The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) issues half-year and full-year reports that include multiple statistics about the US music market.
Within these reports, the RIAA publishes two key pieces of information that have each informed the below chart: (i) The total amount of revenue for ‘Paid’ subscriptions (not including ‘limited-tier’) generated in the period; and (ii) The average amount of ‘paid’ subscriptions in the period (with multi-user plans as a single subscription, and excluding limited-tier services).
From these two data points, we can calculate an average retail ARPU figure in each FY and HY period, by dividing the total amount of Paid subscription revenue by the total number of paid accounts.
Below are the results of that calculation in recent years in the HY (midyear) period.
You’ll see two sets of charts: Up until its 2025 HY report, RIAA reported retail figures; from 2025 onwards, it has reported wholesale figures (i.e. the amount of each subscription that is paid to rightsholders).
