RIAA: Consumers are shelling out for subscription music

Subscription music services saw revenue increase 13.5 percent last year, while the number of the sector's paying customers climbed 18 percent.

That's according to the Recording Industry Association of America, which yesterday released year-end music shipment statistics for 2011. The RIAA reported that subscription revenue went from $212 million in 2010 to $241 million last year. The number of users rose from 1.5 million to 1.8 million during the same period. Translation: Spotify, Rhapsody, and to a far lesser extent the other subscription music services appear to be grabbing market share. Members of some well-known bands or their managers have criticized these services recently and have declined to distribute through them for allegedly failing to adequately compensate artists. The services have defended themselves by asking for a little patience.