The RIAA has published its half-year figures for the US recorded music industry, showing overall wholesale revenues up 6.9% year-on-year in H1 2026. Premium subscription streaming services, such as Spotify and Apple Music, were a key driver, generating $3.11 billion for rightsholders, up 7.8% YoY, partly reflecting price rises at several major platforms as well as continued subscriber growth.

Streaming overall brought in $4.9 billion, up 4.7% YoY, with total paid subscriptions (premium and non-premium) reaching $3.4 billion, up 6.4%. Premium subscription accounts grew 5.5% YoY to 111.1 million, while non-premium subscriptions, largely music bundled into other services, fell 9% to $239.1 million. Free, ad-supported streaming generated $900 million (up 3.7%), and physical formats saw a strong 25.9% jump, driven by vinyl (up 17.7%) and CDs (up 58.6%). Including sync revenue, total industry wholesale revenue for the half-year reached $5.97 billion.