Streaming now accounts for 95% of US Latin music market with revenue growing 17% in the first half of 2019, according to the RIAA, the US recording industry association. Latin music revenues in the US grew 13.5% to $232 million versus the prior year, building on three consecutive years of growth at the end of 2018. Total streaming revenues grew 17% to $220 million, accounting for 95% of the Latin music market.
In the first half of 2019, the US Latin music business continued to grow at a double digit pace. The continued growth of streaming formats of many kinds drove the Latin market, but paid subscriptions continued to be the biggest driver of growth. Paid subscription streaming grew 25% to $146 million accounting for 2/3rds of the Latin music streaming market in the first half of 2019.
Revenues from ad-supported on-demand streams grew just 4% to $44 million. SoundExchange distributions and payments from similar directly licensed services for Latin music were up 5% to $30 million. Together these categories accounted for 32% of the Latin music market – a far higher proportion than the 18% of the overall US market that those formats account for.
Physical and digital unit-based formats continued to shrink in sales and share of the market in 1H 2019. Digital download singles and albums declined 29% and 33% by value in 1H 2019, totalling $8 million. Revenues from physical shipments of Latin music products fell 17% to $2 million. Combined, sales of these unit-based formats accounted for just 4% of the market.
Mitch Glazier, Chairman and CEO, RIAA, said, “The US Latin music market is continuing to flourish, building on the last three years of double-digit growth. Latin music is attracting a diverse and growing global audience, and rightfully so. Latin artists continue to claim growing representation on the mainstream charts and gain in critical recognition, as greater numbers of consumers are embracing Latin music and driving more consumer demand for it.”
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