Music Industry Statistics: A Record Year for British Music

The global music market

1. Global revenue of $29.6 billion

In 2024, the global recorded-music industry brought in $29.6 billion (roughly £23.4 billion at current rates), a fresh high water mark for the streaming era.¹

2. Ten straight years of growth

The market grew 4.8% year on year, the tenth consecutive year of growth. That is a remarkable streak for an industry that was being written off only a decade ago.²

3. Streaming is 69% of revenue

Subscription and ad-supported streaming combined topped $20 billion for the first time in 2024 and now make up 69% of all recorded-music sales worldwide.³

4. 752 million paying subscribers

The number of paid music-streaming subscribers worldwide jumped from 667 million to 752 million in a single year, growth of 10.6%.⁴

5. 20.7 hours of music per week

According to IFPI's global listener study, people now spend an average of 20.7 hours per week engaging with music, more than ever before.⁵

6. Emerging regions are growing fastest

The Middle East and North Africa (+22.8%), Sub-Saharan Africa (+22.6%) and Latin America (+22.5%) all posted double-digit gains and outpaced the world average.⁶

7. Counted more broadly, it is $36.2 billion

When you include expanded rights such as merch, sponsorship and brand income, MIDiA Research values the 2024 recorded-music market at $36.2 billion, up 6.5%.⁷

The biggest markets in the world

8. The top five: US, Japan, UK, Germany, China

The five largest recorded-music markets in 2024 were the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany and China, with the US comfortably in the lead.⁸

9. The UK is the world's third-largest market

The UK is the third-biggest recorded-music market on earth, behind only the United States and Japan. With around 1% of the world's population, Britain accounts for close to 10% of global music consumption.⁹

The UK music market

10. £1.49 billion in recorded music revenue

The UK recorded-music market grew by 4.8% in 2024 to £1.49 billion in trade revenue, according to the BPI, combining streaming, physical, downloads, sync and public performance.¹⁰

11. A decade of unbroken growth

That is the tenth consecutive year of growth for the British market, which is now more than 80% larger in nominal terms than it was at the 2014 low point.¹¹

12. UK streaming revenue crosses £1 billion

Streaming revenue broke the £1 billion barrier for the first time in 2024, rising 5.7% to £1.02 billion. Paid subscriptions alone delivered £875.5 million, more than 86% of the streaming total.¹²

13. Streaming is 88.8% of UK consumption

By volume, streaming now accounts for 88.8% of all UK music consumption, with British listeners spending a record £2.02 billion on subscriptions through retailers in 2024.¹³

14. Vinyl is up for the 17th year in a row

UK vinyl LP revenue rose 2.9% to £145.7 million in 2024, the 17th consecutive year of growth, with 6.7 million LPs sold and Taylor Swift's "The Tortured Poets Department" topping the chart.¹⁴

15. Almost 200 billion UK audio streams

Britons racked up just under 200 billion audio streams in 2024, an 11% rise on the previous year and a fresh all-time high for the UK.¹⁵

16. £8 billion in GVA for the UK economy

UK Music's "This Is Music 2025" report puts the wider music sector's contribution to the UK economy at a record £8 billion in Gross Value Added in 2024, up 5% on 2023.¹⁶

17. 220,000 jobs supported

Total employment across the UK music industry reached a record 220,000 full-time equivalent posts in 2024, with live music alone supporting 72,000 jobs as music tourism climbed 23%.¹⁷

18. £4.8 billion in UK music exports

UK music exports hit a new high of £4.8 billion in 2024, with British acts such as Charli XCX, Dua Lipa and Sam Fender driving demand abroad. Recorded-music exports alone topped £794 million.¹⁸

19. PRS for Music collected £1.15 billion

PRS for Music reported record revenues of £1.15 billion in 2024 and paid out £1.02 billion in royalties to songwriters, composers and publishers, up 8.1% year on year.¹⁹

20. PPL passed £300 million for the first time

PPL, which licenses recorded music for public performance and broadcast in the UK, took in a record £301 million in 2024 and paid more than 172,000 performers and rightsholders.²⁰

The labels and platforms behind the music

21. Three majors control roughly 60% of the world

The "Big Three", Universal, Sony and Warner, together hold about 60% of the global recorded-music market, with the rest split between independents and self-releasing artists.²¹

22. Spotify holds about a third of paid subscribers

Spotify ended 2024 with roughly 32% of all paid music subscribers globally, well ahead of Apple Music, Amazon Music, Tencent Music and YouTube Music.²²

23. Spotify deleted 75 million spammy tracks

As payouts have grown, so has the incentive to game them. Spotify removed more than 75 million "spammy" uploads in a single year, many of them mass-produced AI files.²³

24. AI could take 24% of creator income by 2028

A global CISAC study warns that generative AI could cannibalise about 24% of music creators' revenues by 2028 if the regulatory framework stays unchanged.²⁴

25. Platforms are paying record amounts

Spotify paid out about $10 billion to the music business in 2024, and YouTube reported more than $8 billion in payouts over the following 12 months, both record sums.²⁵