The Recording Industry Association of America has released statistics showing a decrease in CD and download sales during 2020.
It makes sense that purchased digital medias such as CDs and MP3s are falling, as streaming was up by 13.4%, which suggests that more and more people are choosing to stream music rather than purchase it.
There is an argument for physical formats like CD, which could be linked to the pandemic, as in 2020’s lockdown it was much harder to get out the house in order to physically purchase things from a shop.
That above argument is however counteracted by the fact vinyl sales rose by nearly 30% to a value of $619.6 million, compared to $479.5 million in 2019.
Overall, the rise in vinyl sales made up for the continued decline of the CD format, as overall there was only a 0.5% loss in revenue when compared to the overall sales of physical formats in 2019.
Music downloads have steadily been decreasing as streaming has continually risen to become a most popular way for people to consume music, and in 2020 they dropped by another 18% to $674.4 million.
The Recording Industry Association of America report has concluded that streaming has driven the American music industry to grow for the fifth consecutive year. Overall, it generated $12.2 billion in 2020, which is a 9.2% increase.
You can access the full report HERE
