The recorded music market reached US$29.6 billion globally in 2024, according to the IFPI Global Music Report 2025. Revenue grew 4.8% year over year, making 2024 the tenth consecutive year of growth. Streaming remained the dominant format, while vinyl continued to be a significant physical product, especially in the United States.
Contents
- Global market size and growth
- Streaming and subscriptions
- Regional music markets
- Physical music, vinyl and CDs
- The United States market
- Latin music revenue
Global market size and growth
The IFPI Global Music Report 2025 recorded US$29.6 billion in global recorded music revenue in 2024. That was a 4.8% increase from 2023 and marked the market’s tenth consecutive year of growth. The comparable 2023 figure was US$28.6 billion, with revenue growth of 10.2%, according to the IFPI Global Music Report 2024.
The pace of growth therefore differed between the two reported years. The 2023 report measured 10.2% growth, while the 2024 report measured 4.8%. These are annual market-growth figures for the global recorded music market, not forecasts.
Several revenue categories expanded in 2024. Subscription streaming revenue increased 9.5%, and ad-supported streaming formats grew 1.2%. Performance rights revenue reached US$2.9 billion and grew 5.9%, according to the IFPI Global Music Report 2025.
The previous year’s report showed a stronger physical-market increase: physical revenues grew 13.4% in 2023, while performance rights revenue grew 9.5%. Total streaming revenue had reached US$17.5 billion in 2022, representing 67.0% of global recorded music revenue, according to the IFPI Global Music Report 2023.
| Measure | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Global recorded music revenue | US$28.6 billion | US$29.6 billion |
| Annual global revenue growth | 10.2% | 4.8% |
| Subscription streaming growth | 11.2% | 9.5% |
| Performance rights growth | 9.5% | 5.9% |
The 2023 subscription streaming growth figure and the 2023 performance-rights figure come from the IFPI Global Music Report 2024. The 2024 figures come from the IFPI Global Music Report 2025. Because the reports describe different measurement years, the figures should be read as year-specific observations rather than a single forecast series.
Streaming and subscriptions
Streaming accounted for 69.0% of global recorded music revenue in 2024, according to IFPI Industry Data. Paid subscription accounts reached 752 million globally by the end of that year. Subscription streaming revenue increased 9.5% during 2024, while ad-supported streaming formats grew 1.2%, according to the IFPI Global Music Report 2025.
The earlier global figures show how quickly paid access expanded. In 2023, paid subscription accounts passed 500 million and reached more than 667 million globally. Subscription streaming revenue grew 11.2% that year, and subscription streaming made up 48.9% of the global market, according to the IFPI Global Music Report 2024.
The 2023 and 2024 subscription-account totals use different descriptions: the 2023 report says “more than 667 million,” while IFPI Industry Data gives 752 million at the end of 2024. The distinction matters because one is an approximate threshold and the other is a reported year-end total.
Streaming is especially concentrated in some regions. It accounted for 87.8% of Latin America’s recorded music revenue in 2024 and 99.5% of MENA’s recorded music revenue. In 2023, the corresponding shares were 86.3% in Latin America and 98.4% in MENA, according to the IFPI Global Music Reports 2025 and 2024 respectively.
Regional music markets
The regional distribution of global recorded music revenue was led by the USA and Canada, which represented 40.3% of the worldwide total in 2024. Europe represented 29.5%, according to the IFPI Global Music Report 2025. Europe’s recorded music revenue grew 8.3% in 2024.
Within Europe, the United Kingdom grew 4.9%, Germany grew 4.1% and France grew 7.5% in 2024. The 2023 report recorded growth of 8.1% in the UK, 7.0% in Germany and 4.4% in France. Europe’s overall 2023 growth rate was 8.9%, compared with 8.3% in 2024.
The USA was the world’s largest recorded music market and grew 2.2% in 2024. Canada’s recorded music revenue grew 1.5%. For comparison, the 2023 report recorded 7.2% growth for the USA and 12.2% for Canada.
Asia accounted for 45.1% of global physical recorded music revenue in 2024. Its overall recorded music revenue grew 1.3% that year. Japan’s recorded music revenue fell 0.2%, while China’s grew 9.6%. In 2023, Asia’s overall recorded music revenue grew 14.9%, Japan grew 7.6% and China grew 25.9%.
| Region or market | 2023 growth | 2024 growth |
|---|---|---|
| Europe | 8.9% | 8.3% |
| USA | 7.2% | 2.2% |
| Canada | 12.2% | 1.5% |
| Asia | 14.9% | 1.3% |
| China | 25.9% | 9.6% |
| Latin America | 19.4% | 22.5% |
The fastest reported regional growth in 2024 came from the Middle East and North Africa, Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa. MENA recorded music revenue grew 22.8%, Latin America grew 22.5% and Sub-Saharan Africa grew 22.6%, according to the IFPI Global Music Report 2025. Their 2023 growth rates were 14.4%, 19.4% and 24.7%, respectively.
Sub-Saharan Africa exceeded US$100 million in recorded music revenue for the first time in 2024, reaching US$110 million. South Africa accounted for 75% of the region’s recorded music revenue and grew 14.4%. In 2023, South Africa represented 77.0% of the region’s revenue.
Australasia’s recorded music revenue reached US$629 million in 2024 and grew 6.4%. Australia grew 6.1% and New Zealand grew 7.8%. In 2023, Australasia grew 10.8%, Australia grew 11.3% and New Zealand grew 8.4%.
Physical music, vinyl and CDs
Vinyl remains a major part of the physical music conversation even as streaming dominates global revenue. In the United States, vinyl revenue reached US$1.443 billion in 2024, while CD revenue reached US$541.1 million, according to the RIAA 2024 Year-End Revenue Report. Total US physical revenue reached US$2.015 billion.
US vinyl albums also outsold CDs in units for the third straight year in 2024: 44 million vinyl albums versus 33 million CDs. The unit comparison and the revenue figures measure different things. Units count albums sold, while revenue measures the value of the format category.
The US physical market sits alongside a much larger streaming market. In 2024, total US streaming revenue reached US$14.878 billion, compared with US$2.015 billion in total physical revenue. Paid streaming subscription revenue reached US$10.687 billion, and ad-supported on-demand streaming revenue reached US$1.832 billion, according to the RIAA 2024 Year-End Revenue Report.
The global picture also includes regional physical demand. Asia accounted for 45.1% of global physical recorded music revenue in 2024, according to the IFPI Global Music Report 2025. The IFPI Global Music Report 2024 reported that global physical revenues grew 13.4% in 2023.
The United States market
The RIAA reported US$17.7 billion in US recorded music revenue at retail value in 2024 and US$11.3 billion at wholesale value. These are two different valuation bases for the same year, so they should not be combined or treated as interchangeable.
Paid streaming subscriptions in the United States reached 100 million in 2024. Total streaming revenue was US$14.878 billion, made up in part by US$10.687 billion in paid subscription streaming and US$1.832 billion in ad-supported on-demand streaming. Digital download revenue fell to US$369.7 million.
The format figures show a market with multiple revenue paths. Vinyl revenue was US$1.443 billion, CD revenue was US$541.1 million and total physical revenue was US$2.015 billion. Vinyl therefore generated more reported revenue than CDs in the US in 2024, while streaming remained the largest category by revenue.
| US recorded music measure, 2024 | Reported value |
|---|---|
| Retail-value revenue | US$17.7 billion |
| Wholesale-value revenue | US$11.3 billion |
| Total streaming revenue | US$14.878 billion |
| Total physical revenue | US$2.015 billion |
| Vinyl revenue | US$1.443 billion |
| CD revenue | US$541.1 million |
| Digital download revenue | US$369.7 million |
The RIAA’s retail and wholesale totals, format revenues and subscription figures describe the US market in calendar year 2024. They are not global totals and do not measure the same basis as IFPI’s worldwide recorded-revenue figure.
Latin music revenue
US Latin music revenue reached US$685.5 million in the first half of 2024 and grew 7.3%, according to the RIAA Mid-Year 2024 US Latin Music Revenue Report. Paid subscriptions supplied 68% of US Latin music revenue in that six-month period.
Ad-supported on-demand streaming supplied nearly 25% of US Latin music value in the first half of 2024, with reported ad-supported on-demand streaming revenue of US$166.3 million. These figures refer specifically to US Latin music revenue in the first half of 2024, not to all Latin American recorded music revenue for the full year.
That distinction is important when comparing the US Latin figures with IFPI’s regional figures. IFPI reported that Latin America’s recorded music revenue grew 22.5% in 2024 and that streaming accounted for 87.8% of the region’s recorded music revenue. The RIAA figures instead cover a US genre market over the first six months of the year, with revenue shares reported by service type.
Taken together, the statistics show a music market where streaming drives scale, subscriptions continue to expand, and physical formats retain a measurable role. Vinyl’s US revenue and unit lead over CDs in 2024 provide a specific snapshot of that physical-market balance, while regional growth rates show that the global market is developing at very different speeds.