The worldwide music trade simply crossed a symbolic threshold.
Worldwide recorded music revenues reached USD $31.7 billion in 2025, surpassing $30 billion for the primary time and marking the trade’s eleventh consecutive 12 months of progress.
That determine, revealed inside the IFPI‘s International Music Report 2026, is greater than double the trade’s nadir of $13.1 billion in 2014.
The brand new GMR report (which you’ll be able to entry via right here) confirmed that international progress accelerated, too: the worldwide trade expanded by 6.4% YoY in 2025, up from the 4.7% price posted in 2024, including USD $1.9 billion in a single 12 months.
Chatting with MBW straight after the report’s launch on Wednesday (March 18), IFPI CEO Victoria Oakley is in a buoyant temper.
“Development in our trade is clearly good for us, however good for artists, good for followers, good for customers,” she says. “It was very nice to have the ability to announce excellent news.”
That excellent news included recorded music progress in each area, with 4 posting double-digit beneficial properties.
Paid subscription streaming noticed revenues climb8.8% YoY, accounting for greater than half of world revenues for the primary time, whereas the variety of customers of paid subscription accounts worldwide rose to 837 million – inching ever nearer to 1 billion.
The report’s geographic image was equally hanging. China, a market that has confirmed music followers are prepared to pay for higher-priced premium subscription tiers (see Tencent Music’s 20m ‘Tremendous VIP’ subs), leapfrogged Germany to turn into the world’s fourth-largest recorded music market, rising 20.1% YoY.
“Extra customers are selecting to come back to music [in China],” says Oakley, “and extra of these customers are paying extra in a number of alternative ways.”
Latin America was the fastest-growing area general at 17.1% YoY — its sixteenth consecutive 12 months of progress — with Brazil climbing to No.8 and Mexico was the No.10 largest international market after overtaking Italy and Australia in 2025. “Latin America is rising actually strongly,” says Oakley, pointing to artists like Dangerous Bunny and Rosalía as proof that “you don’t should sing in English” to high international charts.
Bodily codecs, in the meantime, staged a rebound, rising8.0% YoY globally, buoyed by a return to type for bodily gross sales in Japan.
The complete model of the International Music Report Premium Version 2026, which may be bought right here, digs deeper into every of those tendencies – with market-by-market income breakdowns, format-level information, and regional evaluation overlaying greater than 70 nations. (IFPI tells us that discounted entry to the report and dataset is out there for educational and non-profit organizations, in addition to report labels, publishers, and distributors).
Exterior of the high-growth rising markets, the US – the world’s single-largest recorded music market – grew simply 3.3% YoY, an enchancment on 2024, however proof of the world’s most established streaming market’s maturity in comparison with the double-digit beneficial properties being posted elsewhere.
Oakley, although, is unfazed: “Something that begins with a 3 remains to be a quantity that lots of sectors could be envious of,” she tells MBW.
“I’m not frightened concerning the US market,” she provides, pointing to international curiosity in Nation Music and the success over the previous 12 months of US artists like Taylor Swift, the world’s biggest-selling recording artist for a report sixth time.
“Development in our trade is clearly good for us, however good for artists, good for followers, good for customers.”
Victoria Oakley, IFPI
IFPI’s CEO joined the group in June 2024 from strategic communications consultancy Portland, bringing practically twenty years within the British Diplomatic Service – together with stints in Washington D.C., Brussels, and the Japanese Caribbean, the place she served as Excessive Commissioner – adopted by a interval as Google‘s International Public Coverage Director.
It’s a background that maps neatly onto the challenges, political, authorized, and operational, dealing with the trade proper now.
In our interview under, Oakley is candid about two threats she sees as defining challenges for the following chapter of the music enterprise: streaming fraud, which she describes as “actually lazy fraud” that’s “actually fixable” – and AI coverage, the place she warns that textual content and information mining exceptions danger undermining the licensing offers the trade is actively hanging.
“I want governments to hearken to us and to see that we’re doing this,” she says. “What we actually don’t need to see is laws that pulls fully within the different path.”
Right here, Oakley discusses the IFPI’s 2025 international income figures, the markets driving progress, and why she sees “loads of room” for the trade to maintain climbing…
Picture Credit score: ElenaR/Shutterstock
THIS IS THE $30 BILLION MILESTONE. HOW SIGNIFICANT IS THAT, PSYCHOLOGICALLY, FOR THE INDUSTRY?
I feel it’s vital. If you happen to take a look at that curved graph of the place we have been earlier than streaming, and the way we’ve needed to construct again up since, it’s actually wholesome to see that we’re now in our fifth peak.
I don’t assume it modifications how we discuss to policymakers in any respect. We’ve at all times been an trade that’s extra current in individuals’s minds and maybe has extra clout than maybe a $30 billion [industry normally would].
GROWTH ACCELERATED FROM 4.7% TO 6.4%. WHAT WERE THE BIGGEST FACTORS?
The largest driver continues to be the rise in paid subscription streaming – extra customers, extra individuals signing up, worth will increase, and likewise a few of that attention-grabbing stuff you’re seeing within the tiers that sure platforms are providing.
“The largest driver continues to be the rise in paid subscription streaming – extra customers, extra individuals signing up, worth will increase, and likewise a few of that attention-grabbing stuff you’re seeing within the tiers that sure platforms are providing.”
The opposite factor that’s pushed the expansion is that this rebound of bodily, which I discover so fascinating. Vinyl is in its nineteenth 12 months of consecutive progress. It’s no shock that individuals nonetheless purchase information. However what’s extra shocking is the opposite bodily codecs. I used to be speaking to buddies about this on the weekend and saying, “Does anyone purchase CDs anymore?” And sure, they do.
That has considerably come from the truth that the Asian markets – Japan and South Korea particularly – returned to progress in 2025 with robust Ok-Pop and J-Pop releases within the 12 months, which is what’s pushed that bump in bodily.
HOW MUCH FURTHER CAN PAID STREAMING PENETRATION GROW GLOBALLY?
I feel the room for progress may be very clear. If that is more and more customers’ route of selection for listening to music, and if the platforms are persevering with to innovate – whether or not that’s tiers, superfan engagement, or further [services] – I see loads of room for progress. Extra individuals are changing into subscribers, extra individuals are paying extra for various companies inside their subscription.
“Individuals are paying for sport. Individuals are beginning to pay for TV. I’d wish to see music as the following one in that step.”
India is the traditional instance. I used to be there lately, and it appears like numerous individuals are on one, if not two, streaming gadgets lots of the time – and most of that’s coming via the free tier. There’s numerous proof [of paid conversion] being performed efficiently by different streaming companies [for] TV, video on demand, and most famously, with cricket.
Individuals are paying for sport. Individuals are beginning to pay for TV. I’d wish to see music as the following one in that step.
CHINA OVERTOOK GERMANY TO BECOME THE FOURTH-LARGEST MARKET, GROWING 20.1%. WHAT’S DRIVING THAT?
China has its personal spectacular expertise and repertoire, an increasing number of of whom are coming to the fore. There are a selection of platforms, lots of which have elevated their costs and are providing tiered, super-premium [services]. So you might be seeing extra customers selecting to come back to music, and extra of these customers paying extra in a number of alternative ways.
One attention-grabbing differentiator between China and the following one up – the UK – is income from public efficiency and broadcast rights. Though these rights have been enshrined in Chinese language regulation for some time, operationalizing it has confirmed fairly difficult.
However there might come a time when China’s capacity to completely make these collections kicks in, and paired with continued progress, I feel that might be actually stellar.
LATIN AMERICA WAS THE FASTEST-GROWING REGION AT 17.1%. WHAT OPPORTUNITIES ARE YOU SEEING?
Latin America is rising actually strongly. Brazil as much as quantity eight, Mexico into the High 10.
Latin music has been one of many big beneficiaries of this democratization that’s come from streaming. Individuals everywhere in the world may be reached by Latin music, and it’s eminently accessible. Lots of people communicate Spanish.
Credit score: PressDangerous Bunny
However what you’ve additionally received is the Rosalía phenomenon: you don’t should sing in English [to be a global superstar]. Dangerous Bunny (pictured) wins the Grammy for Album of the Yr for an album fully in Spanish. I feel there’s a extremely thrilling interval forward for Latin America.
NORTH AMERICA GREW 3.5%, ONE OF THE SLOWEST-GROWING REGIONS. WHAT DOES THAT TELL US?
Something that begins with a 3 remains to be a quantity that lots of sectors could be envious of. I used to work in consultancy, and plenty of the companies I used to take care of could be delighted to announce 3% in progress. It’s a very massive and really well-established market already.
Credit score: PressTaylor Swift was the world’s top-selling recording artist in 2025 – for the sixth 12 months in a row
It continues to develop in a number of genres. The nation music scene is phenomenal – it’s having an actual push about discovering its attain internationally. The largest export focus for nation music proper now could be Germany.
And take a look at Taylor Swift on this previous 12 months. I’m not frightened concerning the US market.
JAPAN RETURNED TO GROWTH AFTER A FLAT 2024. IS STREAMING GAINING GROUND THERE TOO?
One of many causes there’s a worldwide bump in bodily is as a result of there’s been a bump in Japan’s numbers. I feel that’s largely resulting from artists’ releases.
Snow Man launched an album on the starting of 2025 and Mrs GREEN APPLE launched 10 half-way via the 12 months. It should be the one place on the planet the place you may go to Tower Information and there are nonetheless eight flooring promoting information and CDs and movies. It appears like my youth.
Snow Man
However streaming is rising in Japan, and there’s an attention-grabbing dialog about when the tipping level comes. To this point, the superfan piece in Japan has principally proven up round bodily and possession of merchandise.
But when we begin to see these premium tiers and totally different companies – and even issues utilizing AI in an moral and agreed means that will let you have interaction in another way along with your artist – will that lead a era to seek out that their superfan engagement can come via a streaming platform, quite than largely via bodily?
HOW CONFIDENT ARE YOU THAT CURRENT MEASURES ON STREAMING FRAUD ARE KEEPING PACE WITH THE SCALE OF THE PROBLEM?
In the meanwhile, no. It’s not sufficient, as a result of streaming fraud remains to be taking place.
What we discover significantly irritating is [that] it’s actually lazy fraud, and it’s actually fixable. It requires all of these actors inside the streaming worth chain to come back collectively and act on an analogous set of ideas.
“Except we’re correctly sharing [intelligence] amongst platforms and distributors, fraudsters simply get shut down someplace and transfer to a different [platform]. You find yourself taking part in Whac-A-Mole.”
I must see ‘know your buyer’-type practices which might be a lot tighter firstly – I feel we are able to be taught so much from monetary companies. [We need] higher vetting of fabric that [goes] onto platforms, good mechanisms to take down [fraud], and the vital piece: sharing.
Except we’re correctly sharing [intelligence] amongst platforms and distributors, fraudsters simply get shut down someplace and transfer to a different [platform]. You find yourself taking part in Whac-A-Mole.
WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO SEE FROM POLICYMAKERS ON AI?
I’ve a extremely clear view on this: We’d like governments to hearken to us and to see that we’re doing this. There are, I feel, a dozen licensing preparations in place, additional partnerships and collaborations, and little doubt extra to come back – as a result of we’re proper firstly of this journey.
My concern is with policymakers who need to move laws that pulls fully within the different path. We don’t need to see additional textual content and information mining exceptions. We don’t need to see obligatory licensing.
It’s quite simple. The music market will do that, and can do it effectively – simply because it did in streaming, which is fully primarily based on licensing. What I don’t need to see is [a regulatory] imaginative and prescient that impedes that.
