Music Industry Heavily Dependent on Streaming

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) released last weel its annual report on the state of the music industry. According to the Global Music Report 2026, global recorded music revenues grew 6.4 percent to reach $31.7 billion in 2025, marking the eleventh year of consecutive growth. As our infographic shows, total streaming revenue accounted for close to 70 percent of global recorded music income last year, and represented more than $22 billion. Within this bracket, paid subscription streaming accounted for more than 50 percent of total revenue, having grown almost 9 percent since 2024. According to the IFPI, there were 837 million users of paid streaming subscription accounts globally in 2025.

Physical formats, such as records, CDs and cassettes, generated the second largest share of global recorded music revenue last year, accounting for 16.6 percent of the total. Revenues from physical formats grew by 8 percent compared to the previous year, with vinyl alone growing by 13.7 percent, its 19th consecutive year of growth. In third position came performance rights, mostly generated through public performance and broadcasting, which represented just under 10 percent of total revenues.

Downloads and other digital formats continues to decline in 2025 for the 13th consecutive year, reflecting audiences' shift towards streaming. Revenues from synchronization - the use of recorded music in films, TV shows, advertising and video games - also declined slightly in 2025 compared to the previous year after four years of successive growth. It accounted for 2 percent of global recorded music revenue last year, representing $641 million. While streaming has imposed itself as the most common way to consume music, its rise has been a double-edged sword for musicians, especially due to the difficulties of getting fair remuneration from streaming for smaller and independent artists.