RIAA Reports Recorded Music Revenue Hit $6 Billion In First Half Of 2026

A new mid-year report released by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on Tuesday (Sept. 1), which shows that U.S. recorded music revenues for the first half of the year are up 6.9 percent when compared with the same period in 2025. For the first half of 2026, U.S. recorded music revenue has hit $6 billion. Streaming, expectedly, still takes the biggest chunk of the proverbial pie with a reported 82 percent of total revenue ($4.9 billion). As RIAA CEO Mitch Glazier sees it, these numbers owe much to how labels and artists have adapted their approach to fan-engagement in recent years. “As U.S. music revenues continue to grow across formats, labels are strengthening connections between artists, fans, and the platforms delivering creative work,” Glazier says of the mid-year findings. “That partnership is driving engagement in new and expanding ways to create opportunities that will lift up the entire music community for years to come. Physical revenues, in fact, enjoyed a bump of just under 26 percent in the first half of 2026. Broken down further, vinyl and CDs grew by 17.7 percent and 58.6 percent, respectively.

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