US vinyl sales worth more than Spotify and YouTube advertising, RIAA reports

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  • The Recording Industry Association of America has released its 2015 revenue statistics.
  • US vinyl sales worth more than Spotify and YouTube advertising, RIAA reports image
  • Revenue from vinyl sales in the US has overtaken the combined total of revenue from advertising on YouTube and ad-supported Spotify. ?The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) revealed the figures in their year-end revenue report for 2015. A document detailing different revenue streams shows that vinyl sales generated $416 million in 2015, while the combined total from free streaming sites such as YouTube, SoundCloud and ad-supported Spotify was $385 million. As Digital Music News explains, LP, EP and 45 sales grew around 32% in 2015. Revenue from paid digital subscriptions, however, trumps everything else, bringing in $1.22 billion last year. RIAA CEO Cary Sherman has also issued a statement attacking YouTube and Spotify's practices, which he believes are not fair. "The consumption of music is skyrocketing, but revenues for creators have not kept pace," he says. "This is why we, and so many of our music community brethren, feel that some technology giants have been enriching themselves at the expense of the people who actually create the music."
RA