The RIAA regularly releases shipment and revenue reports to provide useful information about the music industry. As the body representing music labels, many people understandably look to RIAA data as a measure of the health of those companies. But the data encompasses a whole lot more. Most RIAA data is provided as an estimate of total “retail” dollars. This refers to the amount a consumer might pay for a download, CD, or paid subscription service such as TIDAL, AppleMusic, Rhapsody, and others. So the revenues counted are not just what goes to music creators, but also to the retailers, digital services, and other partners that deliver music to fans…