The updated records are now in and the global recorded music market has grown by 7.4% in 2020, marking the sixth uninterrupted year of growth. The news comes surprisingly with that year of growth because it comes in during a worldwide pandemic situation.
According to IFPI, the organization that name represents the recorded music industry worldwide and also published its yearly Global Music Report on March 23 revealed that the global recorded music revenues have reached $21.6 billion in 2020.
The significant growth rate is driven by the streaming channels and especially by the paid subscription streaming revenues which are increased by approximately 18.5%.
As per the IFPI reports, there has been a total of 443 million users of paid subscription music streaming accounts by the end of 2020.
The total streaming account that includes both paid subscription and ad-supported ones have grown to almost 19.9% year-over-year and has reached $13.4bn or 62.1% of the total global recorded music revenues. The growth in the streaming revenues that is reportedly more than the offset decline in the other format’s revenues including the physical revenues have declined to 4.7% and revenues from the performance rights has declined to almost 10.1, mainly due to the reason of the COVD-19 pandemic.
Reports have it that the recorded music revenues have grown in every global region around the world in 2020 that includes Latin America also, a place that has maintained its position as the fastest-growing region globally with approximately 15.9%.
The streaming revenues have expanded by 30.2% in Latin America and have accounted for 84.1% of the region’s total revenues.
Moreover, in Asia, the revenues have gone up to 9.5% and the digital revenues have surpassed a 50% share of the region’s total revenue count, for the very first time.
Apart from Japan, which has recently seen a decline of about 2.1% in its revenue, Asia is supposedly the fastest-growing region which is showing an exceptional growth of 29.9%.
The year 2020 has been a record-breaking year for K-Pop and also saw South Korea’s recorded music market grow by 44.8% as compared to the year 2019.
Having being featured as a region in the report for the very first time, the recorded music revenues in Africa and also the Middle East region has increased by 8.4% that is primarily driven by the Middle East and the North African region with 37.8%. The streaming is dominating with revenues getting up b by almost 4%.
Meanwhile, the revenue in places like Europe, which is the second-largest recorded music region in the world, has grown by 3.5% which is as strong as the streaming growth of 20.7% offset declines in all the other consumption formats.
In 2020, the US and the Canada region expanded by 4% with the US market up by 7.3% and the Canadian recorded music revenues growing by 8.1%.
Frances Moore, an IFPI Chief Executive has said that as the world contends with the COVID-19 pandemic situation, they all are being reminded of the enduring power of music to console, heal, and lift their spirits. She added that some things are timeless, just like the power of a great song or the connection between the fans and the artists. But some things have changed. With most parts of the world undergoing the pandemic situation and with live music shut down in nearly every corner of the globe, most of the fans are now enjoying music via streaming.
She went on to say that fuelled by the record companies, the ongoing investment in artists and their careers, along with innovative efforts to help artists bring their music to the fans in various innovative ways, the recorded music revenues have grown drastically globally for the sixth subsequent year driven by the subscription streaming.
Moore concluded by stating that with many being impacted by the ongoing pandemic, and concerned with the growing social injustices, the record companies are now working hard to make a meaningful and lasting contribution to the world they live in.