NEW YORK: The US music industry passed 100 million paid streaming subscriptions for the first time in 2024, according to the latest report from the Recording Industry Association of America released Tuesday.
The US industry’s total revenue last year increased three percent to $17.7 billion retail, the report said, up half a billion dollars from 2023.
Paid subscription services accounted for 79 percent of streaming revenues, and almost two-thirds of total revenues.
Yet streaming growth has slowed over the past five years — in 2024, it increased by less than four million subscriptions, compared to the jump from 2020 to 2021, when it spiked by almost nine million — a trend that has pushed music companies to seek growth elsewhere.
Universal, for example, has been touting a “Streaming 2.0” vision focusing on avenues like selling products to superfans.
Music revenues meanwhile fell two percent to $1.8 billion on ad-supported, on-demand services — examples include YouTube, Facebook and Spotify’s ad-supported version.
Indie darling vinyl posted its 18th straight year of growth, and accounts for nearly 75 percent of physical format revenues that total $2 billion, the RIAA said.
For the third year in a row, vinyl albums outsold compact discs, selling 44 million versus 33 million respectively.
Vinyl’s popularity has grown steadily in recent years, fueled by collectors and fans nostalgic for the warm crackle that emanates from Side A and Side B.
The annual report from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, which represents global record companies, is due on Wednesday.
US music industry posts 100 million paid streaming users
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US music industry posts 100 million paid streaming users
- The US music industry passed 100 million paid streaming subscriptions for the first time in 2024
- For the third year in a row, vinyl albums outsold compact discs, selling 44 million versus 33 million respectively
Cambodia takes back looted historic artifacts handled by British art dealer
- The objects were returned under a 2020 agreement between the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the family of the late Douglas Latchford, a British art collector and dealer who allegedly had the items smuggled out of Cambodia
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Cambodian officials on Friday received more than six dozen historic artifacts described as part of the country’s cultural heritage that had been looted during decades of war and instability.
At a ceremony attended by Deputy Prime Minister Hun Many, the 74 items were unveiled at the National Museum in Phnom Penh after their repatriation from the United Kingdom.
The objects were returned under a 2020 agreement between the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the family of the late Douglas Latchford, a British art collector and dealer who allegedly had the items smuggled out of Cambodia.
“This substantial restitution represents one of the most important returns of Khmer cultural heritage in recent years, following major repatriations in 2021 and 2023 from the same collection,” the Culture Ministry said in a statement. “It marks a significant step forward in Cambodia’s continued efforts to recover, preserve, and restore its ancestral legacy for future generations.”
The artifacts were described as dating from the pre-Angkorian period through the height of the Angkor Empire, including “monumental sandstone sculptures, refined bronze works, and significant ritual objects.” The Angkor Empire, which extended from the ninth to the 15th century, is best known for the Angkor Wat archaeological site, the nation’s biggest tourist attraction.
Latchford was a prominent antiquities dealer who allegedly orchestrated an operation to sell looted Cambodian sculptures on the international market.
From 1970 to the 1980s, during Cambodia’s civil wars and the communist Khmer Rouge ‘s brutal reign, organized looting networks sent artifacts to Latchford, who then sold them to Western collectors, dealers, and institutions. These pieces were often physically damaged, having been pried off temple walls or other structures by the looters.
Latchford was indicted in a New York federal court in 2019 on charges including wire fraud and conspiracy. He died in 2020, aged 88, before he could be extradited to face charges.
Cambodia, like neighboring Thailand, has benefited from a trend in recent decades involving the repatriation of art and archaeological treasures. These include ancient Asian artworks as well as pieces lost or stolen during turmoil in places such as Syria, Iraq and Nazi-occupied Europe. New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the prominent institutions that has been returning illegally smuggled art, including to Cambodia.
“The ancient artifacts created and preserved by our ancestors are now being returned to Cambodia, bringing warmth and joy, following the country’s return to peace,” said Hun Many, who is the younger brother of Prime Minister Hun Manet.
