Music Forecasts
Understand the past, present, and future of the global music industry
We don't just track the music industry - we forecast its future. MIDiA's annual global music forecasts are designed to help rights holders, investors, and other music companies stay ahead in an entertainment landscape that never stands still.
This means delivering both big-picture narratives and detailed data points. Our forecasts cover traditional revenues (from streaming, sync, performance, physical, and downloads), but also go beyond them to include revenue from production music and expanded rights, as well as non-DSP revenues from gaming, fitness, social apps, and more. They also include user metrics such as music subscribers, ad-supported music listeners, music video users, and average revenue per user (ARPU). All of this is broken down by region and country level.
Our methodology combines our deep market expertise with inputs from proprietary survey data, financial reports, and international trade bodies - with our revenue forecasts achieving an average variance of just -1.9% from actuals over the past five years.
NEW MIDiA Research 2025-2032 global music forecasts: Recalibration
The global music industry is entering a pivotal phase of recalibration, marked by changing growth patterns, increasing complexity, and geographical shifts. To name just a few examples, streaming growth is slowing, subscriber growth is shifting away from the West, generative AI music tools are proliferating, and streaming services are growing in influence and power.
MIDiA Research’s 2025-2032 global music forecasts deliver a comprehensive analysis of these evolving trends and what they mean for the future of the music industry.
Key highlights from the report
- By 2032, global recorded music revenues will reach $109.8 billion in retail terms
- Following a strong 2023, 2024 saw a slowdown, with global recorded music revenues growing by only 4.5%
- Including expanded rights, global recorded music revenues in 2024 reached $64.8 billion (retail) and $35.9 billion (label trade)
- Ad-supported revenue remained flat, challenged by user migration to subscriptions in Western markets and increased competition for advertising spend globally
- Physical has become kingmaker – the market has its best years when physical is strong
- Close to four fifths of subscriber growth came from non-Western markets and China became the world’s fourth largest recorded music market. The ‘Rise of the Global South’ is the market’s new reality
📈 MIDiA clients can access the full report and dataset here
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