MIDiA has simply launched its annual recorded music market shares report. Clients can entry the full report and the accompanying huge (!) knowledge set right here. For the remainder of you, listed below are some highlights from the report.
Global recorded music development has oscillated by means of the 2020s and 2024 continued that sample, up 6.5% to $36.2 billion after 9.4% development in 2023. (Excluding expanded rights, the whole was $32.1 billion). Given that the first half of the 2020s was characterised by international upheaval and uncertainty, formed by elements such because the pandemic and rising inflation and rates of interest, 6,5% development was no small achievement. But international disruption isn’t going away – 2025 has to date picked up the baton and sprinted with it. The music enterprise goes to need to get used to working in difficult international circumstances, even earlier than contemplating a rising catalogue of disruptive trade particular traits comparable to, bifurcation, the rise of the Global South and a fast-maturing streaming market.
Streaming nonetheless dominates revenues however its impression is lessening. For the primary time ever, its share of whole revenues declined barely in 2024, down from 61.5% to 61.3%, with streaming rising barely slower than the whole market to succeed in $22.2 billion. Streaming is now not the market maker. Its contribution to whole market development was down by greater than a fifth in comparison with 2022. The streaming income slowdown has been on the horizon for a few years and – regardless of worth will increase – it has now arrived. Super premium can not come quickly sufficient.
On prime of this, bodily was down -4.8%, carrying on its very personal 2020s yo-yo development sample (up, down, up, down). So the place did all the expansion come from? Other i.e. efficiency, sync and expanded rights. Expanded rights (merch and many others) have been as much as $4.1 billion, reflecting the recorded music companies success in monetising fandom. Other as a complete was up 17.3% whereas Sony Music pulled up a forest of bushes, seeing its ‘other’ income up by 38.6% in 2024.
In truth, Sony Music had a great yr all spherical. UMG remained comfortably the world’s largest label with revenues of $10.5 billion however for the second successive yr, Sony Music Group (SMG) was the quickest rising main label, growing revenues by 10.2% to develop market share 700 foundation factors to 21.7%. SMG was the quickest rising main label within the first half of the last decade, rising by a complete of 73.9% between 2020 and 2024. The solely different market constituent to develop share was non-major labels, as much as 29.6% market share. Artists Direct in the meantime (self-releasing artists) felt the pinch of recent royalty constructions, with revenues slower than the market to succeed in $2.0 billion. This even supposing the variety of self-releasing artists grew by 17.2% to succeed in 8.2 million, with Chinese streaming companies Tencent and NetEase seeing significantly robust development.
One of an important market traits although, is the rising hole between DSPs and labels and distributors. Streaming companies are each rising income quicker than rightsholders and are widening the expansion hole. DSPs grew income thrice quicker than labels in 2024 and the speed of development was up three years working. Despite working inside tightly set rightsholder constraints, DSPs are studying how you can enhance margin by means of a various mixture of techniques together with content material combine (e.g., podcasts, audiobooks), buying cheaper music (e.g., manufacturing libraries, unique commissions, generative AI), licensing reductions (e.g., audiobook bundles) and charging labels for entry to audiences (e.g., Spotify Discovery Mode).
All in all, a strong yr for the recorded music market, however with warning indicators: labels aren’t holding tempo with DSP development and regardless of holding the lengthy tail of Artists Direct quiet with new licensing constructions, extra artists than ever are deciding to launch with out labels. Eventually they (and smaller indie labels) will take heed of the ‘you’re not welcome right here’ signal on streaming’s door and construct their audiences elsewhere. This shall be a short-term win for larger labels, however long-term danger, with this new lane being the place a lot of tomorrow’s tradition shall be made. In case you forgot, Bifurcation is coming.
Note: we scaled down a few of our historic numbers barely to mirror some double counting of unbiased label income distributed by different unbiased labels