The recorded music industry saw revenues soar to .6 billion last year, which is approximately €27.08 billion, with a significant portion, amounting to .4 billion, generated from streaming services. These figures were released today in a report by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).
“This growth tells the story of an industry that continues to evolve and adapt worldwide, with all regions experiencing increases,” stated the document.
In this era of global growth spreading over a decade, 2024 marked the third consecutive year of revenue increases across all regions, with the Middle East and North Africa leading with a 22.8% rise. This was closely followed by Sub-Saharan Africa at 22.6%, and Latin America at 22.5%, with Mexico and Brazil, which saw a 21.7% increase, making their way into the top 10 music markets.
In terms of music consumption formats, while streaming has taken the lead by surpassing the billion mark for the first time, vinyl also saw revenue growth, marking its 18th consecutive year of increased sales in 2024.
The top three global artists in terms of sales and revenue for 2024 were American artist Taylor Swift, Canadian rapper Drake, and South Korean group Seventeen.
The top 10 list of artists with the highest sales and revenues last year also includes American singer Billie Eilish, South Korean group Stray Kids, Canadian singer The Weeknd, as well as Americans Zach Bryan, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, and Sabrina Carpenter.
The most streamed track of the past year was “Beautiful Things” by American artist Benson Boone, who is scheduled to perform live in Portugal in July at the Alive festival.
Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” and “Lose Control” by American Teddy Swims also made it to the top three.
The leading albums of the previous year, which account for music consumption across all formats, were led by “The Tortured Poets Department” by Taylor Swift, followed by Billie Eilish with “Hit Me Hard and Soft”, and Sabrina Carpenter with “Short n’ Sweet”.
The report also outlines “music policy priorities”, including how to best manage Artificial Intelligence (AI), which can serve as “a powerful tool” for the music industry, while also posing “a threat”.
“Music faces the growing threat of streaming manipulation, where money that should be going to legitimate artists is being siphoned off through artificial plays of tracks uploaded to music services,” warns IFPI, noting that such manipulation “harms artists and fans and jeopardizes online trust”.
AI further “facilitates the rapid and large-scale generation of artist images, covers, and tracks,” thereby making streaming manipulation more feasible on a larger scale.
In addition to industry-wide collaboration potentially “making an impact in fraud prevention”, support from governments and law enforcement will be critical in addressing this issue and recognizing the broader impact that streaming manipulation is having on the trust of digital services in general.
