Vinyl sales have outpaced streaming revenues, according to the RIAA

When you think about profits in the music industry, you'd think that by now the likes of Spotify and Pandora would be making hundreds of millions of dollars - but in reality, they don't.

According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), music streaming revenue has increased by 27% year-on-year, while vinyl sales have jumped 52% in the same period of time. In the first half of 2015, vinyl sales made $222 million while streaming revenue hit $163 million. Apple Music isn't included in these results, so the streaming side of things will see an uptick when Apple gets onboard.

According to data analyst Joshua Friedlander: "Overall, the music industry has become the most-digital in terms of all traditional media outlets - magazines, newspapers - in terms of transition. There is more optimism out there than there was. Two-thirds of the market is still physical [CDs]. It used to be monolithic. Now it's a mix of things, a revenue diversification that makes a more stable source to grow off of. [Streaming] services have mostly grown through word of mouth. There hasn't been a big Spotify advertising push. When you get a player like Apple involved, that really generates a whole new level of awareness".