Global revenue of the recorded music industry 1999-2023

In 2023, the total revenue of the recorded music industry amounted to 28.6 billion U.S. dollars. Global streaming revenues reached 19.3 billion U.S. dollars in the same year. Overall, recorded music increased by 10 percent, representing a steady growth rate compared to the previous year.

Music streaming – the motor of the industry

Data on the revenue generated by the different segments of the music industry worldwide show that music streaming is responsible for by far the biggest share in the industry in recent years. The streaming revenue has been growing year by year since the late 2000s and early 2010s and overtook the revenue from physical sales as of 2017. While two thirds of the global music revenue in 2023 came from streaming, making it undoubtedly the backbone of the industry, the physical segment recorded a higher growth rate than streaming compared to the year before. This is based on a resurging interest in CD and vinyl purchases.

Smaller regional markets are catching up

While the global music market rose by around 10 percent in 2023, this growth rate varied significantly when broken down regionally. Whereas growth in the two biggest regional music markets, North America and Europe, remained in single digits, the music markets in Africa, Latin America, and Asia grew at a fairly higher rate. Sub-Saharan Africa showed the fastest regional growth, at almost 25 percent. At country level, China recorded the highest growth rate within the global top 10 markets, at nearly 26 percent.