flew off shelves.
So, is streaming the last format standing? History says maybe not. What’s next—perhaps tech forging tighter artist-fan bonds—is anyone’s guess, but for now, streaming rules the tune.