Streaming continued to lead growth, generating $20.4 billion in 2024, while physical music sales saw a slight decline after three years of growth.
Digital music dominated global music revenues last year, with streaming services contributing to nearly 70% of the industry’s total earnings.
According to Statista, the music industry was initially reluctant to embrace streaming services. However, record labels and artists eventually recognised that the future of music is in digital distribution, following consumer demand.
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The fastest-growing region in global recorded music revenues was the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), which saw an impressive 22.8% increase. This was closely followed by Sub-Saharan Africa at 22.6% and Latin America at 22.5%.
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The shift to digital music had mixed results. From 2001 to 2010, physical sales dropped by over 60%, losing $13 billion in revenue. Meanwhile, digital sales grew to $4 billion, but this wasn’t enough to offset the decline in CD sales. That is, until the widespread use of music streaming services.
While streaming services have enabled artists to reach larger audiences and made music more accessible, independent artists earn very little per stream. “While we are supportive of technological change that helps bring music to fans everywhere around the world, it only seems reasonable that artists be paid appropriately for their endeavours,” said Rob Stringer, chairman of Sony Music Group. “In true partnerships based on mutual respect we can all build an exciting vision for the future of our artists and our industry.”
Music and AI
The report also highlighted two case studies about music and AI. One focused on Universal Music Group’s collaboration with Soundlabs AI to recreate Brenda Lee’s voice for a Spanish version of her famous song “Rocking Around the Christmas Tree”. AI was used to capture the sound of her younger voice. Another example was UMG’s partnership with Endel, which utilised AI to remix songs for relaxation, focus, and sleep.
The second case study involved Warner Music Group‘s use of AI to recreate the voice of country star Randy Travis, who lost the ability to speak after a stroke. With Travis’s and his wife’s approval, the team used AI to recreate his voice from 42 original recordings. The song “Where That Came From” allowed fans to hear the country star croon again.
