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A “datapocalypse” hit the music industry this week as both the RIAA and IFPI reported 2024 numbers, following MIDiA Research’s annual tally a week earlier — and all three agreed that growth slowed in 2024. The IFPI’s figures and rankings of top markets revealed the rise of emerging markets, while the U.S.-focused RIAA figures revealed that growth in the United States was particularly weak (although not the worst in the world).
The trends seen in these reports have consequences for the global music industry. Companies follow opportunities, and emerging markets are attractive places to put resources. In November, Billboard published a story about major labels’ pivot in investment strategy from tech startups to old-school music companies in small and developing markets. As majors face slowing growth in mature markets, they’re looking for growth elsewhere — especially China, India and Africa. Independent companies such as Believe have long pursued markets around the world, too, betting on the rise of streaming and the increasing popularity of local music.
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The trio of reports underscore that slow streaming growth in many markets will need to be addressed. To that end, labels are already working to improve payouts through super-premium tiers that carry higher prices and working with streaming platforms to ensure “professional” artists get better remuneration than hobbyists, background noise and nature sounds. Ridding streaming platforms of AI-generated tracks will also improve labels’ payouts.
The reports differ because they represent different types of income. The IFPI reports trade revenue — the money collected by distributors and record labels — while much of the RIAA’s report shows the retail value, or the money collected by streaming platforms and retailers. In addition, the RIAA numbers cover only the U.S. while the IFPI and MIDiA reports track the global business. MIDiA Research includes additional revenue streams not found in RIAA or IFPI reports: expanded rights, which includes merchandise, sponsorships and other revenue that does not originate from master rights; and production music, which is growing in importance in music licensing but is typically outside the purview of record labels.
Following are the four main takeaways from the three reports.
Emerging Markets Were the Story of 2024
The most established markets mostly kept their place in the pecking order, but there was one momentous change in 2024. In a sign of the times, Australia, which ranked No. 10 on the IFPI rankings in both 2022 and 2023, was replaced by Mexico. While Australia improved 6.1%, Mexico expanded 15.6% thanks to a huge improvement in subscription revenue. In fact, the Latin America region grew an astounding 22.5%. Brazil, the No. 9 market, grew 21.7% — the fastest rate in the top 10.
Despite having a relatively small population of approximately 27 million, Australia has historically punched above its weight in music spending. The country ranked No. 6 in both 2014 and 2015 before falling off the top 10 in 2024 for the first time in nearly three decades. Meanwhile, Mexico — which had never cracked the top 10 before now — has roughly 130 million people, a booming streaming market and a flourishing music scene.
To be fair, Mexico is more of a mid-tier market than an emerging market. In terms of IFPI rankings, the country is emerging only in the sense that it “emerged” into the top 10. But it has a lot in common with emerging markets, including high growth rates and ample room for more subscriptions. In mature markets, subscribers are becoming harder to find.
China held firm at No. 5, its same ranking as the previous two years. With the world’s largest population and a fast-growing subscription streaming market, the country has risen from No. 7 in 2019 and No. 10 in 2017. Its largest music streaming company, Tencent Music Entertainment, finished the year with 121 million subscribers — more than all the streaming subscribers in the U.S.
In terms of pure growth rate, the top regions were the smaller Middle East-North Africa (MENA) and Sub-Saharan Africa, which grew at 22.8% and 22.6%, respectively.
Prior to 2024, the same markets had appeared in the top 10 for the last decade, sometimes in a different order. In 2017, China and Brazil entered the top 10, knocking out Italy and the Netherlands. Brazil had been in the top 10 in previous years but was absent in 2016. Now, with Mexico and emerging markets surging, we may be seeing a bigger shakeup in the top 10 in the future.
U.S. Growth Underperformed Nearly Every Other Market
In a business where year-over-year growth has become commonplace, the large, mature music markets don’t have the appeal of the smaller, fast-growing ones. So, while the U.S. remained the world’s largest market — by a wide margin — its revenue growth didn’t even keep up with 2024’s 2.9% inflation rate (depending on which numbers you’re looking at).
U.S. revenue growth slowed to 2.2% according to the IFPI report, or 3.2% according to the RIAA report. Together, the U.S. and Canada, which grew 1.5% in 2024, accounted for 40.3% of global revenue but grew just 2.1%, according to the IFPI report. Japan, the world’s second-largest market, dropped 0.2% as a 5.5% increase in streaming — led by a 7.2% gain in subscription revenue — was offset by a 2.7% decline in physical revenue. South Korea, the No. 7 market, fell 5.7%. The total Asia region grew 1.3%, however, in part due to China increasing 9.6%.
Some other major markets fared better than the U.S. As Billboard previously reported, U.K. revenues increased 4.8% and Germany rose 7.8%.
Subscriptions Are Stronger Than Ever
Subscriptions are the lifeblood of the record industry, accounting for more than 74% of global streaming revenue and 51.2% of total revenue in 2024, up from 49.1% in 2023, according to the IFPI. Of the global industry’s $1.4 billion added in 2024, $1.3 billion came from subscription streaming.
That said, the U.S. subscription market slowed considerably in 2024. Global subscription revenue rose 9.5% to $10.46 billion — almost double the 5.3% growth rate in the U.S., according to the RIAA. That 5.3% gain was half of 2023’s 10.6% improvement and well under 2022’s 7.2% growth (the 22.2% subscription growth seen in 2021 was a fortunate aberration of the pandemic). While a reversion to the mean was expected in successive years, 5.3% isn’t much, especially in a year when Spotify raised prices.
Ad-Supported Music, On the Other Hand…
Global ad-supported streaming grew just 3% to $3.62 billion, according to the IFPI. That’s a paltry number given the growth of streaming in large emerging markets such as India and Indonesia. But 3% global growth outperformed the U.S., where the RIAA report showed that ad-supported streaming dropped 1.8% and hasn’t had a double-digit gain since 2021.
For all the popularity of subscription music services, consumers will continue to use ad-supported platforms — video platforms like YouTube, social media apps like TikTok and radio services such as Pandora. And for freemium services such as Spotify, the ad-supported tier is a critical gateway to the premium tiers.
But the state of the economy suggests advertising dollars could be difficult in 2025, too, as advertisers tend to pull back their spending at the first signs of an economic slowdown. SiriusXM CFO Tom Barry, speaking at a banking conference on March 11, said advertising started “to see a drop-off” in previous weeks following the Trump administration’s tariff threats. “I would say we’re cautious about where the ad industry is going right now,” he warned.
For the first time ever, Mexico has entered the top 10 global music markets, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) has confirmed to Billboard Español. The milestone was driven by a 15.6% increase in recorded music revenue, as revealed in the IFPI’s 2025 Global Music Report published Wednesday (March 19). Mexico’s climb to No. […]
LONDON — Global music sales grew for the tenth consecutive year in 2024 but the risk of generative AI systems using copyright-protected music to freely train their systems poses “a very real and present threat” to the future of the industry, warn record executives.
Total recorded music revenues climbed to $29.6 billion in 2024, a rise of 4.8% on the previous year, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry’s (IFPI) Global Music Report 2025, published Wednesday (Mar. 19).
Driving the growth was a strong increase in paid streaming subscription revenue, which rose 9.5% to $15.2 billion, while total streaming revenues, comprising of paid subscription and advertising-supported tiers, rose 7.3% year-on-year to $20.4 billion, representing 69% of recorded music sales worldwide.
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Although last year’s growth rate is roughly half that of 2023 (when revenues rose by just over 10%) total music sales still reached the highest level since 1999 — when IFPI first started compiling global music revenues and sales totaled $22.2 billion — on an absolute dollar basis, not accounting for inflation. Piracy and declining physical sales saw the market bottom out at $13 billion in 2014.
The subsequent recovery and decade-long growth of the global record industry is now, however, being placed in jeopardy by tech companies who want to rollback copyright protections to enable them to use music works without a license for training AI systems, caution creators and executives. Earlier this week, Paul McCartney and Paul Simon were among 400 musicians, filmmakers, writers and actors who signed an open letter to the Trump administration opposing submissions from tech companies OpenAI, Anthropic and Google who want to use copyrighted works without permission from rights holders.
In the United Kingdom, the government is consulting on proposed changes to copyright law that, if implemented, would allow AI developers to freely use creators’ content for training purposes, unless rights holders “opt out.”
“We are asking policymakers to protect music and artistry,” said IFPI CEO Victoria Oakley in a statement accompanying the Global Music Report. “We must harness the potential of AI to support and amplify human creativity, not to replace it.”
“If those [tech companies] arguing for these exceptions get their way, they can… put the existing [digital music services] out of business while paying artists and songwriters nothing. That is an incredible market distortion,” said Dennis Kooker, president of global digital business at Sony Music Entertainment, at the report launch in London.
Breaking down 2024’s global music sales, users of paid music subscriptions grew to 752 million worldwide, says the London-based organization, a rise of over 10% on the previous year. Subscription streaming revenues now account for just over 50% of global music sales.
On the physical side of the business, an 18th consecutive year of vinyl sales growth (up 4.6%) was not enough to arrest a 3.1% slide in overall physical revenues, which fell to $4.8 billion. IFPI said the decrease was partially due to a fall in physical sales in Asia, which accounts for more than 45% of all physical revenues worldwide.
In terms of market share, physical accounted for just over 16% of the overall market last year, down from 18% in 2023.
Performance rights revenue climbed 5.9% to $2.9 billion, representing just under 10% of global revenues and marking the sector’s fourth successive year of growth. Sync income was flat with 2023 at $650 million, representing a 2.2% share of the market.
Taylor Swift was 2024’s biggest-selling global artist, ahead of Canadian rapper Drake and K-pop sensation SEVENTEEN, IFPI announced last month, marking the fifth time she that she has taken the global crown and third consecutive year. Benson Boone’s Beautiful Things was last year’s biggest-selling global single across all digital formats with 2.1 billion equivalent streams.
Mexico Breaks Into Global Top 10 Music Markets, Bumping Australia
In terms of world markets, IFPI said that music revenues were up in every region and all but three of the 58 markets it tracks, with the U.S. retaining its long-held No. 1 position with music sales growing 2.2% year-on-year. By comparison, the U.S. recorded music market grew by 7.2% in 2023 and 4.8% the year prior.
The world’s second largest music market, Japan, was flat year-on-year due to a decline in physical sales, reports IFPI. The third and fourth-biggest markets for recorded music remain the United Kingdom (+4.9%) and Germany (+4.1%), respectively. China, ranked No. 5 globally, grew music sales by 9.6%. (IFPI’s free-to-access report does not provide market-by-market revenue breakdowns).
The rest of the top 10 is made up of France (+7.5%), South Korea (-5.7%), Canada (+1.5%), Brazil (+21.7%, the fastest growing top 10 market) and Mexico, which increased revenues by 15.6% to overtake Australia as the tenth largest global recorded music market.
Those cross-market gains are mirrored on a regional basis with revenues from the U.S. and Canada region up 2.1% and together representing the greatest share of global music sales at just over 40%.
Latin America — where streaming makes up almost 88% of the recorded music market — saw growth of 22.5%, once again far outpacing the global growth rate and marking the region’s 15th consecutive year of revenue growth.
Europe remains the second-biggest region for music sales, accounting for more than a quarter (29.5%) of global revenues and growing 8.3% year-on-year. In third place is Asia, where overall revenues rose by just 1.3% compared to almost 15% in 2023 due to a 4.9% fall in physical sales.
The two fastest growing regions globally were Middle East and North Africa, where streaming holds a 99.5% share of the market and which saw music sales grow 22.8%, and Sub-Saharan Africa, which recorded a 22.6% rise in revenues to surpass $100 million for the first time.
South Africa remains the largest market in the Sub-Saharan Africa region, accounting for 75% of its revenues, following growth of 14.4%. Revenues in Australasia climbed 6.4% to $629 million with Australia and New Zealand increasing sales by 6.1% and 7.8% respectively.
(IFPI uses current exchange rates when compiling its Global Music Report, restating all historic local currency values on an annual basis. Market values therefore vary retrospectively as a result of foreign currency movements, says IFPI, which represents more than 8,000 record company members worldwide, including all three major labels, Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group.)
It was a beautiful ride in 2024 for Benson Boone, as the breakthrough artist scored the biggest hit on the planet.
Boone’s “Beautiful Things” is crowned the IFPI Global Single Award for 2024, effectively the world’s best-performing single across all digital formats.
Boone earns bragging rights as his signature song planted itself at or near the top of sales charts, everywhere.
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Released in January 2024, “Beautiful Things” nabbed top spot in this year’s IFPI Global Single Chart, his first appearance in an IFPI Global Chart Top 10, and won silverware at the Billboard Music Awards, MTV Video Music Awards and MTV Europe Music Awards.
The 21-year-old Monroe, WA native was nominated for best new artist at the 2025 Grammys, where he performed the song, and it peaked at No. 1 in the U.K. and Australia. “Beautiful Things” reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
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During the calendar year, “Beautiful Things” racked up 2.11 billion equivalent global subscription streams, according to data published today (Feb. 20) by the IFPI, and including paid subscription streaming, ad-supported platforms, and single-track downloads.
“We are delighted to present the IFPI Global Single Award to Benson Boone,” comments Victoria Oakley, CEO, IFPI. “As a global breakout artist, this is an amazing achievement to produce a truly worldwide hit. Congratulations to Benson, his team and Warner Records for this incredible accomplishment.”
Boone discovered his love for music when his friend asked him to join their group for a Battle of the Bands competition. He went on to audition for American Idol, where he received a standing ovation from the judges. Ultimately, he dropped out of the talent quest and took a different road, signing to Imagine Dragons’ lead singer Dan Reynolds’ label, Night Street Records/Warner Records. Now he’s on top of the world.
Boone leads a fresh-faced top three, ahead of Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” and Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control,” respectively. U.S. artists dominate the tally with nine of the top 10. Irishman Hozier prevents a clean sweep with “Too Sweet,” dropping in at No. 6. IFPI’s recently-anointed Global Recording Artist of the Year, Taylor Swift, appears at No. 9 with “Cruel Summer.” The cut, lifted from her 2019 album Lover, enjoyed a resurgence thanks to her record-breaking The Eras Tour.
Top 20 IFPI Global Singles Chart 2024
It’s official: Taylor Swift owned the year 2024, we were just living in it.
Swift creates history by being named as the IFPI’s Biggest-Selling Global Recording Artist of the Year for the fifth time, and for the third consecutive year.
With her latest crown, which recognizes the top artist across physical sales, downloads and streaming, Swift is the outright No. 1 recording artist on the planet.
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Announced today, Feb. 18, Swift finished at the top of the podium, ahead of Canadian rapper Drake and K-pop sensation SEVENTEEN, respectively.
This year’s victory follows Swift’s wins in 2014, 2019, 2022 and 2023. No one comes close to her record. Now in its 12th year, just two other acts have led the IFPI’s Global Recording Artist Chart on multiple occasions – Drake (in 2016 and 2018) and BTS (2020, 2021).
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The artist award and chart is the first and only ranking to accurately capture the popularity of artists across streaming channels, doing so alongside digital and physical album and singles sales on a global basis, across the calendar year.
Also, the IFPI reports, TayTay does a Swift Sweep on the Federation’s various year-end tallies.
With her all-conquering release The Tortured Poets Department, the pop superstar leads the IFPI’s Global Album Chart, Global Vinyl Album Chart, Global Streaming Album Chart and Global Album Sales Chart.
“We are immensely proud to award the IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year Award to Taylor Swift for the fifth time, as she continues to redefine the limits of global success,” comments Victoria Oakley, CEO, IFPI.
“This has been a huge year for Taylor, and it has been incredible to see the extent to which fans all over the world are connecting with her superb catalog of music.”
With her record smashing The Eras Tour filling stadiums around the globe in 2024, economists and analysts coined the expression “The Taylor Swift Effect,” which explains the broader cultural and economic impact when her shows come to town.
A product of that phenomenon can be seen in the IFPI’s charts as fans, hyped up by her live performances, boosted her entire catalog on streaming platforms.
Swift was also a juggernaut on wax in 2024. According to the IFPI, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (from 2023), Midnights (2022), folklore (2020), evermore (2020) and Lover (2019) all appeared in the top 20 of the trade body’s 2024 Global Vinyl Album Chart.
In other takeaways from the IFPI’s Global Charts, Zach Bryan and Sabrina Carpenter crack the top 10 of the Global Recording Artist Chart, whilst Noah Kahan, Benson Boone, Chappell Roan and Teddy Swims locked onto the Global Streaming Album Chart for the first time.
On the Global Album Sales Chart, K-Pop once again led the way. Meanwhile, Chinese artist Zhou Shen and Japan’s Snow Man impact the top 20 of the albums tally, which is based on unit sales across physical and download formats.
Top 20 IFPI Global Recording Artist Chart 2024:
PositionPrior YearArtist11Taylor Swift24Drake32SEVENTEEN4Re-entry (2022)Billie Eilish53Stray Kids616Zach Bryan75The Weeknd814Eminem9Re-entry (2022)Kendrick Lamar10NEWSabrina Carpenter11Re-entry (2021)Ariana Grande1219Post Malone136Morgan Wallen14NEWENHYPEN1517Travis Scott1618Kanye West1710Lana Del Rey18Re-entry (2016)Beyoncé19NEWLinkin Park209Bad Bunny
Victoria Oakley is the new CEO of IFPI.Oakley will join the international labels trade association this June from global strategic communications and advocacy consultancy Portland, where she currently serves as CEO.
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The incoming chief executive has deep, international experience, having logged almost two decades in the British Diplomatic Service, with roles in London, Paris, Brussels, Washington D.C. and the Eastern Caribbean, where she was High Commissioner until 2016.
Later, she spent three years at Portland then joined Google as global public policy director. Oakley returned to Portland in 2022 in the role as CEO, leading a 300-strong team of strategic communications and public affairs professionals across London, Doha, Singapore, Nairobi, Paris, Berlin and Brussels.In her new leadership role, Oakley will coordinate with the Federation’s national group network as it continues its work in promoting and advocating for the value of recorded music and the rights of its 8,000 record company members, including the three major labels.
“I’m pleased that Vikki is joining the IFPI during this dynamic time for the music industry,” comments Sir Lucian Grainge, chairman and CEO, Universal Music Group. “Vikki brings the right skills and experience to help the global industry tackle important issues and opportunities collaboratively and with a fresh vision. We look forward to working with her.”
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Oakley, adds Robert Kyncl, CEO, Warner Music Group, “is a great choice to help lead the global campaign for the rights of artists and those who back them, and I’m excited she’s bringing her expertise and experience to IFPI.”
Says Rob Stringer, chairman, Sony Music Group: “Her decades of expertise combined with strong relationships around the world, will help us ensure music is recognized for the value it deserves and artists are always put first.”Oakley succeeds Frances Moore, who retired in December 2023 after leading the trade body since 2010.
Taylor Swift and K-pop set the benchmark for global album sales in 2023, new data published by the IFPI reveals.
Following the release last week of its Global Music Report 2023, the IFPI published three year-end albums charts, breaking down the biggest titles by sales and formats (vinyl and streaming).
The K-pop phenomenon continues to power ahead, proof of which can be seen on the IFPI Global Album Sales Chart 2023. SEVENTEEN’s FML leads an all-K-pop top five on the tally, which measures global unit sales – or “pure sales” – across all physical formats, as well as full album downloads.
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Following its release in 2023, FML landed at No. 1 in South Korea and Japan, debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and went on to sell 6.4 million units globally, sending the title to No. 1 on the previously-announced IFPI Global Album Chart. FML also smashed the record for most pre-orders ever for an album in South Korea, according to the Federation.
An “unprecedented” 19 of the top 20 titles on the IFPI Global Album Sales Chart were created by South Korean acts, demonstrating the K-pop genre’s “global dominance of the physical album format,” reads a statement from the IFPI, issued Thursday, March 28.
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The one only non-Korean act to crack the top 20 (at No. 6) was reigning, four-time IFPI global recording artist of the year Taylor Swift, whose album 1989 (Taylor’s Version) also topped the IFPI Global Vinyl Album Chart. Indeed, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) leads an all-TayTay top 3 on the wax tally, ahead of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) and Midnights, respectively. Swift snags seven of the top 20, including folklore (at No. 7), Lover (No. 9), evermore (No. 13) and Red (Taylor’s Version) (No. 15).
U.S. country star Morgan Wallen lassos his first IFPI Global Chart No. 1 with One Thing at a Time, his Billboard 200 leader. The 36-track double LP tops the IFPI Global Streaming Album Chart, which counts global streams from both ad-supported and subscription platforms. The streaming list calculates a weighted global unit number taking into account differing economics across regions. Wallen also appears at No. 9 with Dangerous: The Double Album, released in 2021.
“As highlighted in IFPI’s Global Music Report,” comments Lewis Morrison, director of global charts & certifications at IFPI, revenues from both digital and physical music formats continue to see healthy growth, and the combination of fantastic artistry, format variety and the tireless work of record labels is the foundation on which this growth is built.
The charts, he continues, “are a great summary of a fantastic year for global recorded music.”
IFPI Global Album Sales Chart 2023
PositionArtistAlbumUnits1SEVENTEENFML6.4m2Stray Kids5-STAR5.3m3NCT DREAMISTJ4.6m4SEVENTEENSEVENTEENTH HEAVEN4.5m5Stray KidsROCK-STAR4.2m6Taylor Swift1989 (Taylor’s Version)2.8m7Jung KookGOLDEN2.7m8EXOEXIST2.3m9IVEI’ve MINE2.2m10VLayover2.2m11ZEROBASEONEYOUTH IN THE SHADE2.2m12aespaMY WORLD2.1m13TOMORROW X TOGETHERThe Name Chapter : FREEFALL2.0m14(G)I-DLEI feel2.0m15NCT 127Fact Check1.9m16ENHYPENDARK BLOOD1.7m17IVEI’ve IVE1.7m18JiminFACE1.7m19ENHYPENORANGE BLOOD1.7m20aespaDrama1.5m
IFPI Global Vinyl Album Chart 2023
PositionArtistAlbumUnits1Taylor Swift1989 (Taylor’s Version)1,400k2Taylor SwiftSpeak Now (Taylor’s Version)684k3Taylor SwiftMidnights562k4Travis ScottUTOPIA415k5Pink FloydThe Dark Side of The Moon402k6Olivia RodrigoGUTS398k7Taylor Swiftfolklore377k8Lana Del ReyDid you know that…352k9Taylor SwiftLover323k10Fleetwood MacRumours323k11The Rolling StonesHackney Diamonds305k12Lana Del ReyBorn To Die256k13Taylor Swiftevermore237k14QueenGreatest Hits227k15Taylor SwiftRed (Taylor’s Version)225k16Tyler, The CreatorIGOR218k17Michael JacksonThriller217k18Metallica72 Seasons206k19Harry StylesHarry’s House204k20boygeniusthe record200k
IFPI Global Streaming Album Chart 2023
PositionArtistAlbum1Morgan WallenOne Thing At A Time2SZASOS3Taylor SwiftMidnights4Bad BunnyUn Verano Sin Ti5Metro BoominHEROES & VILLAINS6Taylor SwiftLover7The WeekndStarboy8KAROL GMañana Será Bonito9Morgan WallenDangerous: The Double Album10Taylor Swift198911Miley CyrusEndless Summer Vacation12Travis ScottUTOPIA13Harry StylesHarry’s House14Taylor Swiftfolklore15Drake & 21 SavageHer Loss16DrakeFor All The Dogs17The WeekndAfter Hours18Taylor Swiftreputation19Zach BryanAmerican Heartbreak20Olivia RodrigoSOUR
The IFPI’s annual figure for global recorded music revenue, announced Thursday (Mar. 21) for 2023, is the gold standard for tracking the health of the music business. It’s the number most often cited in corporate reports, market research and media articles. It’s also a bit outdated.
Traditionally, record labels have sold and streamed music, secured synch licenses and collected performance and neighboring rights royalties. But a modern record label also collects expanded rights revenues — from multi-right, 360-degree recording contracts — by taking a share of artists’ income from merchandise, touring and branding, among other sources. Those expanded rights revenues aren’t part of the IFPI’s annual revenue tally, but MIDiA Research includes that — and more — in its annual estimate.
MIDiA’s more fulsome figure for global recorded music revenue in 2023 was $35.1 billion, nearly 23% higher than the IFPI’s $28.6 billion. According to MIDiA, which tells Billboard its estimate came from publicly available information and interviews, expanded rights revenue totaled $3.5 billion in 2023.
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Some expanded rights revenue is in plain sight. Universal Music Group, for example, took in 706 million euros ($764 million) of merchandising revenue from Bravado, its wholly owned merchandise company, in 2023. For other companies, expanded rights are harder to pin down. Warner Music Group had $744 million of artist services and expanded-rights revenue in 2023. WMG’s expanded rights includes merchandising, VIP ticketing, fan clubs, concert promotion and management, according to its latest quarterly report.
Neither global revenue figure is right or wrong; they’re just different. The IFPI’s revenue figures reflect how labels monetize the rights associated with master recordings through sales, streaming and licensing. MIDiA’s revenue figure acknowledges the role of record labels has expanded far beyond monetization of masters.
Even the term “expanded rights” is problematic because it suggests merchandise and branding isn’t central to a record label’s mission. That isn’t necessarily the case in 2024. Consider the wave of K-pop companies expanding globally out of South Korea. HYBE, home of boy band BTS, is a hybrid record label, talent agency and management company with a slow, painstaking artist development process and a business model that captures far more than recorded music sales. In 2023, 55% of HYBE’s revenue came from sources other than recorded music. Concerts accounted for roughly 16% of revenue, merchandise and licensing were 15%, and ads and appearances were 7%. In fact, MIDiA estimated that Korean labels — including SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment, JYP Entertainment and Starship Entertainment — accounted for nearly 70% of non-major-label expanded rights revenue.
Another difference between the IFPI and MIDiA reports is the latter’s emphasis on the fast-growing independent artist community. Easy access to recording tools and distribution has gotten the everyday artist’s recordings on digital platforms around the world. MIDiA estimates there was $1.8 billion in “artist direct” revenue in 2023. Artist direct is a category of self-publishing, independent artists who use self-serve platforms like DistroKid and TuneCore, and MIDiA’s 2023 Creator Survey estimated there are 6.4 million artists in this segment. While 38% of these independent artists aspire to be full-time musicians, 36% do not expect to focus on music as a sole career. Deducting expanded rights and artist direct revenues from MIDiA’s $35.1 billion estimate narrows the difference between that and the IFPI’s $28.6 million figure.
Another difference between the two reports stems from MIDiA’s inclusion of revenue from production libraries in its synch revenue figure. Production music — which spans everything from beat marketplace BeatStars to online library Epidemic Sound — often exists outside of the record label system that traditionally develops and markets artists. Unlike artist-oriented music, production music is often nameless and faceless content that advertisers and other content creators license for its specific sound and style rather than artist name recognition. Lacking star power is the point, however: Production music libraries are increasingly popular amongst content creators in need of affordable background music.
Broader measurements will be crucial for tracking the recorded music business of the future. Record labels will pursue “superfans” through products and services that may not produce typical sales and streams. Artificial intelligence will create new licensing opportunities. Greater adoption of the K-pop model will change what it means to be a record label. When that happens broadly, $28.6 billion of annual revenue will be a starting point. Judging by MiDIA’s 2023 report, it already is.
Global music sales grew for the ninth consecutive year in 2023, with recorded music revenues increasing in every market and region, and across almost all formats, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry’s (IFPI) Global Music Report 2024.
Total revenues climbed to $28.6 billion, a rise of just over 10% on the previous year, and the second highest growth rate on record after 2021’s 18.5% year-on-year spike.
2023’s total sales figure is the highest level since 1999 — when IFPI first started compiling global music revenues and sales totaled $22.2 billion — on an absolute dollar basis, not accounting for inflation. Piracy and declining physical sales saw the market bottom out at $13 billion in 2014.
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Driving last year’s growth was an 11.2% rise in paid streaming subscription revenue, which totaled $14 billion, up from $12.7 billion in 2022, and accounted for almost half (48.9%) of global music sales.
The rise in global paid streaming revenue comes after many of the leading streaming services, including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music and Deezer, all raised their subscription prices in key territories over the past 12-18 months. For the majority of streaming services, the hikes were their first price rises since launching more than a decade ago.
Despite the rising cost for consumers, the number of music streaming subscribers continues to grow globally, with IFPI reporting that the number of paid subscriptions to streaming services surpassed 500 million for the first time in 2023.
When shared usership and family accounts are considered, there are now more than 667 million users of paid subscription accounts globally, says the London-based organization, up 13% from the 589 million recorded in the previous 12 months.
Total streaming revenues, comprising of paid subscription and advertising-supported tiers, rose 10% to $19.3 billion to make up 67% of worldwide recorded music sales, roughly flat with last year’s share of the market.
Nevertheless, streaming’s year-on-year growth continues to slow as a result of its already high penetration of the global music market. In 2021, total streaming revenues spiked 24% year-on-year. In 2022, the rate of growth had more than halved to 11.5%.
Sales Up Across All Formats
Although streaming continues to dominate global music revenues, 2023 also saw strong gains in physical record sales and performance rights revenues. Combined CD and vinyl revenues grew for a third consecutive year to $5.1 billion, up 13% on 2022’s total, with Asia generating almost half (49%) of all physical revenues worldwide.
IFPI attributed the region’s continued dominance of the physical market to strong sales of K-pop acts such as boyband Seventeen, who topped IFPI’s 2023 global album charts with FML and also had the year’s eighth best-selling album with follow-up set SEVENTEENTH HEAVEN.
In terms of market share, physical accounted for just under 18% of the overall market last year, marginally up from 17.5% in 2022 but still down on 2021’s share.
Performance rights revenue, meanwhile, climbed 9.5% to $2.7 billion, representing 9.5% of global revenues, while sync income was up 4.7% to $632 Million, representing 2.2%.
The only formats to record a decline in 2023 were digital downloads and what IFPI classifies as other (non-streaming) digital formats, which fell by 2.6% to $900 million, representing just 3.2% of the global market.
“The figures in this year’s report reflect a truly global and diverse industry,” said IFPI chief financial officer and interim joint head John Nolan in a statement accompanying the report.
Nolan said the strong rise in paid streaming subscribers worldwide, as well as services’ price increases, contributed “significantly” to overall revenue growth. He also said the music industry’s recovery from its lows of a decade ago wouldn’t have been possible without “record companies’ sustained investment in artists and their careers.”
According to IFPI figures, record companies invest $7.1 billion each year globally in A&R and marketing alone. They are also paying out more money than ever before to artists, said IFPI, with label payments to musicians increasing by 96% between 2016 and 2021, versus a 63% rise in record company revenues.
No Change in the Global Top 10 Music Markets, With U.S. Still On Top
In terms of world markets, IFPI said that music revenues were up in all of the 58 markets it tracks, with the U.S. retaining its long-held No. 1 position with music sales growing 7.2%, compared to 4.8% growth last year.
Japan holds steady in second place with sales growing 7.6% in 2023. The third and fourth-biggest markets for recorded music remain the United Kingdom (+8.1%) and Germany (+7%), respectively.
The rest of the top 10 is made up of China (+25.9%), representing the fastest rate of increase in any top 10 market, followed by France (+4.4%), South Korea (percentage not provided), Canada (+12.2%), Brazil (+13.4%) and Australia (+11.3%). (IFPI’s free-to-access report does not provide market-by-market revenue breakdowns).
Those cross-market gains are mirrored on a regional basis with revenues from the U.S. and Canada region up 7.4%.
Combined, the U.S. and Canada region accounts for almost 41% of global recorded music revenues, reports IFPI, while Latin America — where streaming makes up 86% of the market — saw growth of 19.4%, far outpacing the global growth rate and representing the 14th consecutive year of revenue growth in the region.
Europe remains the second-biggest region for music sales, accounting for more than a quarter (28%) of global revenues and growing 8.9% year-on-year. In third place is Asia, where revenues rose by almost 15% in 2023, driven by strong gains in physical and digital sales.
Once again, the fastest-growing market region was Sub-Saharan Africa, which recorded a 25% rise in music sales, largely driven by increased take up of paid subscription services (up by just under a quarter) and the thriving South African music market, which grew by almost a fifth and contributed more than three quarters of the region’s revenue.
Revenues in the Middle East and North Africa, where streaming holds a 98% share of the recorded music market, rose by almost 15%.
(IFPI uses current exchange rates when compiling its Global Music Report, restating all historic local currency values on an annual basis. Market values therefore vary retrospectively as a result of foreign currency movements, says IFPI, which represents more than 8,000 record company members worldwide, including all three major labels, Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group.)
Transformation Underway
Present at the Global Music report’s launch in central London were senior executives from all three major labels, as well as Konrad von Löhneysen, founder and director of Germany-based independent Embassy Of Music. Leila Oliveira, president of Warner Music Brazil, also participated in the event via video call from Rio.
Reflecting current industry trends, the potential impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the record business, and particularly risks around generative AI, was a key topic of conversation among the speakers.
“The reality is that we’re at the beginning stages of another transformational event for the music industry,” said Dennis Kooker, president of global digital business at Sony Music Entertainment.
“While I’m enthusiastic about where the evolution will lead, it is essential that we find new products and new business models around these technologies to ensure the future of human creativity can be invested in, and that creators can be rewarded,” Kooker said.
He subsequently warned: “We must also fight the position that too many companies want to take to ignore copyright and intellectual property rights, and use our content without permission or without proper compensation.”
Adam Granite, executive vp of market development at Universal Music Group, said that while AI used “in the service of artists is wonderful,” AI that uses musicians’ work “without authorization and compensation is not.”
“We believe it’s perfectly possible to develop and adopt AI technology while also ensuring artists rights are protected,” said Granite, citing UMG’s recent partnerships with Roland Corporation and YouTube on AI initiatives as industry-led developments that give “artists a seat at the table and will help safeguard their rights” as more AI products enter the music business.
K-pop reigns over the IFPI’s year-end albums chart, as the genre scoops five of the top 10 spots, led by SEVENTEEN with FML.
Announced today (Feb. 27), FML is the boy band’s first IFPI Global Album Award, tallied by the trade association using worldwide sales across streaming, download and physical music formats during the calendar year 2023.
Released in April 2023, FML was the most pre-ordered LP in K-pop history, landing at No. 1 in South Korea and Japan, and debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. Following its hot start in the U.S. (the album also led the World Albums list), SEVENTEEN reentered the Billboard Artist 100 chart (dated May 13, 2023) at No. 1 – becoming the seventh K-pop group to rule the ranking.
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SEVENTEEN’s followup, the October release SEVENTEENTH HEAVEN, finishes at No. 8 on the IFPI Global Album Chart 2023.
Meanwhile, Stray Kids make it a K-pop one-two as 5-STAR appears at No. 2 on the IFPI list, and ROCK–STAR rocks in at No. 9. NCT DREAM land their first appearance in an IFPI Global Charts with ISTJ at No. 6, while, further down the chart, K-pop acts ZEROBASEONE (YOUTH IN THE SHADE at No. 18) and IVE (I’ve IVE at No. 20) make their presences felt.
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Also, BTS star Jung Kook earns his first solo appearance on the IFPI Global Album Chart with GOLDEN, appearing at No. 14.
The global appeal of K-pop “continues to extend and S.Coups, Jeonghan, Joshua, Jun, Hoshi, Wonwoo, Woozi, DK, Migyu, The8, Seungkwan, Vernon and Dino continue to push the boundaries with their concepts, performances and talent,” comments Lewis Morrison, director of global charts & certifications at IFPI. “FML and SEVENTEENTH HEAVEN were both huge hits across continents and our congratulations go to the group, their team and of course CARATs all over the world.”The rankings provide an insight into the “dynamic nature” of recorded music today, Morrison continues, “with artists – and their record labels – finding success across genres and geographies, and by leveraging both streaming and physical formats to delight their fans.”Taylor Swift was crowned last week as IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year, scooping the top honor for a record fourth time. Though she doesn’t own the global albums chart, the U.S. pop superstar does score two of the top 10 best-sellers, with Midnights (No. 4) logging a second consecutive year in the top five and 1989 (Taylor’s Version) appearing at No. 5 following its release in October 2023.Earlier this week, IFPI separately named Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” as the biggest single of 2023.
The IFPI’s charts capture streaming, downloads and physical formats in every country directly from the participating record labels. That data is then converted using the association’s “unique” methodology to a single, global chart figure.
Top 20 IFPI Global Album Chart 2023:
PositionArtistAlbum1.SEVENTEENFML2.Stray Kids5-STAR3.Morgan WallenOne Thing At A Time4.Taylor SwiftMidnights5.Taylor Swift1989 (Taylor’s Version)6.NCT DreamISTJ7.SZASOS8.SEVENTEENSEVENTEENTH HEAVEN9.Stray KidsROCK-STAR10.Travis ScottUTOPIA11.Taylor SwiftLover12.Taylor SwiftSpeak Now (Taylor’s Version)13.Taylor Swiftfolklore14.Jung KookGOLDEN15.The WeekndStarboy16.Metro BoominHEROES & VILLAINS17.Bad BunnyUn Verano Sin Ti18.ZEROBASEONEYOUTH IN THE SHADE19.Miley CyrusEndless Summer Vacation20.IVEI’ve IVE