Digital music revenue in the U.S. by type 2025| Statista

Digital music revenue in the United States from 2016 to 2025, by type (in million U.S. dollars)

Characteristic	Paid subscriptions (premium)*	Free streaming**	Other streaming***	Paid subscriptions (non-premium)****	Synchronization	Album downloads	Single downloads	Other digital*****	Ringtones & ringbacks	Music video downloads
2025	5,900	1,800	1,300	495.2	407.1	111	110.8	45.4	4.2	-
2024	5,500	1,800	1,400	518.7	412.6	122.3	113.3	33.8	4.2	-
2023	5,300	1,900	1,300	538.1	402.5	146.6	132.8	26.5	4.9	-
2022	4,900	1,800	1,200	570.5	382.5	167.1	152.9	25.9	4.8	1.4
2021	4,600	1,700	1,200	491.4	306.5	218.4	191.4	31.1	6.9	1.9
2020	3,800	1,200	1,200	402.5	265.2	230.7	222.9	18.9	8.8	2
2019	3,300	1,000	1,100	357.5	281.1	264.9	273.7	21.5	9.3	2
2018	2,500	752.7	1,200	416.7	285.5	347.2	353.2	19.8	11.4	2.3
2017	1,800	614.3	875.9	323.8	232.1	444.7	473.3	16.9	15.2	2.4
2016	1,200	476.8	954.5	153.8	214.8	597.4	647.6	17.1	23.6	3.5

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Release date

April 2026

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Region

United States

Survey time period

2016 to 2025

Supplementary notes

* Paid subscriptions (premium) provide unlimited, on-demand access via trial or full subscription plans.
** Free streaming include ad-supported audio and music video services not operating under statutory licenses, including social media platforms and free-tier audio subscription services.
*** Other streaming includes estimated payments to performers and copyright holders for digital and customized radio services operating under statutory licenses, including SoundExchange distributions and similar direct deals.
**** Paid subscriptions (non-premium) have restrictions or are bundled with other non-music services. Includes trial and full subscriptions.
***** Other digital includes kiosks, music video downloads, digital jukeboxes, and embedded services.

The source did not provide a date of publication. The date used here is the access date.

Citation formats

In 2025, paid premium streaming subscriptions were the biggest source of digital music revenue, amounting to around 5.9 billion U.S. dollars, with other types of streaming services also doing well. Synchronization, which involves paying flat fees or royalties for licensing sound recordings used in other media content such as television, film, advertising, and video games, was the most successful sector outside of streaming, achieving a total of about 407.1 million dollars in revenue that year.

Digital music – additional information

The increase in digital music revenue, more specifically subscription and streaming services, may be down to the accessibility and availability of digital music. For legal downloads, consumers can pick between services such as Spotify, Apple Music, and Pandora. Of course, there are countless numbers of illegal sites which distribute digital music also. In 2019, approximately 34 percent of global internet users aged 16 to 24 admitted to accessing music through music ripping, the most popular method being copyright infringement.

Digital music sales have made a huge impact on the listings of best-selling lists with digital sales either being combined with physical sales or set apart. The best-selling digital song in the United States in 2025 was "Ordinary" by Alex Warren, with 238,000 digital downloads, ahead of other popular artists like Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga.

Nevertheless, some sectors within the digital music market have lost value over the years, and may be on their way out. Album and single downloads have suffered great annual losses, and downloading music videos has ceased altogether, with the market instead shifting to streaming services.