IFPI, the London-based association of global record labels, has released its top-line growth figures covering 2025 – and the news is encouraging.
According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, global recorded music revenues grew 6.4 percent last year to $31.7 billion, the 11th straight year of growth in the sector. Revenues for the year prior were $29.6 billion.
Paid streaming was responsible for the bulk of that cash, generating 52.4 percent, or $16.6 billion, of the total, from 837 million users. Total streaming revenues, those that include both paid and advertising, accounted for 69.6 percent of global recorded music revenue, or about $22 billion.
The regions that saw the most growth across 2025 were Latin America with a 17.1 percent increase, along with the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Sub-Saharan Africa, both of which saw 15.2 percent growth.
Across physical, streaming, downloads, performance rights and synchronisation revenues, only synchs saw a contraction, down from $700 to $600 million year-over-year. Notably, physical sales “grew at a faster rate than any other format,” the IFPI writes, driven by strong interest in vinyl, which grew 13.7 percent year over year. That’s in line with the RIAA’s annual numbers, released Monday, which showed vinyl sales in the U.S. having surpassed $1 billion for the first time since 1983; the format is close to notching two decades of revenue gains.
Taylor Swift, unsurprisingly, leads the list of the world’s most successful artists last year, followed by (in descending order) the K-pop group Stray Kids, Drake, The Weeknd, Bad Bunny, Kendrick Lamar, Morgan Wallen, Sabrina Carpenter, Billie Eilish and Lady Gaga. The most successful singles included Swift’s “The Life of a Showgirl” (No. 1), KPop Demon Hunters (No. 3), SZA’s “SOS” (No. 7) and “10” from the Japanese band Mrs. Green Apple.
Alongside the figures, IFPI focused on several important narratives, perhaps none as existential as artificial intelligence’s impact on the industry (and humanity writ large). Within this current inflection point, the recorded music industry is most focused on AI companies’ well-documented practice of ingesting enormous amounts of data, like music and books, to create their models without proper approval from the creators of those works.
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“Record labels are actively engaging and partnering with AI developers that acknowledge and respect the rights of creators through negotiated licences while taking on the bad actors who use music without permission,” the report reads.
The major labels – Universal, Warner and Sony – have been steadily ramping up their dealmaking with AI startups and well-established players alike. Last fall, Spotify announced a deal with several industry stakeholders to develop “responsible” AI products. Shortly after, all three majors struck their first trivalent deal with an AI startup called Klay, which “is an entirely new subscription product that will uplift great artists and celebrate their craft” and allow fans to “mold their musical journeys in new ways.”
“We’ll embrace technology that serves musicians, confront streaming fraud, and ensure AI augments human creativity. The next wave of paid listening will follow from that approach — fairness, innovation and long‑term commitment to the people who make the music,” Rob Stringer, chairman and CEO of Sony Music, says in the report.
From Variety US