Thanks to the global enthusiasm generated by Taylor Swift, Seventeen, Stray Kids, Drake and The Weeknd, at the top of the most listened to stars, recorded music is doing well. Of the eight billion inhabitants of the planet, the number of subscribers to music streaming continues to gain followers. The 2024 global music report from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), published Thursday March 21, counts for the first time 500 million paid subscriptions to music streaming services worldwide in 2023. A first . Or, counting the family offers, “667 million paid account users, with local penetration rates that vary greatly depending on the country.”
If recorded music suffered an unprecedented crisis in the early 2000s, the IFPI’s findings are optimistic. 2023 records for the ninth consecutive year an increase of 10.2% in turnover, to 28.6 billion dollars (26.16 billion euros), compared to 2022. Subscription streaming generates the majority of this growth and now represents almost half of the market.
The study specifies that this improvement is explained in particular by the price increases practiced by the platforms. The surprise comes from the good health of CD sales, thanks to the craze for K-pop, and those, already well established, of vinyl. These “physical” incomes showed an increase of 13.4% in 2023. “This is the third consecutive year that digital and physical revenues have increased simultaneously”underlines the study.
“Digital piracy”
The increase in income is observed in all regions of the planet: United States and Canada (+ 7.4%), Europe (+ 8.9%), Asia (+ 14.9%), Latin America (+ 19.4%), Oceania (+10.4%), Middle East and North Africa (+14.4%) and Sub-Saharan Africa (+24.7%).
On the podium of the five main countries, the United States comes first, followed by Japan, the United Kingdom, Great Britain then China. The latter experienced the strongest growth in this ranking (25.9%). France is only in sixth position.
The IFPI attributes these results “to the sustained investment of record companies in the projects and careers of artists”. Lauri Rechardt, legal director and interim co-director of the IFPI, also does not hide the dark side of the sector: “It is important that we understand the challenges facing the industry, including streaming fraud and digital piracy in all its forms. » Without saying how much the loss of earnings due to these practices amounts to. Like all the bosses of majors who welcome the promises of artificial intelligence rather favorably, he also strongly fears “the threat of abuse caused by generative artificial intelligence if it is not developed responsibly, ethically and with respect for the rights of artists and producers”.