50 fascinating facts about the music industry

The music industry is dominated by digital sales, with 87% of total revenue in the United States coming from streaming and downloads in 2023, per the RIAA. Perhaps unsurprisingly, streaming alone is responsible for the bulk of that figure. Digital options like paid subscriptions, ad-supported services, and social media platforms generated a record-breaking $14.4 billion in 2023.

Music fans around the world streamed over 4 trillion songs in 2023, according to Luminate. That number reflects a growth of 34% from 2022—and a new single-year record for worldwide music streaming.

After largely being replaced by cassettes and CDs in the 1980s and 1990s, vinyl records are now making a comeback. For the seventeenth year in a row, revenue from vinyl records climbed—this time to $1.4 billion, according to a 2023 report from the RIAA. For the second time since 1987, vinyl albums outsold CDs, RIAA reported.

The IFPI put the estimated value of the recording industry at $28.6 billion in 2023. Streaming sales account for most of the value, followed by physical music sales and performance rights.

A study on 12,665 pop musicians who passed away between 1950 and 2014 found that they tend to die at younger ages than the average American. They also have higher rates of death by homicide and accidents.

With advertising revenue on streaming services accounting for a big portion of music profits, pop songs have been getting shorter in recent years, The Washington Post reported. The average length of a pop track in the 2020s is around 3 minutes and 15 seconds, a full minute shorter than it was in the 1990s.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics states that the average pay of musicians and singers was $39.14 per hour in 2023. That rate could soon increase, though—in March 2024, Democratic representatives introduced the Living Wage for Musicians Act, a measure that would grant musicians additional royalties from streaming.

Taylor Swift's income reached a whopping $1.1 billion in 2023, Forbes reported. Swift holds the distinction of being the first musician to reach billionaire status based solely on her music and performances rather than business investments.

YouTubers have streamed the music video for Luis Fonsi's "Despacito," featuring Daddy Yankee, nearly 8.5 billion times since it was posted on Jan. 12, 2017. "Despacito" is not only the most-watched music video on the platform, it's the second-most-watched YouTube video period, trailing only behind "Baby Shark."

The popularity of CDs in the 1990s and early 2000s pushed the average length of an album to a high of 15.8 songs in 2003—up from 12.5 songs in 1992, when cassettes were the predominant music media, the Harvard Business Review reported. The increased album length reflected the ease of skipping around to different tracks on CDs, but the trend has continued into the streaming era; the average runtime for a top 10 album in 2022 was nearly 70 minutes, according to Billboard.

Billboard announced a new policy in 2011 that required albums to sell for at least $3.49 in their first four weeks and tracks to sell for at least 39 cents in their first three months in order to be considered for the charts. The company said that considering music with a minimum sales price would help reflect "consumer intent" amid albums going for as little as 99 cents online.

Bandcamp, an online record marketplace, claims to sell around 76,000 albums every day. Music fans have also purchased hundreds of millions of dollars worth of merchandise through the site.

Artists and their labels are responsible for deciding whether a particular album needs the black-and-white "Parental Advisory Explicit Content" labels on their covers, per NPR. Unlike the Motion Picture Association of America's rating system for movies, the music labeling system is voluntary and has few guidelines.

Barbra Streisand has the most RIAA Gold Album Awards among female artists. The music legend boasts some 68.5 million album awards across 52 separate albums.

Each of the gramophone trophies given to artists who win a Grammy takes 15 hours to make. The 5-pound awards are made of a special metal called "grammium."

The rise of ringtones earned the digital medium its own Billboard chart in 2004. From 2005 to 2007, ringtones and ringback tunes raked in $1 billion in revenue for the music industry.

Only members of the Recording Academy can vote for the winners of the Grammy Awards. To be qualified as a voter, the member must meet certain criteria, such as previously winning a Grammy, earning an endorsement from someone who's currently a voting member, having at least "six credits on commercially released tracks," or having credits on at least a dozen physical or digital songs released on the internet, wrote Vox.

The Eagles earned the first Platinum Album for "Eagles/Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975" when the RIAA released the prestigious status in 1976. Nearly 50 other albums would also go Platinum that year.

Artists and labels only earn payment from a stream if the listener tunes in for at least 30 seconds, reports The Verge. The payment model has prompted some artists to load their albums with many short songs.

A recent study of 700 songs that reached the top of the Billboard charts between 2012 and 2018 found sweeping disparities between men and women in the industry. The findings revealed that women comprised just 21.7% of all artists, 21.1% of the producers, and 12.3% of songwriters who met the criteria for the study.

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said in 2019 that users add around 40,000 new songs to the streaming music platform every day. The huge volume of music can make it difficult for tracks from relatively unknown artists to get noticed by listeners.

Workers in the music industry earn an average annual salary of $41,935, according to a 2018 report from the RIAA. That number has fallen slightly from 2012, when employees took home an average of $42,333.

The music industry is a major U.S. employer. A report from the RIAA found that the music industry was responsible, either directly or indirectly, for 1.9 million jobs across the nation in 2016.

Americans bought some 943 million CDs during the medium's heyday in 2000. Since then, CDs have largely fallen out of fashion, with just 33.4 million sold in 2022.

The rise of streaming music has brought major changes to the way artists and repertoire professionals search for new musicians to sign. While they used to scout local clubs and review demo recordings, they now sift through massive amounts of online music and data to find fresh talent, per Musonomics.

Streaming music platforms spoil users by allowing them access to a choice of millions of tracks. However, 99% of all digital music streams come from the top 10% of tracks, Musonomics has reported.

A Goldman Sachs report from May 2020 estimated that the global music industry suffered a 25% drop in revenue during the pandemic. The plunge is largely attributed to the cancellation of live entertainment.

Goldman Sachs has predicted that the music industry may reach nearly $40 billion in revenue by 2030. Streaming music is expected to drive the majority of growth, while digital downloads and sales of physical music will continue to dwindle.

While the RIAA certifies bestselling albums as Gold, Platinum, Multi-Platinum, or Diamond, it does not dole out the iconic record plaques to artists and labels commemorating their achievement. Instead, award winners can buy an actual plaque from one of four licensed framers.

Major record labels signed 658 new acts in 2017, according to RIAA. The number of new musicians signed that year was 12% higher than in 2014. It works out to be about two new artists signed every day.

In January 2015, Jody Gerson took on the role of chief executive officer and chairman of Universal Music Publishing Group. She was the first woman to lead a major global music company. Under her leadership, the company's revenue has climbed 40% and exceeded $1 billion for the first time ever in late 2018, per Billboard.

While positive reviews from critics can help musicians get their names out there, they don't usually lead to strong sales, according to The Balance. It reported that radio play can be a much more effective sales tool than print reviews.

Metallica sued the early file-sharing platform Napster for illegally distributing copyrighted recordings in 2000. The court ruled in Metallica's favor, forcing Napster to remove copyrighted tracks from its system. The company went bankrupt and the music industry's relationship with the internet was changed forever, per The Verge.

Record labels spent a staggering $4.1 billion on signing new artists, developing their music, and recording their albums in 2017, IFPI said. That breaks down to $11 million per day to sign around 50 artists every month.

Even though major record labels have big budgets, you don't necessarily need to be ultra wealthy to launch an indie label. A small record label can cost between $20,000 and $50,000 to open, The Balance has reported. This amount would cover business registration, licensing, equipment, and potentially some promotion.

In 2017, Chance the Rapper took home the Grammy award for best rap album. The history-making award was the first one ever given for a streaming-only album that had no physical sales.

Payola is a music industry term that describes the practice of record labels giving radio stations money or other incentives to play certain artists in an effort to increase their exposure. While payola is illegal, it still persists in the industry, per The Balance. It is also sometimes called "pay for play."

Three big record companies have around 65% of the entire U.S. market share, according to data analyzed by Statista. Universal Musical Group dominates with 29% of the total pie, followed by Sony Music Entertainment with 20% and Warner Music Group with just under 16%.

A 2016 survey of more than 2,200 musicians in the United Kingdom found that 71% have high levels of anxiety and panic attacks. The data also showed that 69% of participating musicians had depression—a huge portion compared with the roughly 20% of the general public in the United Kingdom who are affected by the mental health condition.

Pop singer Connie Francis took the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with her song, "Everybody's Somebody's Fool," in 1960. She was the first solo woman to achieve that level of success.

Record deals typically require artists to relinquish all rights to their music forever in exchange for a lump-sum upfront paycheck, per Rolling Stone. The situation could cause musicians to miss out on the potential for big bucks if their songs become extremely popular.

The Musicians' Union said in 2019 that more than 350 people—mostly women—have submitted complaints of harassment, abuse of power, and discrimination. The union also said that 85% of abuse survivors in the music industry opted not to report the crimes out of concern they wouldn't be believed or heard.

The share of music industry revenues that goes to artists is small. On average, they take home only about 12% of all revenue. The rest goes to distribution platforms and record labels, per Citibank.

Record labels typically make a $1 million investment in each new band they sign, according to Citibank. This money covers a financial advance for the artists, studio recording costs, video production support, touring support, and marketing and promotion.

The albums that sell millions of copies are few and far between. According to the IFPI, 80% of albums sell less than 100 copies, while 94% of albums have less than 1,000 copies sold.

If you see a musician with millions of followers on Twitter, don't assume they're all loyal fans. Many musicians have high rates of fake Twitter followers, Vice has reported. Twitter Audit shows only 42% of the followers on Justin Beiber's Twitter account are real and around 62% of Rihanna's followers are fake.

A report from Goldman Sachs shows that 3 in 4 streaming users find it important to have "access to millions of tracks." If the price of streaming music subscriptions goes up and/or record labels remove music from streaming platforms, the industry may see listeners resort to piracy.

The smartphone is becoming an increasingly important sales tool in the music industry. The rate of listeners in developed markets who use their smartphones to stream music is expected to climb to 37% in 2030, compared with 18% in 2018, says Goldman Sachs.

Amid the rise of online media, radio still has the most reach of all platforms, touching 92% of all U.S. adults at least once a week, per Nielsen. The statistics show the vast opportunities radio still offers to the music industry.

The number of people who tune into radio stations for holiday music continues to break records. Holiday music captured 14.3% of the adult contemporary music audience share in 2018, up from 13.9% in 2017, Nielsen has reported.

Additional writing by Cu Fleshman.