author: Bart Swiatek
Streaming Constitutes Almost Half of Music Industry Revenue
A report prepared by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) suggests that streaming is responsible for 47% of global music industry revenue.
A report published yesterday by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) shows that music streaming is rapidly gaining in popularity. In 2018, streaming accounted for 47% of global revenue for the music industry as a whole (75% in the United States). Solutions of this type generated 19.1 billion dollars - 34% more than a year ago, which is almost exactly in line with the statistics showing an increase in the number of paid subscriptions (32%).
It is the paid services that are responsible for more than 1/3 of the result, as much as 37% of revenue (the 10% missing from the statistics quoted in the first paragraph is money from advertisements included in free streams). The development of streaming is beneficial for the whole market, which grew by nearly 10% in 2018. This is the fourth year of growth in a row, after an earlier, long-term collapse.
“As music markets continue to develop and evolve, it is imperative that the appropriate legal and business infrastructure is in place to ensure that music is fairly valued, and that the revenues are returned to rights holders to support the next cycle of development," convinces Frances Moore, IFPI's CEO.
In the U.S., music streaming services have been generating more money than CD sales since 2015. The rapid pace at which they are taking over successive parts of the music market is really impressive.