The Recording Industry Association of America reported Monday that premium subscription streaming generated $3.11 billion for rightsholders in the first half of 2026, up 7.8 percent from a year earlier. That figure, the actual engine of the business, grew faster than the broader paid-subscription bucket, which rose 6.4 percent to $3.4 billion, and faster than total streaming, which managed 4.7 percent to $4.9 billion. The difference is the non-premium tier, where revenue fell 9 percent to $239 million as bundled music products continue to shrink.
Price hikes did the heavy lifting
The premium revenue jump was "partly driven by price hikes," per the RIAA, which is the trade group's way of saying price hikes did most of the work. Spotify, YouTube Music and Amazon Music Unlimited all raised U.S. subscription prices during the period. Unit growth was real but modest: premium accounts rose 5.5 percent to 111.1 million, with a family plan still counting as a single subscription. Do the arithmetic and average revenue per account climbed roughly 2 percent year over year, almost entirely price, not volume.
Physical keeps surprising to the upside
Vinyl revenue grew 17.7 percent. CD revenue grew 58.6 percent. Together they pushed physical up 25.9 percent year over year, a pace that makes streaming's 4.7 percent look like a rounding error. The RIAA does not break out units, so it is impossible to tell how much of the CD surge is catalog reissues versus Taylor Swift variants, but the wholesale dollar figure is now large enough to matter: physical contributed meaningfully to the $5.97 billion total, up 6.9 percent overall.
Free streaming still barely moves the needle
Ad-supported streaming, including social platforms, free Spotify and YouTube, added 3.7 percent to reach $900 million. That is less than one-third of the premium subscription number and growing more slowly. The "Other Streaming" category, which bundles SoundExchange distributions and statutory radio, is not separately quantified in the release, but the RIAA's decision to combine them in 2025 suggests neither is large enough to stand alone.
The quotes are exactly what you expect
"The power of music, amplified from earbuds to basement listening parties to World Cup playlists across the US, is reflected not only in its cultural significance but also in the $6 billion revenue documented in RIAA's Mid-Year Recorded Music Revenue Report," said Matt Bass, VP of Research. Mitch Glazier, Chairman and CEO, added that labels are "strengthening connections between artists, fans and the platforms delivering creative work." Neither executive mentioned price increases.