London, UK (March 22, 2023)—Paid subscription streaming has become the engine of the recorded music industry worldwide, driving total revenues to $26.2 billion in 2022, a 9% increase over the previous year, according to the new Global Music Report released by IFPI (download here).
There were 589 million users of paid subscription accounts at the end of 2022, according to the report, with subscription audio streaming revenues growing 10.3% to $12.7 billion globally, or 48.3% of total revenues. Factor in advertising-supported platforms, accounting for 18.7% of all revenues, and total streaming grew by 11.5% to $17.5 billion, or 67% of total global recorded music revenues.
Revenues from physical formats have been on the increase for the last two years, recovering from 2019’s nadir, accounting for 4% ($4.6 billion) of the global total in 2022. Worldwide, vinyl continued its decade-long upward trajectory, growing 17%. Asia accounted for almost exactly half (49.8%) of the world’s revenues from physical formats in that region’s ongoing growth trend.
Performance rights revenues are also returning to pre-pandemic levels, increasing by 8.6%. Synchronization income grew to 22.3% of the total.
As streaming continues to surge, downloads were the only category to decline, dropping 11.7%. Revenues from permanent downloads fell by 19.6% to $644.4 million. However, other non-streaming digital formats within the category, such as mobile personalization, grew by 12.2%.
There is still work to be done in recovering all of the revenues due the recorded music industry, according to IFPI chief executive: “[A]s the opportunities for music continue to expand, so too do the areas in which record companies must work to ensure that the value of the music that artists are creating is recognized and returned. This challenge is becoming increasingly complex as a greater number of actors seek to benefit from music whilst playing no part in investing in and developing it.”
Streaming, Vinyl Sales Drive RIAA Revenue Record
The USA and Canada, the world’s largest region in revenue terms, grew by 5.0% in 2022 with revenues in the US, the world’s single biggest market, increasing by 4.8% to exceed $10 billion for the first time. Canadian recorded music revenues increased by 8.1%.
Revenues in Europe, the world’s second-largest recorded music region, grew by 7.5%. The region’s top three regions all posted gains: UK (+5.4%), Germany (+2.2%) and France (+7.7%).
Latin America saw gains of 25.9%, maintaining more than 10 years of regional increases.
Sub-Saharan Africa was the fastest-growing region in 2022, posting a 34.7% increase, driven largely by a significant boost to revenues in the region’s largest market, South Africa, which grew 31.4%.
IFPI’s annual global revenue report also offers some insights into music tastes worldwide. According to IFPI’s global chart of the most popular artists in 2022, Taylor Swift came out on top followed by BTS, Drake, Bad Bunny, The Weeknd, Seventeen, Stray Kids, Harry Styles, Jay Chou and Ed Sheeran.
The top three singles of 2022 globally were Harry Styles’ “As it Was,” Glass Animals’ “Heat Waves” and The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber’s “Stay.” Bad Bunny topped the global album chart with Un Verano Sin Ti followed by Taylor Swift’s Midnights and Harry Styles’ Harry’s House.
