Global revenue of the recorded music industry 1999-2020
In 2020, the total revenue of the recorded music industry amounted to 23.1 billion U.S. dollars. Streaming made up 56 percent of this figure, bringing in 11.9 billion dollars globally.
Nonetheless, the dominance of digital music has not made traditional music formats defunct just yet. Take for example the revenue of vinyl record sales worldwide from 1997 to 2015. Back in 1997, the sale of vinyl records generated revenue of 144 million U.S. dollars worldwide. By 2006, this figure had dropped to a dismal 34 million U.S. dollars worldwide. Yet in 2015, the trend shifted and sales of vinyl records reached a healthy 416 million U.S. dollars worldwide, an amount which had been steadily rising since 2007, which indicates a spectacular revival for the phonograph record.
The global music industry – additional information
Data on the growth of the global music industry revenue between 2016 and 2021, broken down by category, places digital music at the forefront of the marketplace. Between 2016 and 2021, music streaming is expected to grow by 20.7 percent on an annual basis. However, digital music downloading is expected to fall by 19.2 percent in the same period. Physical recorded music is expected to suffer and will fall by 11.6 percent annually.Nonetheless, the dominance of digital music has not made traditional music formats defunct just yet. Take for example the revenue of vinyl record sales worldwide from 1997 to 2015. Back in 1997, the sale of vinyl records generated revenue of 144 million U.S. dollars worldwide. By 2006, this figure had dropped to a dismal 34 million U.S. dollars worldwide. Yet in 2015, the trend shifted and sales of vinyl records reached a healthy 416 million U.S. dollars worldwide, an amount which had been steadily rising since 2007, which indicates a spectacular revival for the phonograph record.
