Photo Credit: Gabriel Tovar

Goldman Sachs has long had a bullish outlook on the global music industry, but its latest ‘Music in the Air’ report reveals the investment bank wildly overestimated recorded music and streaming revenues for 2024. The overestimate has prompted a notable downgrade in its future forecasts—the streaming plateau is here.

Goldman Sachs initially projected a robust 7.6% global music industry growth rate for 2024. However, the actual growth rate clocked in at 6.2%—marking the first time in years that the sector failed to meet the bank’s expectations. The most glaring shortfall in this report was in recorded music. Goldman Sachs forecasted an 8.9% year-on-year increase, but the real figure was only 4.8%—a miss of over four percentage points.

This underperformance is confirmed by IFPI data and has reflected in the broader slowdown, especially the streaming segment. Goldman Sachs predicted a 10% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for streaming between 2024 and 2030, but has now revised this figure down to 7.9%. The most dramatic adjustment comes in ad-supported streaming—where growth rates have plateaued. Growth forecasts for that segment were slashed from 11.3% down to just 5.7% for 2024.

Meanwhile, subscription streaming projections for 2025 were cut from $33 billion to $31.3 billion. Ad-supported streaming also got a forecast downgraded by $2.1 billion to $11.3 billion. As a result of these misses, Goldman Sachs has slashed its future forecasts for recorded music revenue forecasts across the board.

The 2025 projection was cut from $33.9 billion down to $31.4 billion, with growth rates for 2025 and 2025 now expected at 5.8% and 6.6% respectively. That’s down from the previous expected rates of 8.8% (2025) and 8.4% (2026). The bank’s long-term outlook for the sector has also been tempered, it now anticipates a 6.8% CAGR for the global music market through 2030—down from 7.5%.

While the report for streaming and recorded music revenue is a disappointing one, not all segments of the music industry delivered disappointment. Live music and physical sales of CDs and vinyl outperformed or met expectations. That’s mostly due to superfans and resilient demand for physical music. Music publishing remained stable with forecasts unchanged at $10.7 billion for 2025.

This report underscores a pivotal moment for the music industry. After years or rapid expansion, growth is slowing, particularly in the recorded music and streaming markets. The bank’s overestimation has led to a more cautious and realistic outlook—with future projections now reflecting the sector’s evolving dynamics and challenges as the digital landscape matures.

Photo Credit: CBS | AMAs

The American Music Awards (AMAs) drew the largest audience since 2019—thanks to the move to CBS.

The 2025 AMAs were hosted by Jennifer Lopez, with the two-hour prime-time event attracting 4.86 million viewers. That’s a 38% increase over its last live broadcast in 2022, which aired on ABC. This year’s awards show reclaimed the top spot as the #1 broadcast of the night—demonstrating the growing impact of multi-platform distribution. These ratings include both traditional live viewership and live streaming figures from Paramount+, reflecting the change streaming video is having on live event viewership.

The 2022 AMAs, which aired on November 20 on ABC had significantly lower viewership. The resurgence in audience numbers signals renewed interest in live music award shows—perhaps with a boost from Swifties. Taylor Swift fans speculated that the singer may use the AMAs to announce her next Taylor’s Version album—but that didn’t happen. Instead, Taylor Swift announced last week that she had re-acquired the rights to her original masters from Shamrock Capital.

This year’s American Music Awards outpaced several recent prime-time specials, too. They were 26% higher than ABC’s CMA Country Christmas on December 3, which achieved 3.87 million viewers. It was also 39% higher than NBC’s SNL 50 Years of Music broadcast on January 27, which achieved 3.49 million viewers. Perhaps most impressive, the AMAs outpaced ABC’s CMA Fest by 52%, which aired on June 25, 2024 with 3.19 million viewers.

CBS also estimates that the AMAs drove 9.2 billion potential impressions and 816.6K mentions on social media as the world discussed the broadcast. It boasted growth across all key demos versus the 2022 broadcast as well. This year was up 91% among the 18-34 age cohort, 23% among the 18-49 cohort, and 16% among the 25-54 cohort.

Highlighting the importance of social media, CBS reveals that the 2025 AMAs social accounts garnered over 100 million video views within the first 24 hours of airing across Instagram, TikTok, X/Twitter, and Facebook. Meanwhile, the AMAs Twitch live broadcast peaked at 205.5K during the appearance of YouTube star Kai Cenat’s appearance.

A live performance from Metallica, which has achieved 20x Platinum certification with The Black Album. Photo Credit: Raph_PH

Metallica’s self-titled 1991 album (aka The Black Album) has officially moved 20 million units in the U.S., achieving 20x Platinum certification – and 2x Diamond certification – in the process.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) officially logged those certifications today, a couple months short of the 34th anniversary of Metallica’s release. Unsurprisingly, given that the 12-track effort debuted as the CD era was picking up steam, a substantial portion of its sales derived from physical units shipped during the prior century.

However, The Black Album – including “Enter Sandman” and “Nothing Else Matters” – continues to ride a wave of consumption success in the streaming era. Certified 12x Platinum in late 1999, Metallica achieved 15x Platinum certification in November 2009 and 16x in December 2012 before cracking double Diamond today.

(Of course, the project’s recent sales aren’t confined to digital. The remastered 30th anniversary edition of The Black Album definitely contributed to the total, including but not solely with a $240 boxset that remains available for purchase on Metallica’s website.)

Thanks to today’s milestone, Metallica is now close to ranking among the top-10 bestselling albums in U.S. history. As things stand, the work is sharing the 12th spot with Green Day’s Dookie (1994), behind a handful of releases from Billy Joel, the Beatles, AC/DC, the Eagles, and other decidedly well-established legacy acts.

Meanwhile, the RIAA today confirmed 8x Platinum certification for Metallica’s Master of Puppets (1986), which initially made its way into the Platinum category 37 years ago en route to hitting 6x Platinum in 2003.

Taken as a whole, these and different commercial feats tie back to still-strong fan interest for Metallica, which is on the road as part of its M72 World Tour.

Currently proceeding through the States, the concert series will arrive in Oceania later in 2025 before a number of European stops (non-presale tickets will become available this Friday) take place in 2026. (Already touring with Metallica, Pantera will also play the M72 Tour’s European leg, the group recently announced.)

With ample superfan support comes the opportunity to move ultra-VIP packages. Passes for the “Nothing Else Matters” Snake Pit Experience, offering meet-and-greet opportunities as well as a variety of other perks, are priced at an astonishing $4,400 a pop not including fees, Metallica’s website shows.

Per the same source, the band has sold through the expensive passes (which are presumably far more resistant to scalping than their non-VIP counterparts) for several dates.

Photo Credit: Hoàng Anh Nguyễn

The live entertainment sector is in decline according to data gathered by Chartmetric. Rising costs, low ticket sales, and strict visa rules are reshaping what the touring landscape looks like in 2025.

Artists across the globe are facing new barriers to touring, with data showing that there just aren’t as many touring artists on the road anymore. Chartmetric looked at both mid-level and superstar-level artists from 2022 and 2024, comparing how many were still touring. 44% of superstar-level artists were touring in 2022, while only 36% were in 2024. That decline is even more dramatic in mid-level artists, which declined from 19% touring in 2022 to just 12% in 2024.

Photo Credit: Chartmetric

Chartmetric’s methodology was an analysis of the top 1,000 artists from each career stage in both years. Touring artists are defined as those who performed at least ten shows in the span of a year—highlighting the steep decline for both mid-level and superstar-level artists. The data seems to indicate that star power alone is no longer enough to guarantee a successful tour.

High profile acts like Jennifer Lopez, The Black Keys, and Lauryn Hill & the Fugees cancelled shows due to low ticket sales last year. Meanwhile, larger festivals are also feeling the pinch as this is the second year that Coachella did not achieve sell-out status within days of tickets going on sale. Coachella took nearly a month to sell out in 2024 and data shows that nearly half of the general admission attendees this year used payment plans to buy their tickets.

Another mounting challenge for international artists is the strict via situation in countries like the United States and the United Kingdom. The cost of artist visas nearly quadrupled from $460 to $1,615 per musician last year—the first bump in price since 2016.

Governments interested in helping protect the live sector can support touring infrastructure so smaller venues don’t close down. That’s something the UK is doing with UK Live Trust, which reallocates money from stadium and arena tours to smaller venues by donating £1 per ticket sold at larger venues.

The globalization of live touring is also becoming more prevalent as big acts include Asia in their touring plans. Lady Gaga, Tyler, the Creator, Blackpink, Coldplay, Oasis, and Billie Eilish all have Asian dates planned for their upcoming tours.

More than 300 music industry lawsuits updated daily. US-based jurisdictions with global cases coming soon.

Cover of the US Copyright Office’s latest update of ‘Copyright and Artificial Intelligence,’ pre-released just prior to Shira Perlmutter’s firing. The report’s recommendations may be getting shelved.

The music industry is battling another flurry of AI-related developments, with few positive developments for IP owners and creators. Here’s a look at the latest tumult in the AI world — and the industry’s possible next steps.

Those in the music industry hoping for an ‘ethical AI’ future were dealt serious blows over the past week, with concepts like permission-based training, fair use limitations, and creator compensation potentially tossed out the window. This DMN Pro Weekly report examines what just happened at the US Copyright Office, the latest proposed legislation surrounding AI training, the political underpinnings at work, and possible next steps for music publishers, label groups, IP owners, and artists.

Table of Contents

I. What Just Happened at the US Copyright Office – And What It Might Mean for the Music Industry

II. Unfettered AI: Will the Tech Bros Get Their Way?

III. Hollywood’s Hate Affair With DC: Can the Music Industry Chart a Different Path?

IV. The Music Industry Mafia, v2.0: How a Self-Regulating Industry Can Address AI Problems

The following report is for DMN Pro subscribers only. Please do not redistribute. Thank you!

Which way, USA? Latest DMN Pro data shows a problematic slide in stateside Spotify subscribers (Photo: GDJ)

DMN Pro first reported serious subscriber slowdowns at Amazon Music in 2024. Now, it’s Spotify’s turn: according to leaked figures, the mega-DSP shed stateside subscribers in early 2025. In response, Spotify told DMN that its paying subscribers are growing ‘in all regions,’ but declined to offer further details.

Spotify came out swinging in its latest quarterly financial call, thanks to a 12% year-over-year global premium subscriber bump. But how many of those subscribers are coming from outside of ARPU-rich regions like North America and Western Europe?

Yes, this is the nagging ‘subscriber plateau’ dogging the music industry, though ‘decline’ may be the new ‘flat’ — at least in markets like the United States.

Just last week, DMN Pro revealed a noticeable decline of roughly 5% in US-based Spotify subscribers during the first two months of 2025, citing leaked data from sources at a major music conglomerate.

Admittedly, that doesn’t amount to a full quarter, and month-to-month bumps aren’t unusual. But perhaps there’s a reason why Spotify has specifically decided against increasing prices in the US — at least according to the Financial Times. That follows a slip by Believe pointing to a pullback by Spotify and other DSPs on an aggressive price increase schedule.

All of which begs the question: is the industry finally crossing the consumer price sensitivity point, particularly in the US?

Adding a bit more smoke to this fire, Spotify declined to break down US — or even North American — stats in a discussion with Digital Music News.

Calling the data ‘incorrect,’ Spotify Global Head of Communications Chris Macowski pointed DMN to ‘Y/Y and Q/Q growth across all regions’ in Q1, while pointing to year-over-year data in Spotify’s investor presentation deck. Hoping to fill in the blanks, we asked specifically about US subscriber stats in 2025 — before getting ghosted.

Perhaps most concerning: the early-2025 declines in the US are happening in the core number of paid accounts, which strips out multiple users (for example, six subscribers in a group Family account). That raises another inconvenient question: how many people are actually logging into these group accounts? Our best estimates still show a decline, with a clear drop in the actual number of paid US-based accounts.

The United States remains the largest music industry market, according to the IFPI, and one of the most lucrative on the ARPU scale. Meanwhile, more Q1 data is coming — we’ll keep you posted.

Separately, Spotify’s higher-priced ‘super-premium’ (aka ‘Music Pro’ or ‘Superfan’) tier remains elusive, with CEO Daniel Ek noticeably mum on the topic.

Half a world away, Tencent Music is going gangbusters with super-premium offerings, though Spotify looks stuck at the starting blocks after years of teasing their upgraded tier(s). During the Q1 call, Ek whipped up an admirable word salad on the topic, with once-promising add-ons like higher-fidelity audio and exclusive tickets suddenly absent from the discussion.

“But for the near term, the way to think about it for Spotify is, we’re not dependent on that for growth, but we want to make it happen. … [F]or the superfan [subscription tier], we do need the partners to come to the table and be part of this trip,” Ek said without offering any concrete plans or releases ahead.

Elsewhere on the superfan front, DMN is hearing reports of continued fragmentation, with mega-players like Live Nation disinterested in gifting jewels like pre-release concert tickets — at least without a serious bag of cash consideration.

Separately, UMG is marching forward with its own superfan-focused artist pages, as are notable upstarts like Dave Cool-helmed MySeat Media, which just facilitated an impressive G Herbo superfan app loaded with exclusive cuts.

Other artists are likely to roll their own — superfan apps, that is — but how much will that detract from streaming giants like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and YouTube Music, which now hog 99% of the streaming music subscriber marketshare in some territories?

And while we’re on the topic of non-standard, premium streaming apps: which mega-festival is cooking up a huge genre-focused streaming app, loaded with live performance exclusives for its heavy-spending attendees?  This one’s gonna be big and juicily high-ARPU — stay tuned!

OpenPlay cofounder and Chief Client Officer Edward Ginis.

Is it time for the music industry to radically reconsider its approach to AI? Edward Ginis, cofounder and Chief Client Officer of OpenPlay, is already focused on monetizing AI instead of fighting it. An ardent activist for modernizing the industry’s data infrastructure, Ginis launched OpenPlay in 2013 after serving as CTO at Concord Music Group and views AI as an opportunity to evolve rather than a threat to resist.

With over 15 years of experience in music, technology, and finance specifically, Ginis has serious chops in building large-scale software systems and data management solutions for the music industry.

At OpenPlay, Ginis’ focus is on building independent and flexible data hubs for artists and IP owners — instead of limiting, isolated silos. At DMN, we’re excited to partner with OpenPlay to further broaden that mission.

In this interview, we asked Edward to share his vision on how the music industry can improve its metadata management and monetize AI, and what he’s doing to bring that vision to reality.

Digital Music News: Edward, thanks so much for joining us. We’re really keen to dive into what’s happening with OpenPlay and your vision for upgrading and changing the music industry’s data infrastructure and approach to metadata.

Let’s start with the AI landscape. What’s your take on the AI battle right now?

Edward: Paul, it’s great to be here. The “AI battle,” as it’s perceived, is fundamentally about monetization. It’s not really about stopping the technology or purely about preserving artistry; it’s about figuring out how to monetize something that the industry doesn’t quite know how to monetize yet. We’ve seen this pattern before with other technological disruptions. For example, YouTube was initially viewed as a threat to the industry until Content ID was developed, allowing rights holders to identify and monetize their content on the platform. Now, Content ID has transformed from a defensive tool into a significant revenue stream that most rights holders embrace.

Digital Music News: Alright, so let’s monetize this AI beast. But how can this industry do that?

Edward: The biggest challenge is attribution. Who gets paid when a piece of AI-generated content draws from thousands of existing works? Very few companies are tackling this.

There’s a need to solve the problem of where the generation comes from. We need to control the input into LLMs by protecting and fingerprinting catalogs before they’re ingested. If we can trace a generated work back to its source, we can accurately distribute fractional royalties, even to creators whose works haven’t seen much revenue in a long time.

Digital Music News: So that’s a good segue into OpenPlay. You created OpenPlay because you saw huge issues with how the music industry handles data. It’s a mess out there, but what are the biggest problems you’re trying to solve?

Edward: The biggest problems in the music industry today revolve around data fragmentation and the lack of control. Content owners often have limited options, relying on distributors or publishing administrators who essentially become gatekeepers to their own intellectual property. When these deals end, retrieving their content and associated data can become a nightmare. At OpenPlay, we abstract all that complexity. Rights holders can maintain control of their assets while still delivering content directly to their distributors, societies, or DSPs via our platform.

Digital Music News: Can you explain how that would change the life of a typical artist or IP owner?

Edward: Absolutely. Whether a rights holder is working with FUGA in Latin America, Spotify directly in the US, or AudioSalad in Europe, OpenPlay acts as a central hub. They can set up all those connections from one place without worrying about getting their content back if relationships change. It’s about giving rights holders leverage. If they’re unhappy with a deal, they should be able to switch within 24 hours, not face a mountain of complications.

Digital Music News: And you’re also expanding beyond distribution?

Edward: Yes, we’re expanding into UGC, royalty processing, video generation, and even providing advanced revenue. We see a future where these services operate more like an app store or HubSpot, where labels and publishers can choose and pay only for what they need.

For instance, companies like AudioShake, which offer stem dissociation and lyric translations, can be seamlessly connected through OpenPlay. It simplifies how content and metadata are exchanged, so the focus can be on the commercial value, not technical headaches.

Digital Music News: Perhaps there’s too much power concentrated in distribution hubs.

Edward: Precisely. Distribution as a revenue source is eroding. We need a marketplace where parties pay for what they need, and OpenPlay facilitates those connections. We’re creating an environment where new players have immediate access to the tools they need and can easily try new technologies. Music is notoriously unfriendly to entrepreneurs, and we want to change that.

Digital Music News: So, speaking of changing things, is there anything stopping a major artist or label from mirroring their content onto OpenPlay, even if they have a major distributor?

Edward: No, not at all. In fact, a big part of our business is helping them do exactly that. We’re not telling them to leave their distributors. We’re saying, bring your content into OpenPlay. Moving forward, they enter their content with us, and we deliver it to their existing distributor. They’ll have one entry point, reducing errors and simplifying their workflow. This also gives them the option to switch distributors easily if needed.

Digital Music News: It seems crazy: why is it so hard to wrestle control over your own IP?

Edward: Rights holders are entitled to all the data related to their IP, including stream data. Distributors often make it technically difficult to get this data, citing issues like file sizes or complexity, but in the end, it isn’t their data. Sidestepping this mess, OpenPlay combines publishing and label data into one ecosystem, offering a full view of the copyright assets and facilitating accurate data delivery to the MLC and others. This helps prevent data “black boxes.”

Digital Music News: You’re building a separate data storage and application hub, which sounds like a refreshing progression. Is it too far-fetched to then reconsider a global resource database?

Edward: Well, to work effectively, it needs to be highly decentralized. Trying to build ‘one silo to rule them all’ is impossible and impractical. What we need instead are interconnected systems with standardized interfaces – what technologists call APIs – that allow data to flow freely between different platforms while respecting ownership.

Think of how Plaid works in the financial industry, connecting your bank to services like Venmo without requiring these companies to directly communicate. Your bank doesn’t need a relationship with Venmo for you to move money between them. This level of interoperability is essential for the music industry to move forward.

Digital Music News: Swinging back to the AI discussion – and next steps – is it too late to identify works already ingested into LLMs?

Edward: No, I don’t think so. We’ve seen the early stages of systems like Suno and Udio, but many more are coming. The most successful ones will start with authorized content, working directly with rights holders and ingesting properly fingerprinted material.There’s also a huge need for AI detection technologies – tools that can analyze music and determine what percentage was AI-generated versus human-created. These detection systems would use pattern recognition and other techniques to identify AI signatures in the music.

Ultimately, DSPs like Spotify and Apple Music will be the arbiters of what gets in and stays out, likely implementing their own detection systems alongside content policies.

Digital Music News: Edward, I think we’ve found our fearless metadata and AI monetization leader. Thanks for outlining your vision here.

Edward: Thank you, Paul. The technology is inevitable, so our focus needs to be on creating systems that benefit artists and rights holders in this new landscape.

Spotify’s US-specific Individual Premium subscribers for December, January and February, part of a broader decline (Source Data: DMN Pro)

Last month, DMN Pro revealed that Spotify’s US-based subscriber growth rate was slowing in 2024 and early 2025, citing Spotify’s Q1 2025 disclosures. Now, newly obtained data reveals that Spotify’s US-based subscriber levels are actually declining, at least during the first few months of 2025.

According to Premium subscriber figures aggregated and shared with Digital Music News and DMN Pro by one of the largest conglomerates in the music industry, Spotify’s US-based subscriber numbers experienced a decline during the first two months of the year.

Specifically, US-based subscriber figures dropped as much as 5% from December 2024 totals, per the detailed stats, though DMN Pro was unable to obtain figures from March of this year to compile a full-quarter overview.

Examining figures from December 2024, January 2025, and February 2025, the data reveals a substantial drop in both total subscription accounts (of any tier) and total subscribers accessing those accounts.

Warner Music has officially unveiled WMG Pulse, which is said to provide songwriters and artists with real-time consumption stats, royalty data, and more. Photo Credit: Warner Music

Warner Music Group (WMG) is officially testing an app called WMG Pulse, which is said to provide artists and songwriters with real-time consumption data from streaming and social platforms.

The major label disclosed its WMG Pulse beta today, pointing to north of 100 current users and plans for a wider rollout later in 2025. Importantly, the app is distinct from Warner Music’s long-anticipated superfan offering, which looks to be slowly but surely getting off the ground.

(Nor should Pulse be confused with the existing WMG AMP, which is still available for download and, per its Play Store description, “is designed to help Warner Music Group’s artists and managers make meaningful connections from performance data.”)

Pulse, on the other hand, is said to boast a consolidated breakdown of works’ consumption metrics and a corresponding real-time income snapshot. The latter encompasses not just streaming royalties, but earnings particulars for physical, sync, and more, according to Warner Music.

Though the major’s formal release doesn’t dive into specifics here, a brief promo clip appears to suggest that Pulse includes across-the-board DSP data, consumption numbers for individual songs, follower counts, and a standalone “Money” page dedicated to the aforementioned royalties.

(With a “Current balance snapshot” and a side-by-side view of both “Earnings” and “Recoupable costs,” this Money section may well prevent recoupment-related legal confrontations down the line.)

Meanwhile, the major – which emphasized that its “in-house tech experts,” not an external developer, created Pulse – also touched on plans to add support for revenue forecasting, release planning, and collaboration options moving forward.

It’s unclear when these features will go live, and the Africori parent didn’t identify a hard label-wide launch date for Pulse. However, feedback from the above-highlighted artist and songwriter testers “will help fine-tune the app” in the coming months, Warner Music indicated.

“With WMG Pulse,” added WMG technology president Ariel Bardin, “we’re providing greater transparency across the music ecosystem, including data from every major streaming and social media platform.

“The app offers a seamless, easy to use experience, giving deeper insights into careers and fan bases, with even more sophisticated updates still to come. It’s about empowering artists and songwriters with clarity, and helping them make smarter, data-driven decisions with their teams,” concluded Bardin, whose company added Activision Blizzard vet Armin Zerza as CFO on Monday.

Photo Credit: Rebe Adelaida

SCF, the Italian performing rights collective, closed out 2024 with distributions of over 51 million euros. This puts Italy in the top ten worldwide for PRO distributions.

In the last year, SCF, the leading collecting society in Italy, distributed over 51 million euros to its members and other collective societies. The share distributed to producers exceeded 42 million euros and recorded a significant increase of 7.7%, compared to 2023.

That result was supported by double-digit growth in performance rights (+19.3%), driven by both the Broadcasting and Web sector (+12.6%) and the Public Performance sector (+27.4%). This more than offset the contraction recorded in the Private Copy distribution (-15.4%), resulting from the decline in Italian sales of digital devices.

The userbase has exceeded over 200,000 subjects, marking +210% compared to 2008, thanks to constant awareness-raising and acquisition work, targeted legal activities, and anti-piracy actions. That strengthening of the base has continued in 2024 with significant growth in members, especially among independent record producers, both local and international, represented by intermediary companies. This positions SCF as the main reference collecting society for independent producers.

SCF has continued to invest in digitalization and improved transparency, with the release of the new Katalegale dashboard for analytical monitoring of royalties, the enhancement of the automatic matching algorithm, and the reduction of attribution conflicts by more than 95%.

In 2024, SCF also worked on enriching its catalog, which has 26.5 million tracks. The Repertoire Data Exchange (RDX), the centralized service for the recording industry, has seen increasing adoption by producers, improving the quality of repertoire management and distribution of music rights.

Concurrently, 1,286 analytical reports were drawn up (of which 920 were for radio stations alone), with a focus on tracks with the greatest economic impact. There was also a focus on the introduction of a new area for the collection and distribution of performance rights for the use of music in films, TV, documentaries, and other audiovisual works.

SCF further expanded its network of international agreements, signing new agreements with PPCA (Australia), PPL India, ZAPRAF (Croatia), and UNIMPRO (Peru). The control over private copying abroad was also strengthened, thanks to new management agreements, with the aim of maximizing the economic protection of Italian producers even outside national borders.

In line with its commitment to maximizing distributions to rights holders, SCF also announced a further reduction in the administration fee on performance rights for 2025, which went from 17% to 15% for the broadcast and web segment. This level has not been seen for over a decade.

“The 2024 budget represents an important point of balance between growth, efficiency, and innovation. We have managed to increase the distributions, strengthen the international network, further reduce the administration fees and offer our clients increasingly advanced tools for the analysis of royalties.

“[The result is] the confirmation of Italy as the seventh country in the world for performance rights—as reported by IFPI in the recent Global Music Report—is the strongest signal of the system work that we are carrying out consistently,” said Mariano Fiorito, General Director at SCF. “We will continue on this path, with the aim of enhancing the Italian repertoire in all its forms.”

Spotify’s Q1 subscription totals by region (Source: Spotify Q1 2025 investor deck)

Spotify touted significant year-over-year subscriber gains worldwide during its Q1 2025 earnings call. However, US-based subscribers are growing at the slowest rate compared to other worldwide regions, part of a continuing trend across North America and Europe.

Leading up to Spotify’s recent quarterly disclosures, the signs of a stateside streaming subscriber slowdown have been everywhere. Just last month, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) pointed to marked subscriber revenue slowdowns in the United States, with single-digit revenue gains and marked deceleration characterizing 2024.

Separate data from DMN Pro, gleaned from hundreds of thousands of lines of royalty statements and breakdowns, also pointed to a severe slowdown in US-based Spotify subscriber growth.

Now, the latest data pointing to a serious slowdown in Spotify’s US-based subscriber growth is coming straight from the horse’s mouth. During Spotify’s recent Q1 2025 earnings call, the platform revealed strong subscriber gains in Latin America and regions outside of Europe and North America.

Report Table of Contents

I. Spotify touts big subscriber gains in Q1, though regional growth stories are now wildly divergent

II. The US slowdown: a look at what the latest data reveals about Spotify’s US-based subscriber growth (or lack thereof)

III. APRU Problems: LatAm and ‘Rest of World’ (ROW) gains come at a (per-subscriber) cost

IV. The ‘super-premium’ mirage: Spotify’s superfan plans might be fizzling – with higher-ARPU opportunities left on the table

V. Appendix: Spotify MAU and subscriber growth, 2015-2025

Please note: the following report is for DMN Pro subscribers only. Please do not redistribute — thank you!

Photo Credit: Panagiotis Falcos

MusicAnswers has spent two years conducting a survey of college student music creators to better understand their experience with song registration agencies—specifically the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC). The results are pretty grim, with a majority of college students being unaware of the MLC’s purpose or what they do in the industry.

A survey of 150 music creator college students from across the United States reveals that 93% of respondents have never seen any information from The Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC). Just 17% were able to correctly identify the function of the Collective among several multiple choice options.

The MLC is the US-based body currently authorized by the federal government to collect and distribute streaming royalties to songwriters, composers, and music publishers. MusicAnswers shared their survey data exclusively with Digital Music News, while highlighting how few students realize that a regulatory body exists for mechanical publishing royalties.

Digging deeper, only 15% of respondents have received information about The MLC from American performing rights organizations (PROs), The Recording Academy, the U.S. Copyright Office, the Music Business Association, and the Harry Fox Agency combined, the survey revealed.

The diverse survey sample included songwriters and composers from Berklee College of Music (Boston), Columbia College (Chicago), New York University (New York), Tiffin University (Ohio), the University of Southern California (Los Angeles), Vanderbilt University (Nashville), Wayne State University (Detroit), and Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo).

When tasked with identifying the MLC’s function, just 17% of survey respondents were able to correctly identify the MLC as ‘an agency that collects U.S. royalties for the reproduction and distribution of musical works.’ Citing the measly result, MusicAnswers — an advocacy group led by industry vets Phil Galdston, David Wolfert, Doug Wood, Derek Fawcett, and Matthew Dylan Rose — says the time has come to have a serious conversation within the community about how to better serve the needs of these up-and-coming independent music creators.

“The responses suggest that critical information about how to fully register songs isn’t reaching college student songwriters, guaranteeing that they’re not receiving royalties that are owed to them,” the group relayed.

But how many of these creators are actively releasing (and monetizing) their music?

That seems like an important distinction, particularly given that artists who haven’t released any music are understandably unaware of royalty collection details. On that point, however, MusicAnswers told DMN that roughly 50% in the survey have previously released music, though their awareness of the MLC wasn’t noticeably different than those that haven’t yet released music.

Of those who have released music, 84% of respondents had not registered with the MLC — leaving their streaming mechanical royalties unclaimed in the ‘black box’. According to DMN’s estimates, the current black box total of unclaimed royalties has now spilled into the billions of dollars.

The 2018 Music Modernization Act (MMA) officially established the MLC as the collector and distributor of U.S.-based mechanical royalties derived from interactive streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. The intended recipients are songwriters, composers, and music publishers across all sizes and stripes, including independent and unsigned creators.

The MMA provides that ‘black box’ royalties unclaimed by a date stipulated in the legislation will be paid to publishers registered with the MLC, prorated by market share. That stipulation serves to distribute royalties to rights owners instead of leaving money sitting in a bank account forever, though the criticism is that dominant publishers are positioned to soak up most of the black box money—although virtually none of it will have been generated by works they own or administer.

These numbers are certainly discouraging. But just how much of this awareness gap can be pinned on the MLC?

After all, songwriters, composers and publishers need to figure things out — and plenty of industry resources exist, including DMN — though MusicAnswers noted that the MMA also requires the MLC to actively inform the music creator community of their existence and role of the collective. That includes details on the processes required to secure any royalties due them—including the obligation to register their works with the MLC.

And what about awareness involving other royalty collection groups? On the performance royalty side, only 60% of respondents had registered their music with PROs ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC—a requirement to receive royalties from public performances.

Others, including SoundExchange, also had extremely low awareness and registrations from the survey group. A sampling of the survey results can be found below.

MusicAnswers College Music Creators — By Genre

MusicAnswers College Music Creators — Industry Support

MusicAnswers PRO Knowledge

Music Industry Knowledge Questions

US streaming subscriber growth, 2020-2024 (source data: RIAA)

As the music industry plans an extreme superfan makeover, who gets to control this party? The answer might be complicated – and seriously fragmented.

The future of the ‘superfan economy’ is unpredictable, and the current ‘2.0’ expansion is largely on its starting blocks. The broader revenue prospects tied to capturing super-engaged fans beyond current levels are also difficult to predict, and winners will likely take years to materialize and scale.

It’s a complex soup of possibilities, with music fans – i.e., the consumer – ultimately determining success outcomes. But who gets to control the action – and money – generated by engaged superfans?

In this report, we take an overview of where things stand in the music superfan expansion in the ‘early days’ of 2025 – and look at some possible winners in this game.

Report Table of Contents

I. The Superfan Economy Has Always Existed – So Why Is the Industry So Focused On It Now?

A. The Slide Into Passive Listening and the Flattening Forecast for DSPs

B. The ARPU Problem: Why Low/Mid-ARPU ‘Fans’ Simply Aren’t Cutting It

II. ‘Superfan 2.0’: A Look at the Early Possibilities

III. Who Gets to Own Fan Engagement? A Look at the Possible Ownership Hubs – And Conflicts — Surrounding Future Superfan Experiences

IV. The Macro-Economic Look: How Much Disposable Cash Do Fans Have, Anyway?

Please note: the following report is for DMN Pro subscribers only — please do not redistribute. Thank you!

Photo Credit: Simon Emmett

Lloyds Banking Group has issued a report on Oasis ticket scams, revealing that collectively, Oasis fans have lost £2M ($2.7M). The average victim loses £436 ($580) on average—mostly on scams instigated through Meta platforms.

Fans of Oasis are being targeted by a surge of ticket scams on social media as the group plans its first tour since 2009. Lloyds’ analysis of scam reports made by its own customers found that there were more than 1,000 cases of fraud since the sold-out tour was announced August 2024. Oasis fans make up the bulk of reported ticket scams, with 56% of targeted ticket scams.

Victims of these ticket scams have lost on average £436 ($580), which is around £200 ($266) more than the average ticket scam. The biggest amount lost in a single case so far was more than £1,700 ($2,264). While this data is based solely on information gathered by Lloyds about its customers’ activities, the bank estimates that across the UK there are at least 5,000 ticket scam victims since the summer tour was announced—with over £2 million ($2.7M) lost to fraudsters.

Fraudsters appear to be targeting fans aged 35-44, with that age cohort making up 30% of all ticket scam cases. Edinburgh, Warrington, and Manchester have the highest number of victims, with the top 10 locations overall making up around 25% of all scam cases. The top ten locations where scam victims reside were Edinburgh, Warrington, Manchester, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Sheffield, Glasgow, Birmingham, Plymouth, and Newport.

So how are the ticket scams happening?

Lloyds says the bulk of the ticket scams are taking place on social media, with more than 90% of reported cases starting with fake ads, posts, or listings on Meta-owned platforms. The vast majority of them begin on Facebook. Victims are asked to pay upfront for the tickets, but once the payment is made, the scammers vanish. Ticket scams typically occur in two waves, once when the tickets are first released for sale and again as the event date approaches.

“The Oasis tour is the largest target for ticket scammers, with millions of pounds of fans’ money stolen before the gigs even kick off,” says Liz Ziegler, Fraud Prevention Director for Lloyds. “The fact that so many cases start with fake listings on social media, often in violation of the platforms’ own rules, underscores the importance of these companies taking stronger action to tackle scams.”

“If you’re asked to pay via bank transfer, particularly by a seller you’ve found on social media, that should immediately set alarm bells ringing.”

Lloyds suggests fans only pay with a debit, credit, or PayPal account to avoid scammers—since these methods are easier to recover money than bank transfers.

Core Music Industry Funding, 2020-2025 (Q1) (Source: DMN Pro, Digital Music News)

Driven by a monstrous Pophouse Entertainment infusion, music industry funding is now on a breakneck pace in 2025. According to rounds captured and compiled in DMN Pro’s Music Industry Funding Tracker, total core funding has surpassed $1.9 billion, potentially the start of a record-setting year.

Just last month, DMN Pro took the temperature on core music industry funding for January and February. The conclusion? Total core funding had quickly surpassed $500 million, a solid start but not enough to keep pace with strong 2023 and 2024 funding levels.

Now, that picture is quickly changing, with 2025 potentially on track to set funding records.

Report Table of Contents

I. The Q1 2025 Music Industry Funding Wrap: A Review of the Rounds

II. Core vs. Non-Core Distinctions: Tangential Funding Raises Impacting the Music Industry

III. The Broader Music Investment Look: 2020-2025 (Complete With Optimistic 2025 Projections)

IV. A Vastly Different 2025 Landscape: Will Music Investment Thrive In the Chaos?

The following report is for DMN Pro subscribers only. Please do not redistribute — thank you!

Photo: Luis Quintero

Changes are afoot in the music industry conference circuit.

You’re probably too young to remember the decadent days of MIDEM in the South of France, though these days, look no further than SXSW for shifts in the modern-day music conference landscape. Suddenly, South-by — once an obligatory time- and budget-drainer — looks to be shedding attendees.

Ahead of the controversial 2026 programming changes, DMN’s on-the-ground team noticed something funny this year: the crowds were distinctively thinner in Austin. Blame it on mass label layoffs, more profit-conscious companies, a shift away from low-productivity debauchery — or heck, the rain — but SXSW doesn’t look like it’s heading north in terms of its 2026 attendance.

Those favoring the kvetch note that the days of a music-focused, expertly-curated SXSW are over. The showcases have declined, according to one disaffected A&R exec, with another lamenting the long flight for an overly-diluted tech/film/eco/music/whatever blob of a party — I mean, ‘conference’.

If the industry is looking for something more serious, that theoretically plays into the hands of Music Biz. But was a Nashville uproot to Atlanta a good call?

That’s a question we’ll be able to answer in a few weeks. But why the switch?

DMN has learned that Music Biz had always intended to switch cities yearly, but COVID planted the event in Nashville for a prolonged stretch. But given the growing momentum of Music Biz and its association with Music City, was shifting to Atlanta the wise play?

Aside from logistical arguments, there’s also a pressing political reason for keeping the action in Nashville. While we loathe to wade into politics, the industry is now facing some distinct challenges trying to get the Trump Administration and Republicans to care about urgent issues like AI and copyright.

Time couldn’t be more critical, though insiders lament that similarly-situated Hollywood is getting nowhere on critically important AI and IP-related concerns, for obvious reasons. But maybe there’s a strategic answer to this riddle.

The logic goes something like this: Hollywood is certainly a related industry, but music isn’t as fixed geographically — or politically. During his first term, Trump was flanked by country superstars and a certain Detroit rocker when he signed the Music Modernization Act (MMA). Given that success, is Tennessee the perfect hub for lobbying this administration and Congress again — particularly given the shutout being experienced by Hollywood and others on the wrong side of this political aisle?

Meanwhile, speaking of Capitol Hill fixers, National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) topper David Israelite could be building the industry’s next ‘It’ conference.

Israelite’s Music Investor Conference (MIC) is now in its third year, kicking off this June in Manhattan. But this event has a totally different game plan involving limited capacity and an invite-only, serious dealmaking crowd. That’s generating some surprisingly nice pre-event buzz, with New York offering a more serious backdrop. Are we looking at a budding Davos for music taking shape?

So far, we’re hearing that MIC isn’t yet getting the ‘heavy heavies’ like UMG titan Lucian Grainge — at least en masse — though a fairly influential cast of folks are expected to attend again this year (at least based on the 2024 list).

Meanwhile, it’s tricky to get a read on future industry crowds given a tough year+ of layoffs.

For obvious reasons, labels and tech bros like to keep layoffs on the hush, though heavy downsizing at mega-companies like Spotify and WMG could be trimming crowds at future industry conferences. Was SXSW just a preview of what a leaner business looks like?

On the flip side, a lot of money has been pouring into this industry. As of mid-April, north of $2 billion worth of investments have dropped in 2025 alone, according to DMN Pro’s latest tallies. Will that tailwind mark the start of a surprisingly bullish 2025 for the music business despite the economic turbulence of late?

That topic and more coming to a music conference panel near you.

Photo Credit: Lorenzo Spoleti

How accurately can humans identify music created using artificial intelligence? A new study conducted by MIT Technology Review reveals humans struggle against diffusion-created AI music from platforms like Suno and Udio.

Diffusion models for creating music don’t compose songs the same way a human might, by starting with chords and adding vocals and drums. Instead, these models generate the noise of music all at once—visualized by a waveform. With hundreds of millions of waveforms from human generated songs, AI platforms like Suno and Udio can create a model capable of generating AI music.

“A model is fed millions of clips of existing songs, each labeled with a description. To generate a new song, it starts with pure random noise and works backward to create a new waveform. The path it takes to do so is shaped by the words someone puts into the prompt,” O’Donnell writes of these AI services. That backwards generation is the exact opposite of how humans write music—but the human ear struggles to differentiate from the two.

While major labels are suing both Suno and Udio for training their models on copyrighted music at an “unimaginable scale,” these companies argue that training models are fair use. Udio says it has model filters in place to prevent the model from “reproducing copyrighted works or artists’ voices.”

O’Donnell spent a few days playing around with Udio’s model for a test. Generating 30-second samples, he created tracks in 12 genres of music and asked the newsroom team at MIT Technology Review to identify the songs made by AI amid other songs created by people.

“The average score was 46%,” O’Donnell reveals. “And for a few genres, especially instrumental ones, listeners were wrong more often than not.” O’Donnell says when he watched people take the test, he noticed that qualities they confidently flagged as AI compositions—fake-sounding instruments, weird lyrics—were not always right.

“Predictably, people did worse in genres they were less familiar with; some did okay on country or soul, but many stood no chance against jazz, classical piano, or pop. Beaty, the creativity researcher scored 66%, while Brandt, the composer, scored 50%.” With just a few text prompts, O’Donnell created music that humans couldn’t pick out of a line-up as AI generated. “A few could have been easily played at a party without raising objections, and I found two I genuinely loved, even as a lifelong musicians and generally picky music person,” he shares.

Chartmetric trending artist du jour, De La Soul

Digital Music News is now expanding its longtime partnership with Chartmetric, the industry’s most respected music intelligence and data platform.

Jumping in, DMN readers will soon have access to a constantly-updating track popularity ranking, complete with fast-emerging breakouts. Complementing the ranking will be Chartmetric’s latest data trend analyses, which will include a broad range of genres, artists, and broader worldwide music developments.

Everything will be available to Digital Music News readers in a neat dropdown widget, which will complement DMN’s existing industry coverage.

The dynamic chart ranking will lean heavily on Spotify Monthly Listeners and Chartmetric’s own scoring methodologies to monitor breakout tracks and artists, 24/7. For those seeking a real time ranking that better reflects trending realities online and off, there isn’t a better barometer of what’s bubbling.

For those that want to dive deeper, Chartmetric’s data-focused breakdowns will offer unparalleled examinations of music trends worldwide.

That includes featured articles from Chartmetric’s ‘How Music Charts,’ a dedicated editorial column focused on music charts, data, and analytics – with extremely time-sensitive and relevant articles.

And that’s in addition to DMN’s non-stop, hard-hitting industry coverage and DMN Pro analyses.

“Chartmetric and Digital Music News have been partnering for years with a mission to broaden music industry intelligence,” said Chartmetric President & COO Andreas Katsambas. “Now, we’re taking things a step further.”

Meanwhile, Chartmetric is recharting the possibilities in A&R with a recently-released ‘Talent Search Tool’ to power better predictive intelligence.

As profiled on DMN, Chartmetric’s Talent Search Tool sifts through data from over 10 million artists, identifying key signals that suggest an artist’s potential for long-term success. Each artist receives a daily score from 1 to 10 across various metrics, making it easier to spot emerging talent worthy of deeper investigation.

Just recently, Chartmetric joined forces with DMN to broaden awareness of its data-powered predictive tool.

A breakdown of cumulative Spotify (SPOT) stock cash-outs by top executives and board members (DMN Pro, SEC filings)

For Spotify’s top brass and insiders, it’s been a very lucrative few years. But just how much money is being cashed out? According to nearly 100 SEC documents compiled and examined by DMN Pro, total cashouts by Spotify execs and board members – mostly over the past two years – are approaching $1.8 billion, thanks to a stunning run-up in SPOT’s valuation since 2023.

Spotify is one of the music industry’s biggest success stories of the past decade — and one of the most lucrative for its top executives, investors, and other other top insiders. After a turnaround towards profitability that started in 2023, SPOT enjoyed an unprecedented surge in share valuation – with top shareholders like CEO Daniel Ek cashing out to capture the gains.

In this report, DMN Pro takes a look at just how much money has been generated from Spotify stock cashouts since 2023 by top Spotify executives and board members. Amazingly, total cashouts are now approaching $1.8 billion since SPOT listed on the NYSE in 2018, with most of the action happening in the past two years.

Report Table of Contents

I. The Cash–Out Bonanza: A Look at the $1.8 Billion SPOT Stock-Selling Frenzy

II. Why Now? A Look at the Factors Pushing SPOT Into the Stratosphere

III. The Biggest SPOT Stock Sale Beneficiaries, Ranked

IV. A Turbulent 2025: Can the Hockey Stick Possibly Continue for SPOT?

Photo Credit: Edison Research

A new study from Edison Research finds ad-supported streaming has more listeners than its paid, ad-free counterparts.

For decades, music on the radio was the most accessible and free way to listen to music. But radio stations have traditionally been supported by ads, so listeners were well accustomed to hearing them between songs. The only way to get an “ad-free” experience was by purchasing an album on vinyl, tape, or CD.

These days, thanks to streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube, many listeners are willing to pay a premium price to avoid ads altogether.

But newly released data from Edison Research reveals that in the US, most people spend the majority of their daily audio time with ad-supported sources (64%), compared to ad-free premium sources (36%). Ad-supported sources in this study include AM/FM radio, radio streams, music on YouTube with ads, SiriusXM talk channels, free versions of streaming audio sources, and podcasts.

Those who spend the most time with ad-supported sources tend to be older; 75% of Americans 55+ spend their audio time with ad-supported audio. Listeners aged 35-54 listening to ad-supported audio clocked in at 65%. Meanwhile, those aged 13-34 spend almost as much time listening to ad-free audio (46%) as they do ad-supported (54%).

This data makes sense, given that younger American spend more time on platforms that make removing advertisements relatively easy and fairly inexpensive, like Spotify and YouTube. Further, older Americans are more likely to have spent time listening to ad-supported audio before the advent of streaming, perhaps making it less of a deterrent to them than younger generations.

From the perspective of the providers, ad-supported audio remains an effective way to reach consumers and increase brand and product awareness. To that point, an increasing number of video streaming services are putting ads into their paid plans, such as Netflix.

That only begs whether audio streamers like Spotify will follow in their video counterparts’ footsteps. Rumors have circulated this week that recent advertising updates to Spotify would result in ads appearing in paid plans. Namely, rumors suggest the current $11.99 monthly Premium plan would see a limited amount of ads introduced, with the company introducing a higher-priced tier for continued ad-free listening.

Despite Spotify’s denial of any truth to those rumors, some users have reported encountering ads in their paid Premium subscriptions. Spotify says this is due to a technical issue.

But whether these are actually the earliest whisperings of an additional source of revenue for the streaming giant remains to be seen. The company has been under fire for years over its abysmal royalty payments to artists.

Perhaps more ads would provide a way for Spotify to cut artists on its platform a bigger check. However, that doesn’t mean its users are willing to pay the price.

TikTok USA, circa 2025 (Photo: TCY)

Months after ‘the ban,’ there’s no telling what happens to TikTok next in the US.

After inching oh-so-close to a deal to secure TikTok in the US, China apparently pressed hard pause on the arrangement following Trump’s tariff slap. So what does that mean for the music industry?

If you love uncertainty, this one’s for you. Trump is now extending the ban by another 75 days, though a hard clock is now ticking on a deal that was apparently 99% done. Congressional pushback on the ‘phase 2 extension’ is already happening, and Apple is seeking White House assurance that the app can remain on its App Store.

This slow-motion cookie crumble could go in any direction. Among the possibilities within the next 30 days: TikTok shutting down for good or continuing business-as-usual — or, potentially, some insane variation in the middle.

Last we checked, TikTok is available on both the iOS App Store and Google Play Store, though this situation is volatile. And certainly not a recipe for crafting stellar, long-term artist marketing campaigns — or advertising campaigns, for that matter.

Most music folks are smartly spreading their marketing efforts across the gamut of social media giants, with IG Reels and Shorts getting a nice stability bump. That said, as long as TikTok is ticking, it has the power to blow stuff up — including entire artist careers and dusty catalog tracks.

While the over-under on TikTok’s survival has gone haywire, some executive ship-jumping is worth noting — particularly TikTok Music ex-honcho Ole Obermann, who recently packed his bags for Apple Music. And he’s not the only one potentially pondering the writing on the wall.

Meanwhile, other platforms continue to seize the moment. On that note: what major social media platform just inked a broad-reaching deal with major music publishers? (Hint: the first letter isn’t ‘X’…)

On a broader note, few in the music business seem to be rooting for TikTok’s survival.

It’s not that TikTok isn’t making some effort to play nice with the music business. Just last week, for example, TikTok was among the supporting sponsors at the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) golf classic and fire relief efforts in Los Angeles. But for the most part, the vibe within the music industry isn’t warmly supportive, to say the least.

TikTok famously refused to reasonably compensate rights owners until absolutely forced, with the aforementioned Obermann battling it out with Universal Music Group for weeks before a deal was hammered out. Indies are also understandably cool on this low-paying platform, though TikTok’s marketing muscle is certainly potent — especially if the viral fairy gods tap your shoulder.

Then again, that’s the aspiration for rivals like Reels and Shorts, among others. And we get the sense that witnessing a heavy door slamming on TikTok’s derriere would be oh-so-satisfying for many industry folks.

Guess everyone’s replaceable — and let’s face it, life will go on in the music industry, with or without TikTok USA playing a role in it.

More as this develops.

Got a juicy tip? Hit me up at paul@digitalmusicnews.com or Signal (@digitalmusicnews.07).

VInyl record (LP+EP) shipments in the United States, 2020-2024 (Data Source: RIAA)

Vinyl records are the comeback story that nobody saw coming. But are we also missing a pending plateau?

Streaming is the music industry’s cash cow, so it makes sense that subscriber levels are being closely watched. But what about vinyl records? In this report, we take a look at some scarily flat LP sales figures emerging in 2024, and assess whether a vinyl plateau might be afoot.

Report Table of Contents

I. Tackling the Core Question: Are Vinyl Record Sales Entering a Plateau?

II. The American Sales Picture

A. US-Based LP Sales Inch Upward 1% In 2024 – Though Per-Unit Revenues Remain Solid

B. The Factors at Play: Superfans, Methodologies, and Year-Over-Year Variations

C. Mixed-Up Data: Luminate’s Vinyl Counting ‘Correction’ In 2024

III. The European LP Sales Picture: Emerging Sales Stats In the UK, Spain, Italy

IV. The Broader Look: US-Based Vinyl Sales, 2015-2024

V. A Look at the Future of a Niche Format: Will Vinyl Ever Cross the Chasm Into Something More Substantial?

Please note: this report is for DMN Pro subscribers only. Please do not redistribute — thank you!

Music industry funding achieved a substantial year-over-year increase in March 2025. But the month and its 2024 counterpart still recorded fewer combined raises than March 2023. Photo Credit: Giorgio Trovato

Thanks in part to massive raises from catalog investors, core music industry funding turned in a significant YoY jump during March 2025. From a volume perspective, the month (as well as March 2024) lagged behind its 2023 counterpart — signifying a shift away from frothiness.

These and other worthwhile takeaways come from data compiled in DMN Pro’s Music Industry Funding Tracker. The one-stop resource features detailed breakdowns of raises from in-and-around the music world.

On the “around” front, the Funding Tracker distinguishes between core and industry-adjacent raises, both of which are explored below. Any rounds disclosed in foreign currencies are converted into USD at the time of announcement, and those values were left in place for this piece’s calculations.

Core Music Industry Funding Cracked $1.5 Billion in March 2025

All told, music industry funding hiked to $5.08 billion during March 2025, up substantially from March 2024’s $63.52 million, DMN Pro data shows. But as usual, the funding story doesn’t begin and end with the top-level valuation boost.

Most importantly, the lion’s share of the March 2025 sum derived from Anthropic’s $3.5 billion Series E. Less that gargantuan raise and a few others adjacent to the industry proper, the month’s core music funding came in at $1.52 billion.

Even that figure marks a material increase from March 2024, especially given that the prior-year month’s core funding finished at $10.36 million.

The Catalog-Acquisition Boom Isn’t Over Yet – IP Investors Scored Sizable Fundraises in March 2025

Furthermore, March 2024 didn’t have the benefit of a multibillion-dollar total contribution from the catalog side. However, Pophouse Entertainment confirmed a roughly $1.3 billion catalog fundraise (the majority of which remains undeployed) last month, while Duetti secured $200 million in fresh debt funding.

Minus the combined $1.5 billion in question, core music industry funding totaled $20 million in March 2025 and had an average round size of $6.67 million. The former sum increased about 93% from March 2024’s above-mentioned $10.36 million in core funding. And March 2025’s average round size rose noticeably from the older month’s $3.45 million.

More to the Picture Than Hard Funding: Raise Volume Was Still Down in March 2024 and 2025

With all that said, when it comes to the overall music industry funding landscape, there’s more to consider than March 2025’s YoY value spike. Combined, March 2024 and 2025 delivered 13 industry and industry-adjacent rounds, two of which came from social music app Hook. That’s less than the total behind March 2023 alone.

It’s impossible to say exactly when the IP-acquisition sector will experience a funding-announcement cool-down. Of course, billions are already earmarked for catalog purchases, plenty of players scoop up song rights without publicly revealing their raises, and there are only so many bodies of work to buy.

But when things do taper off, the situation will have a major effect on (among different areas) funding, which is still down big in 2025 as a whole. Meanwhile, though valuable, hard data doesn’t cover every funding angle; several music industry startups have ceased operating after scoring multimillion-dollar raises in recent years.

We’ll be peeling this onion a lot more over the coming weeks — with full quarter and broader year-over-year analyses ahead. Stay tuned.

Photo Credit: IMPF President Annette Barrett

IMPF launches the fifth edition of its Global Market View for Independent Music Publishing at the organization’s annual event in Athens.

IMPF’s Global Market View is the only report that looks exclusively at the independent music publishing industry and its international impact and position. It provides in-depth, authoritative insight into the value of the independent music publishing business and the sector’s influence on the global modern music ecosystem.

The latest report, based on the last full year of data available, finds that the global independent music publishing business continued to grow in 2023, with a total value of €2.57 billion ($2.8 billion), up 5.7% year-on-year. That’s also up 105.6% since 2018.

Photo Credit: IMPF

The sector’s global market share clocked in at 26.3%, slightly down from 26.7% in 2022. That’s still enough to maintain its status as the biggest combined music publishing entity in the world — ahead of the largest major company.

This edition of the Global Market View puts a spotlight on independent music publishers’ contribution to the creative ecosystem as important partners, key agents of cultural diversity, and custodians of songs.

Photo Credit: IMPF

Unsurprisingly, digital was a prime driver of growth, with a strong increase in digital revenue in all regions, except for Africa. Certain markets have digital revenues now exceeding 50% of the total, such as Mexico (+69.8%), Sweden (+64.7%), Australasia (+61.4%), and Canada (+53.2%).

For the first time in Canada and the US, digital revenue overtook broadcast income, which has traditionally been the dominant income stream. Digital now accounts for 43.6% of the market, an increase of 12.6%. The US market is by far the largest single market for indie publishers, while Europe as a whole is the largest region by far in terms of collections from CMOs. But in terms of growth, Latin America is the fastest growing, with a 26.2% growth rate, driven by Brazil and Mexico.

Meanwhile, the world’s two largest markets — India and China — are both showing promising signs. India is the world’s 24th largest market in revenues, which is no small feat, given that the country did not appear among the Top 50 markets only a few years ago. In 2023, China held the 26th position, while both countries have the potential to become Top 10 markets within a decade if they continue to grow at the same rate.

Photo Credit: IMPF

“I’m pleased to present the fifth edition of IMPF’s Global Market View, which reveals continued growth in the value of independent music publishing worldwide, and that our combined market share remains greater than that of the largest major corporate organization,” says IMPF President Annette Barrett.

“This demonstrates the enduring influence and important of independent music publishers, their songwriters and their repertoire around the world, and the value they deliver on both a local and international level. IMPF is proud to support this vibrant, diverse, and powerful community, advocating for our members, helping them to foster new opportunities and tackle emerging challenges head on.”

Overall, there is plenty of reason to be optimistic, but the report also raises some of the biggest issues facing independent music publishers around the world. Among those, generative AI will have a considerable impact on the music business.

“Publishers are constantly seeking new revenue streams for composers and songwriters, but AI-generated music presents an unprecedented challenge,” remarks Elisa Amouyal, CEO & Owner of Talit MuZIc Publishing, and Chair of the IMPF AI Working Group. “Calling this competition unfair is an understatement — AI songs are created at virtually no cost, bypassing the studio time, rehearsals, and human creativity that define the recording process. As AI-generated content floods the market, we need clear transparency and guardrails. While AI can enhance royalty management and offer creative tools, we must ensure it empowers rather than replaces songwriters and composers.”

IMPF remains active in all cross-industry discussion on these key issues and makes sure the voice of the independent music publishing community is heard.

Despite paid listening’s well-documented growth slowdown in the U.S., consumers’ overall recorded music spending increased by double digits during 2024, according to a new report. Photo Credit: Valentin Balan

There’s more to the U.S. music market story than a streaming plateau – at least according to a new analysis of across-the-board consumer spending during 2024.

This latest year-end breakdown comes from MusicWatch and follows separate recorded revenue recaps from the RIAA (one for the core industry, another for Latin music in particular), Luminate, and others yet.

As many know, these 2024 reports underscored (among different things) the States’ paid-listening slowdown. Luminate described a bunch of consumption stats illustrating the “maturing” nature of U.S. streaming growth, and the RIAA identified a 3.3% YoY recorded revenue uptick in the U.S.

Of course, the majors’ respective earnings reports have reflected the trend, which is fueling an aggressive embrace of superfan monetization and more.

But as described by MusicWatch, from the perspective of consumers’ overall music spending, there’s “[n]o slowdown” to speak of.

Even so, the appropriate fan-focused breakdown begins by acknowledging the States’ much-discussed subscription-expansion slip. Notwithstanding this dip, though, the document points to a 10% across-the-board increase in recorded music spending for 2024.

The percentage refers to growth on a per-capita basis ($112, up from $102 in 2023), the report indicates. Additionally, per-capita livestream spending is said to have jumped 27% YoY to $4.95.

Behind the figures, 132 million Americans paid for music subscriptions of some kind in 2024, per the resource.

Representing about half those between the ages of 13 and 70, the total includes subs from on-demand listening platforms like Spotify and Apple Music as well as satellite and internet radio.

In other words, plenty of U.S. consumers are paying for digital music access in one form or another, according to the text. (The RIAA previously attached 100 million paid on-demand subs to 2024, and DMN Pro maintains a market-share database for DSPs in the U.S.)

Shifting to the physical side, the report notes that 19 million Americans “bought a new vinyl record” during 2024.

When considered alongside the RIAA’s shipment data, that means the format’s diehard fans (or at least ultra-dedicated supporters of certain artists) are still purchasing multiple products apiece on average.

Finally, despite discussions about a slowdown for festivals and the broader crowd-based sector, the report suggests that live entertainment spending spiked last year.

Specifically, the text emphasizes a 17% YoY boost for consumers’ per-capita live music spending in 2024, to $281.08.

Also as laid out by the report, strong demand for certain tours more than offset the difficulties encountered by many festivals and some concert series; 56% of the U.S. population bought tickets in 2024, up from 51% in 2023, per the analysis.

Meanwhile, in keeping with the percentages, music-related merch spending is said to have hiked a staggering 45% in 2024.

A breakdown of Latin music recorded revenue in the United States by year. Photo Credit: RIAA

Despite experiencing a noticeable growth-rate slowdown, Latin music generated all-time-high recorded revenue in the U.S. during 2024, per a new report.

These and different takeaways come from the RIAA’s Latin music revenue report. Pertaining to the genre’s stateside showing in 2024, the breakdown points to $1.42 billion (up 5.8% YoY) in total recorded revenue on the year.

As usual, the lion’s share of U.S. Latin revenue derived from streaming, which put up nearly $1.4 billion overall and $966.5 million (up 6.1% YoY) specifically from paid subs, the document shows.

Rounding out the streaming category, $354 million (up 5.8% YoY) came from on-demand ad-supported listening, with $45.6 million (down 0.8% YoY) from SoundExchange distributions and the remaining $29.2 million (down 6% YoY) from other ad-supported listening.

Unsurprisingly, then, Latin’s permanent-download revenue suffered a double-digit slip to $7.6 million in 2024, while physical revenue, though almost double its 2023 counterpart, finished at $16.6 million.

(Like with the RIAA’s industry-wide annual report, the physical-revenue figure reflects estimated retail value – not necessarily what customers actually paid for vinyl and CD products.)

All told, Latin music accounted for 8.1% of total U.S. music market revenue in 2024, up from 7.9% in 2023, according to the analysis.

Addressing the genre’s 2024 showing, RIAA research VP Matt Bass touched on the perceived commercial opportunities associated with superfan monetization and more.

“Latin music has become a dominant force in American music with consistent revenue growth as new artists attract listeners, top more charts and shape culture faster than any other genre,” Bass said in part.

“Yet there are still more opportunities as artists and their labels explore collaborations that push the bounds of innovation, engaging superfans, expanding paid streaming and introducing vinyl nostalgia to this specific market,” the close to 12-year RIAA higher-up proceeded.

Time will tell whether these opportunities can drive accelerated commercial expansions for Latin music, the 2024 growth slowdown of which doesn’t exactly come as a surprise.

In the first place, Latin music revenue has been spiking for some time in the States and was bound to cool (from a percentage-growth perspective, that is) eventually. And we previously covered the genre’s H1 2024 growth deceleration (revenue was up 7.3% YoY).

Furthermore, a much-discussed streaming plateau is hitting developed music markets including the U.S. – and, in the process, the streaming-dependent Latin genre.

With all this said, growth is growth, especially given that the broader U.S. recorded music space only turned in a 3.6% YoY streaming-revenue improvement during 2024, according to the appropriate RIAA report.

Photo Credit: DMN Pro

Major digital service providers (DSPs) saw their subscriber growth flatline in 2024 as the US market for music subscriptions becomes saturated. Spotify and Apple Music are still growing—but everyone else has seemingly stalled out.

The data showcasing this flatline comes from DMN Pro, which charts how each DSP is performing based on earnings reports and other collated data. It’s difficult to ascertain whether subscribers are platform hopping—but the growth of Spotify and Apple Music seem to suggest this. Major competitors like Amazon Music and YouTube Music actually lost subscribers in 2024.

Spotify and Apple Music locked in gains and together, they both now account for two-thirds of the entire streaming subscription pie in the United States. In terms of broader consolidation, the top four streaming music platforms—Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and YouTube Music—now account for 97% of all music subscription accounts. Throw in Pandora Premium and that’s 99% of the premium subscription market.

Apple Music reported a 1.42% positive change in subscriptions from December 2023 to December 2024, while in the same time period Spotify only saw 0.58% growth. Meanwhile, Amazon Music shed subscribers at a -1.01% rate, with YouTube Music shedding -0.21% in the same time period. Services like Tidal, SoundCloud, iHeartRadio, LiveXLive, and Deezer have all flatlined.

Because of this flatline in the U.S. market, music subscription services are shifting their thinking towards offering ‘super premium tiers‘ to entice customers to pay more. Perks of these subscriptions may include improved audio fidelity, live concert perks, and other goodies. However, it remains unclear if these perks will jump start subscription growth again. Apple Music’s surprise inclusion of lossless audio to its default subscription service obviously took wind out of Spotify’s sails. Spotify’s rumored super-premium offering has yet to materialize five years after its teaser.

Want to be on top of which way the music industry is moving? Consider subscribing to DMN Pro to receive up-to-the-minute updates on subscription growth for all major DSPs as collated by DMN from multiple data sources including royalty statements, breakdowns, DSP-supplied reports, and more.

Photo Credit: Alexander Shatov

A new survey suggests 45% of Spotify subscribers are interested in a higher-priced service level, up from 39% from Q4.

A survey by KeyBanc Capital Markets reveals that 45% of Spotify subscribers are interested in a possible “high-end” service tier from Spotify — even though SPOT stock dropped over the weekend. That’s up from 39% in the firm’s fourth-quarter survey.

“While Spotify has not officially announced a higher-priced tier, comments from the company and labels suggest one is on the way,” said analyst Justin Patterson. “The quarter-to-quarter uptick [in interest] coincides with this question expanding to highlight priority ticket access as part of the tier. With Spotify already having agreements with two major labels [UMG and Warner], we suspect this tier could launch in second-half 2025.”

The company’s Q1 survey showed that 31% of respondents use Spotify, compared with 22% for Pandora, 18% for Apple Music, and 17% for Amazon Music. While 37% of respondents said they listen to YouTube Music, KeyBanc attributed the higher number to confusion between YouTube’s video platform and YouTube Music.

Among Spotify users, 48% use its free, ad-supported tier, while 47% subscribe to a paid Spotify service. The remaining 5% were unsure which Spotify tier they used.

Spotify subscribers were asked if they’d be willing to pay an additional $5-6 a month for a “super fan” Spotify subscription with extra features. Those features could include enhanced audio quality, early access to new releases, AI playlist creation, artist Q&A sessions, and priority access to concert tickets. Around 45% said they were interested, while 32% said they were not interested. The remainder were undecided.

KeyBanc surveyed 2,045 people in the United States on their audio habits. The survey also showed more interest in audiobooks on Spotify, 29% versus 25% in the previous quarter.

“We continue to view Spotify as being well positioned to achieve at least 15% annual revenue growth over the medium term, with potential to reach 20 growth if new initiatives and advertising ramp,” said Patterson.

In the US, Spotify’s ad-free subscription costs $11.99 a month for a single user, $16.99 for a two-person plan, and $19.99 for a family plan. The company also offers a student plan for $5.99 a month.

Despite a slow weekend overall, Spotify stock continues to soar, with a 120% return over the past year. Analysts maintain a bullish consensus with price targets ranging from $442 to $759.

EY is forecasting 21 million paid streaming subscriptions for the Indian music market by 2027. Photo Credit: EY

Amid a major paid streaming push, the Indian music market more than doubled its subscription revenue during 2024, per a new report. However, decreases also hit total on-demand listeners and digital revenue.

These and other insights come from a new EY India and FICCI report. Spanning roughly 300 pages, the all-encompassing breakdown covers multiple sides of India’s media and entertainment space – illustrating worthwhile cross-sector takeaways in the process.

Keeping the focus on the Indian music market for a moment, total non-radio revenue came in at about $619.45 million (INR 53 billion) during 2024, down close to 2% YoY, according to the report. And digital revenue fell 11% YoY to make up 62.4% of the overall market.

Traditional radio, on the other hand, is said to have achieved 9.1% YoY revenue growth to $292.19 million (INR 25 billion).

But behind music’s top-level and digital revenue slips, paid on-demand subscriptions are said to have spiked from seven million in 2023 to 10.5 million in 2024. This boost elevated subscription revenue to $81.81 million (INR 7 billion) in the Indian music market last year, per the resource.

At least according to the report, however, the paid streaming push fueled a dip (185 million to 175 million) in India’s total on-demand streaming users.

(Certain platforms are limiting the features available to ad-supported users, while Gaana as well as Hungama are now “entirely pay,” the report reiterates.)

As the authors (but not the quoted music execs) see things, it’ll take some time for the subscription prioritization to pay off for the industry – with the nation of 1.4 billion projected to have 21 million total paid music subscribers by 2027.

“Given the availability of free and ad-supported alternatives like YouTube and radio, and the absence of exclusive content, the growth in the pay subscriber base will remain muted,” reads one relevant section of the report, which points to average streaming ARPU of 69 cents (INR 55) for 2024.

On this front, the document also explores YouTube’s strong reach in India, where “online adults” age 35 and up are said to have spent an average of 80 minutes per day on the platform in 2024.

According to EY India’s analysis of Indian Performing Right Society data for 2024, total music streaming volume in India (and, in turn, the global market) is substantially larger than other reports have found. Photo Credit: EY

Running with that point, the nation’s 204 million “total music streamers” recorded just shy of 4.8 trillion song plays last year, the document shows – meaning fan interest certainly isn’t an issue.

(Incidentally, that number’s essentially flat with the 4.8 trillion “on-demand streaming audio” plays Luminate identified for the entire global market in 2024.)

Meanwhile, 63% of India’s 2024 music streaming consumption (by the portion of total plays) reached film-based releases, according to EY’s resource.

As for forthcoming plans to enhance streaming monetization in the Indian music market, the authors are anticipating “significant innovation around bundling,” besides expansions to “pricing options for various audience categories in order to facilitate growth.”

Streaming music platform (DSP) market share breakdown as December 2024, US (Source: DMN Pro, Digital Music News)

YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Pandora Premium, and other streaming platforms struggled to gain subscribers in 2024, as Spotify and Apple Music notched their collective leads higher.

The streaming music market isn’t a one- or two-horse race — in the United States or globally. However, two fast-galloping horses, Spotify and Apple Music, are pushing their collective market share higher in the US as rival platforms struggle to gain ground. According to our latest market share statistics through December 2024, Spotify and Apple Music now account for more than two-thirds of total paying music streaming subscribers in the music industry’s largest market.

Here’s the full breakdown, including a year-over-year market share analysis.

Report Table of Contents

I. The Latest US-Based DSP Market Share Breakdowns (as of December 2024)

II. Year-Over-Year Comparisons: Spotify and Apple Music Pull Ahead – As Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Others Lose Ground

III. Challenging Stagnation: Where’s the Innovation Breakthrough to Jumpstart Subscribers?

IV. Our Methodology: Description, Limitations, and Future Enhancements

V. Appendix: Streaming Music Pricing & Audio Fidelity Breakdown for Top DSPs, March 2025

Please note: the following report is exclusively for DMN Pro subscribers — please do not redistribute. Thank you!

A National Music Publishers’ Association graphic comparing Spotify head Daniel Ek’s 2024 stock sales with the streaming platform’s songwriter royalties in the U.S. during the year. Photo Credit: NMPA

Who said the Spotify bundling criticism was letting up? The NMPA is calling out CEO Daniel Ek for allegedly selling more company stock in 2024 than his platform paid all U.S. songwriters in royalties for the year.

National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) head David Israelite just recently emphasized the stat, “one of the craziest” he’s seen, in a LinkedIn post. By now, many are aware of Spotify’s audiobook-bundling embrace, which, we’ve explored at length, is fueling significant royalty effects in the music world.

And to put it mildly, the situation isn’t sitting right with songwriters and publishers; the majors’ respective publishing arms haven’t hesitated to opt for direct deals. It’s unclear whether smaller players can go the same route, and questions also remain about how the fiasco will affect Spotify’s plans for new features.

Closer to the present, the NMPA and others certainly aren’t through with their royalty-related criticism of Spotify.

“This is one of the craziest stats I have ever seen in the music industry,” David Israelite wrote. “In 2024, it’s reported Daniel Ek cashed out $376m in stock. In that same period, it’s estimated ALL songwriters in the US received $320m from Spotify.

“The system is broken. Songwriters and publishers need the freedom to negotiate rates in a free market,” the NMPA CEO concluded.

We covered Ek’s Spotify stock sales (as well as those of different execs and insiders) when they were recorded last year. Meanwhile, the 42-year-old has continued cashing in on SPOT during 2025.

All told, since February 2024, Ek has sold just shy of $560 million in company stock, regulatory filings show. That sizable sum includes almost $127 million worth of trades reported during February and March 2025 alone.

Returning to the NMPA-stressed stats, the latest round of public pushback attests to the multifaceted opposition Spotify is still staring down here.

First, this refers to the above-highlighted licensing hurdles. Last month, the NMPA not-so-subtly underscored that Spotify would have to secure additional licenses for its anticipated remix and mashup offerings; the latter are expected to be part of a more expensive “Super-Premium” tier.

The NMPA is simultaneously cracking down on alleged infringement in Spotify-hosted podcasts.

Lastly, regarding the ongoing bundling fallout, the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) promptly challenged Spotify’s underlying subscription reclassifications in court. Though the development’s received minimal industry coverage, earlier in March, a federal judge revived components of the previously dismissed suit.

Now, the MLC has until April 1st to seek leave to submit a retooled action. The amended complaint, the judge said in more words, must focus on claims that Spotify didn’t properly pay royalties on its audiobook plan and attached an inflated price to the standalone audiobook tier, thereby enjoying bolstered savings under the relevant royalty-calculation model.

Photo Credit: Apple TV+

Apple is losing over $1 billion annually on its Apple TV+ streaming service, but Apple Music is still thriving.

Apple is burning over a billion dollars annually on Apple TV+, according to a new report from The Information this week. The company is typically very guarded about the performance of its services individually, sharing very few details on its quarterly earnings calls.

Like Apple Music and iCloud storage, Apple TV+ is lumped in together under the “Services” category on the company’s earnings reports. The sector has performed well overall, raking in $26.1 billion during Q4, up 14% year-over-year. But according to The Information, Apple’s Services are performing well despite Apple TV+ hemorrhaging money.

Apple has never shared its subscriber count publicly, but The Information says Apple TV+ had 45 million customers last year. This puts the service between Peacock (36 million subscribers) and Hulu (53 million subscribers), when comparing major streaming platforms.

Apple TV+, which is home to series like “Ted Lasso,” “Mythic Quest,” “Shrinking,” and “Severance,” may have actually increased its subscriber count recently. That’s due primarily to the success of the recently released Season 2 of “Severance.” Nielsen reported that Apple TV+ subscribers watched over 3 billion minutes of “Severance” since its second season return. That’s approximately one episode per subscriber, based on the numbers reported by The Information.

Meanwhile, Apple Music seems to be retaining a strong market share. Despite its individual numbers being held close to the chest, the success of the broader Services sector for Apple is going strong. That implies Apple Music is thriving, even if Apple TV+ is not. In fact, Apple Music’s market share is higher than many realize — sitting much closer to music streaming leader Spotify on the industry hierarchy.

Apple shares were up 0.75% on Thursday morning, hitting $216.78 per share. With a market cap of $3.26 trillion, it remains the most valuable company in the world.

Amid growth slowdowns in North America and Asia, besides double-digit expansions in other regions, global recorded music industry revenue increased by 4.8% in 2024. Photo Credit: IFPI

The global recorded music industry generated $29.6 billion in 2024, up 4.8% YoY, amid slowing stateside growth as well as double-digit expansions in Latin America, MENA, and more.

That’s according to the IFPI, which put out its 2025 Global Music Report (covering 2024’s revenue particulars) this morning. As many know, 2024 brought indications of a streaming-growth slowdown in the U.S., and the RIAA yesterday elaborated on the trend in its own annual report.

In other words, that the IFPI identified a modest 2.1% YoY recorded-revenue increase for the U.S. and Canada doesn’t exactly come as a surprise. Nor does the fact that streaming made up an even 69% of last year’s worldwide recorded revenue, up from a 67.3% share in 2023.

That comes out to a 7.3% across-the-board improvement in 2024 to $20.4 billion for streaming, which, all told, had 752 million worldwide “users of subscription accounts.” Amid price bumps, paid streaming revenue grew 9.5% YoY.

Meanwhile, behind 2024’s $29.6 billion in total revenue, 17.7% came from ad-supported streaming, representing a 1.2% YoY boost, the IFPI relayed.

As highlighted, on-demand listening’s 2024 gains (and those of the broader industry) are attributable in large part to double-digit spikes in streaming-heavy emerging markets.

Overall, each region save North America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania achieved double-digit growth last year, the IFPI indicated.

2024 Recorded Music Revenue Growth by Region

USA & Canada: 2.1% growth in 2024 (down from 7.4% in 2023)

Latin America: 22.5% growth in 2024 (up from 19.4%)

Europe: 8.3% growth in 2024 (down slightly from 8.9%)

Asia: 1.3% growth in 2024 (down from 14.9%)

MENA: 22.8% growth in 2024 (up from 14.4%)

Sub-Saharan Africa: 22.6% growth in 2024 (down from 24.7%) to $110 million

About 75% of the total came from South Africa.

Australasia: 6.4% growth in 2024 (down from 10.8%) to $629 million

Behind the figures, Mexico (15.6% YoY revenue growth) supplanted Australia to become the 10th-largest recorded market in the world. 9.6% YoY growth for China and continually strong physical sales in South Korea helped offset a slight revenue dip for Japan, which ranks only behind the States by industry size.

Shifting to the physical side, revenue decreased 3.1% YoY to $4.8 billion in 2024, when a CDs decline was partially offset by a 4.6% YoY expansion for vinyl, the IFPI indicated.

Rounding out the 2024 data, the narrowly defined sync category is said to have delivered $650 million (up 6.4% YoY). Less the $412.6 million in sync revenue attached to the U.S. for 2024, that comes out to just $237.4 million for all non-U.S. licenses.

Lastly, despite yet another double-digit decline, permanent downloads brought in $828.8 million in recorded revenue last year, when public performances contributed $2.9 billion (up 5.9% YoY), according to the report.

Streaming music subscriber account growth rates, US, 2020-2024 (Data source: RIAA, DMN Pro)

Data released this week from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) sheds new light on a seriously flattening streaming music subscriber picture in the United States. So what’s the music industry’s next move?

Evidence of a music subscription plateau has been bubbling for years, though the latest data from the RIAA highlights a worsening problem. According to the US-based trade group, which represents major labels Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and Sony Music Entertainment, paid subscribers improved a modest 3.3% in 2024, part of a continued deceleration in growth.

Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be an uptick in sight, and declines are happening across both ‘limited’ and ad-based tiers.

Despite the slowdown, the latest data contains a big nugget of good news. According to the trade group, total US-based premium music subscribers topped 100 million for the first time ever, a number once considered unthinkable. Per-user revenues also bumped upward, though ARPU, or average revenue per user, will become a closely watched metric in 2025 and beyond.

Report Table of Contents

I. The top-level stats: total premium subscribers and growth rates, US, 2020-2024

II. ‘Limited’ and ad-based tiers take a hit – a closer look at the declines

III. Are price increases off the table in 2025?

IV. ‘Streaming 2.0’: the ‘superfan’ economy begins

Please note: The following report is for DMN Pro subscribers only. Please do not redistribute — thank you!

Newly released vinyl sales data is raising questions about a possible plateau. Photo Credit: Myko Makhlai

We’ve been hearing about the streaming plateau for some time. But after nearly two decades of consecutive growth for vinyl, is the format facing a slowdown of its own?

The question is front of mind following yesterday’s release of new recorded-market details for the U.S. According to those RIAA-provided stats, vinyl sales revenue grew for the 18th consecutive year in 2024 – though units shipped increased only 1% from 2023 to 43.6 million.

On one hand, in an age when a month of ad-free streaming costs less than a single LP in the States, that’s an impressive feat. On the other hand – and despite 2024’s $1.44 billion (up 6.9% YoY) in U.S. vinyl revenue at estimated retail value – the figure suggests a commercial slowdown for vinyl in today’s largest music market.

Nevertheless, the same figure might not be indicative of materially slipping fan demand or a significant loss of ground for the resurging format.

Of course, vinyl’s 1% YoY sales-volume growth is noticeably smaller than the increases attributable to recent years – with the nearest exception being 2016 and its 1.8% YoY boost. But it’s easy to forget that vinyl’s U.S. units shipped hiked 158% between 2015 and 2024.

Furthermore, against the backdrop of heightened demand from Swifties and other artist-specific superfans, much of the spike is new. Per RIAA data, U.S. vinyl sales jumped by a massive 67.3% between 2020 (23.7 million) and 2021 (39.7 million) alone – and that was following 23.6% growth across 2019 and 2020.

(Like with streaming’s measurement metrics, methodology changes make it difficult to illustrate exactly how U.S. vinyl sales stack up on a year-to-year basis, at least for lengthier stretches. One such change, for example, saw the RIAA adjust LP/EP units moved from 17.2 million as initially reported in 2016 to 14.8 million when reiterated in the 2017 report.)

Stated differently, given that 2024’s U.S. vinyl sales were still almost 2.3 times greater than 2019’s, it’s noteworthy that the format’s consecutive-growth streak is unbroken.

And we aren’t without other evidence of possible vinyl-growth hiccups. Whether the result of its much-discussed sales-calculation changes, a genuine decline, or both, Luminate identified a substantial 2024 drop for physical in the U.S.

As for what this information means from a global perspective, the IFPI today pointed to 4.6% global revenue (not sales volume) growth for vinyl during 2024. In keeping with the figure, vinyl achieved mixed results on a country-by-country basis last year.

That includes but certainly isn’t limited to the U.K. (2.9% YoY vinyl-revenue growth to $189 million), Spain (down 3.8% YoY to $36 million), and Italy (6.8% growth to $42 million).

Photo Credit: FIMI.it

Italy becomes the third-largest EU music market behind Germany and France. Italian recorded music revenues rose by 8.5% in 2024.

For the seventh consecutive year of growth, the Italian recorded music market firmly establishes its vitality with an overall increase of 8.5% last year. The growth positions Italy as the third-largest music market in the EU after Germany and France.

The driving force behind the growth is streaming, representing 67% of total revenues and recording 13.5% growth — or 308.1 million euros. With a total amount of 95 billion streams in 2024, up 31% from 2023, the most relevant segment is represented by subscriptions, which recorded an increase of 17.1%. Ad-supported revenue remains stable, recording a modest +0.4%. This data confirms the growing interest of Italian consumers in subscription-based models.

The video streaming segment also recorded a significant increase of 14.1%, demonstrating how audiovisual content continues to represent an important lever for music consumption. Despite the physiological decline in downloads (down 12.7%), the Italian digital market as a whole reached 312.2 million euros, with a growth of 13.1% compared to 2023.

However, the physical market still plays an important role, accounting for 13% of total revenues, although overall it recorded a 2.1% decline. This slowdown is due to the replacement of the Italian Government’s Culture Bonus for income brackets and high-performing students, which have provided less incentive for purchasing recorded music.

Despite the overall decline in the segment, vinyl remains the preferred physical medium format for Italian music lovers, with a growth of 6.8%. This is the sixth consecutive year of growth for the format that places Italy as the eighth-largest market worldwide.

Performance rights also recorded an increase of 2.6%, reaching 74.8 million euros and covering 16% of total revenues, representing the second source of revenues in the Italian record market after streaming. Despite the decline in the private copy area due to the decline in electronic devices’ sales, the overall figure testifies to the growing importance of royalties deriving from the public use of music.

On the contrary, sync recorded a 4.8% decline, bringing the segment’s share to just 3% of total revenues. This is the result of an increasingly intense competition in the music listening market and a slight reduction in investments in this area.

Royalties from Italian music export performed very well, reaching a total of 27.95 million euros in 2024, marking an increase of 13.8%. The digital segment is naturally the main driver of this growth, with a significant increase of 24.4%.

The 2024 data confirms the structural transformation of the Italian market, increasingly oriented towards digital and with consumption models based on access rather than ownership. The continuous expansion of paid streaming underlines a change in the listeners’ habits, with music in 2024 being more oriented towards new releases than the catalog — 82% of streams came from songs released from 2010 onwards.

A breakdown of U.S. recorded music industry revenue in 2022, 2023, and 2024. Photo Credit: RIAA

Paid on-demand music streaming subs hit 100 million to close out 2024, when overall streaming revenue increased by a modest 3.6% year over year.

These and other recorded-market stats come from the RIAA’s newly released 2024 year-end report. According to that breakdown, the mentioned 100 million on-demand subs mark a 3.3% YoY boost and, against the backdrop of slow-but-fairly-steady price bumps, delivered $10.69 billion in recorded revenue (up 5.3% YoY).

(Specifically, the reported streaming subs here reflect the “average number of subscriptions,” the text clarifies. However, DMN Pro’s streaming market-share data estimates for multi-user plans to provide a more comprehensive look at actual paid subscribership figures in the States.)

Meanwhile, the RIAA attributed $1.83 billion to ad-supported on-demand streaming (down 1.8% YoY) and a 2.3% YoY revenue slip to paid limited-tier streaming subs ($998.3 million), besides reiterating SoundExchange’s previously announced $1.05 billion in distributions for non-interactive digital plays (up 4.9% YoY).

Along with $306.5 million from different ad-supported sources, that comes out to almost $14.88 billion, reflecting the initially highlighted 3.6% YoY improvement. In other words, the streaming plateau is alive and well in the States, and it’ll be interesting to see how effective superfan tiers are at driving accelerated revenue results.

Also alive and well (but attracting comparatively little attention) is a vinyl plateau. Previously, different data suggested a possible stateside growth slowdown for the long-resurging format, which is encountering cooling sales in different markets as well.

All told, the RIAA identified 43.6 million vinyl units shipped (not necessarily sold to individual customers) for 2024, up 1% YoY. At estimated retail value – again, not necessarily the prices shoppers paid – the format generated $1.44 billion last year, up 6.9% YoY, the analysis shows.

CDs, for their part, are said to have experienced a 1.5% YoY sales-volume jump (to 32.9 million units), for $541.1 million (up 0.7% YoY) in revenue.

Unsurprisingly, permanent downloads’ years-running decline continued (for $369.7 million in revenue across the board, down 14.9% YoY) in 2024, and the RIAA attached $412.6 million to the narrowly defined sync category (up 2.5% YoY).

Addressing the data, both RIAA CEO Mitch Glazier and research VP Matt Bass touted forthcoming opportunities to unlock additional revenue.

With Spotify Deluxe and more on the way, Glazier emphasized “new opportunities that boost incomes for artists and diverse revenue streams to grow the pie for everyone.” Bass, for his part, touched on upcoming “creative opportunities for fans to support and connect with their favorite artists’ music.”

Last week, the BPI disclosed the U.K.’s recorded-market particulars for 2024, and the IFPI is set to shed light on global 2024 figures in an annual report tomorrow.

Photo Credit: Wojciech Pędzich / CC by 4.0

Playboi Carti’s newly released album MUSIC has broken Spotify’s most-streamed album in a single day record for 2025 so far.

“Carti’s MUSIC is already making history,” Spotify said in a post on X/Twitter announcing the stat. Spotify supported the rollout of the Atlanta rapper’s album with huge billboards across major cities including Los Angeles, New York City, and Miami. Those billboards contained messages like ‘STREETS READY,’ ‘SORRY4 DA WAIT’ and ‘I AM MUSIC MF.’

Playboi Carti dropped his single “All Red” before the official release of MUSIC on March 14. That single reached #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #3 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The album features several high-profile stars collaborating with Carti including Young Thug, Travis Scott, Future, Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, Lil Uzi Vert, Skepta, and Ty Dolla $ign. Producers who worked on the album include Cardo, Metro Boomin, Southside, F1lthy, Ye, Cash Cobain, and Ojivolta, among others.

The 30-track album drops five years after Carti’s last album, Whole Lotta Red, which topped the Billboard 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts when it debuted in 2020. Meanwhile, Playboi Carti is set to headline Rolling Loud California tonight. The festival bragged that Carti’s 2018 debut album Die Lit dropped just the day before Rolling Loud Miami. Now Carti appears to be continuing that tradition by dropping his latest music before taking the stage at Rolling Loud California.

Kendrick Lamar is listed only as a feature on the song “Good Credit,” but he also guests on “Mojo Jojo” and “backd00r.” Travis Scott also appears on three songs on the album including “Crush,” “Philly,” “and Wake Up F1lthy.” The Weeknd features on “Rather Lie,” Skepta on “Toxic,” and Future on “Charge Dem Hoes a Fee” and Trim.” Lil Uzi Vert appears on “Jumpin” and “Twin Trim.” Meanwhile Ty Dolla $ign and Young Thug both have verses on “We Need All Da Vibes.”

DSP bundling breakdowns as of December 2024 (Source: DMN Pro)

A detailed look at the latest bundling rates across major music streaming platforms in the United States, including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, LiveOne, and many others.

The music industry had its fair share of controversies in 2024, including a contentious battle over bundled streaming packages. Most notably, Spotify ‘flipped the switch’ on bundling in March of 2024 and never looked back: according to data compiled exclusively by Digital Music News and DMN Pro, Spotify moved more than 98% of its subscription plans into bundles, while notching that figure slightly upward throughout the rest of the year.

The impact on music publishers was swift: bundled packages quickly reduced publisher royalties owed by Spotify, thanks to a loophole in recently negotiated royalty rates for on-demand streams in the United States. The National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) and its member publishers quickly raised a stink, and as of this report’s publication, the largest publishers have either forced direct royalty agreements with Spotify or are in the process of doing so.

Regardless, Spotify won’t be unbundling its bundles anytime soon. But what about the other major streaming platforms, like Amazon Music, Apple Music, and YouTube Music?

In this report, DMN Pro delves into the surprising bundling stats from Spotify’s biggest competitors using thousands of royalty reports from major publishing rights owners.

Get ready for a not-so-joyful bundle of a report.

Report Table of Contents

I. The DSP Bundling Breakdown for 2024: Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, LiveOne, More

II. Spotify’s Leading the Charge – But Other DSPs Aren’t Following

III. The Real Bundling Impact Settles In: Indie Publishers and Songwriters May Feel the Biggest Hit In 2025

IV. Spotify, TikTok, Amazon Music and the Lot: Is the Music Industry Rewarding Good Behavior?

Please note: this report is for DMN Pro subscribers only. Please do not redistribute.

London, England. Photo Credit: Grant Sams

The UK music industry generated nearly $2 billion during 2024 despite streaming- and vinyl-growth slowdowns, per a new report.

The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) disclosed these and other recorded-revenue particulars in its 2024 report, which follows a separate UK-specific breakdown from the Digital Entertainment and Retail Association.

According to the newer resource, UK music industry revenue totaled $1.93 billion/£1.49 billion last year, representing a 4.8% boost from 2023.

Behind the sum – and amid discussions about paid-listening plateaus in established markets – streaming’s YoY growth rate dipped from 8.4% in 2023 to 5.7% in 2024, the trade organization relayed. Outpacing even the 2023 growth rate, ad-supported audio-streaming revenue jumped 8.9% YoY to $100.85 million/£77.9 million in 2024.

Meanwhile, subscriptions to Spotify, Apple Music, and other on-demand platforms contributed $1.13 billion/£875.5 million to the UK music industry in 2024, for a comparatively modest YoY increase of 5.9%, per the BPI.

On the volume side, four tracks managed to crack north of 200 million combined audio and video streams apiece in the UK, population 69 million, during 2024.

Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season” ranked first here with its 233.1 million plays, followed by Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” (219.3 million), Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” (202.8 million), and Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” (201.6 million), respectively.

Unsurprisingly, permanent downloads’ years-running decline continued as well, referring to a 6.6% YoY slip to $31.46 million/£24.3 million.

And when it comes to physical sales, vinyl, CDs, and cassettes turned in a 1.3% YoY revenue increase overall, to $319.45 million/£246.5 million, the entity disclosed.

This growth percentage decreased substantially from 2023’s 12.8%, with the slowdown attributable in large part to a just 2.9% YoY revenue improvement for vinyl ($188.64 million/£145.7 million).

Rounding out the picture, CD revenue fell 0.5% to $125.20 million/£96.7 million in 2024, the analysis shows.

Lastly, the BPI pointed to $209.35 million/£161.7 million (up 5.6% YoY) in recorded public performance revenue, with an 11.3% YoY improvement for the narrowly defined sync category (to $56.84 million/£43.9 million).

Addressing the results in statements, BPI higher-ups touted a decade of continuous revenue growth – while also taking the opportunity to frame stiff global competition as another reason to bolster the UK music industry with rightsholder-friendly AI laws.

“After a decade of growth,” weighed in BPI CEO Jo Twist, “it is all too easy to take for granted the success of UK recorded music and the vital role record businesses play in this, underpinned by copyright, by investing billions to nurture and promote diverse talent from across the UK.

“But in the face of intensifying global competition, it’s essential they’re empowered by a supportive policy environment to keep British artists on the world’s top step,” Twist concluded.

Last month, reports revealed 9.4% YoY growth for Spain’s own recorded market in 2024; the IFPI is slated to release its 2025 global report next Wednesday, March 19th.

Spotify’s Loud & Clear 2024 is here, complete with another multifaceted collection of royalty takeaways. Photo Credit: Spotify

As part of its ‘Loud & Clear’ breakdown for 2024, Spotify claims that 1,450 artists generated (but not necessarily pocketed) over $1 million in combined recording and publishing royalties from on-platform streams.

That’s one of the many worthwhile details featured in the report, which, like prior installments, is easy to frame in a negative or optimistic light depending on one’s perspective. All told, Spotify confirmed making a record $10 billion+ in music industry payments for 2024, upping the all-time total to almost $60 billion.

And 2024’s $10 billion, including approximately $5 billion in indie and DIY payments, hiked roughly 10 times from 2014, the platform underscored.

Growing at an even faster clip than these music payments, overall “uploaders,” who might not be artists or even real people, approached an astonishing 12 million last year, Spotify relayed.

Taken one way (and as presented by Spotify), the sum could reflect the comparative accessibility of the streaming world, where, at least in theory, tracks and artists have a far better opportunity to find fans than in the CD era.

Taken another way, the number could attest to the growing difficulties associated with standing out in a vast sea of sound. That’s especially true given the major labels’ inherent streaming advantages and the 1,000 annual streams each Spotify upload must hit in order to begin accruing recording royalties.

At the intersection of those points, just 2.3% of Spotify “uploaders” cracked $1,000 in combined recording and publishing payments from on-platform streams last year, per the data. For the $5,000 category, the percentage came in at less than 1%.

Spotify opted against divulging precisely how many tracks topped 1,000 streams in 2024. But courtesy of different data, we’ve known for some time that a small percentage of uploads touch the threshold.

(The service also continues to insist that it implemented the Universal Music-corralled 1,000-stream minimum to “ensure that as much money as possible reaches the emerging and professional artists that our platform is built to support.” If that was truly the chief focus, though, Spotify could more effectively meet the objective by banning increasingly problematic AI “music” altogether.)

However, Spotify did note that the 100,000th-ranked artist (by on-platform royalties received, that is) enjoyed a material royalties boost between 2014 (“well under $600”) and 2024 (“almost $6,000”).

Like with several other components of Loud & Clear, concrete takeaways here might depend on perspective; technically, Spotify’s 2024 revenue was over 14 times greater than its 2014 counterpart, to name a quick consideration.

An adjacent consideration, albeit one that doesn’t fall on Spotify’s shoulders, is the discrepancy between streaming payouts and the compensation reaching artists themselves.

Even the multi-decade star Snoop Dogg cited paltry Spotify royalty payments as the chief motivation for releasing a new track exclusively via Tune.fm, for instance.

On the publishing side, despite its ongoing bundling controversy and recent direct deals, Spotify said it’d paid a total of close to $4.5 billion in compositional royalties during 2023 and 2024.

Lastly, Spotify wrapped Loud & Clear 2024 by once again attempting to disavow the much-discussed per-stream royalty rate – including by emphasizing the relative value of one in every million on-platform plays last year. Unsurprisingly, this is yet another complicated discussion with more than a few moving parts.

Spotify might not be too concerned with the ultimate per-stream rate, referring to how much artists actually make for each of their plays in an increasingly listening-heavy digital landscape.

But that figure is a major focus for the involved professionals – particularly because the (admittedly bigger) pot of cash ultimately boils down to compensation for a set number of plays and isn’t keeping pace with apparent “stream-volume inflation.”

Photo Credit: Audoo

Music technology company Audoo has partnered with the German performing rights society GEMA on its Music Impact Study. GEMA’s study is a multi-faceted research study quantifying the commercial value of background music in gastronomy and retail spaces. It utilized Audoo technology recognizing real-time songplay contributing to sales uplift.

Audoo audio meters installed in hundreds of venues recognized over 130,000 tracks, contributing to the insights demonstrating that the use of background music increased sales in retail by an average of 8% and in gastronomy by an average of 5.4%. The economic benefits suggest that a music license is a worthwhile investment for many retail spaces.

Overall, the most-played song in the retail sample was “Lifeline” by German artist Glockenbach, also featuring Ella Henderson. In the Gastronomy sample, “Austin” by US artist Dasha topped the list. The other leading track of German domestic repertoire was “Wave” by Fast Boy and Raf. The top domestic artists overall were Trettman for retail and Michael Schulte for the gastronomy sample.

GEMA’s Music Impact Study was a large-scale study that took place under the direction of international scientists. The connection between music and sales was examined using several methodologies. The empirical field study at the point-of-sale was preceded by extensive literature research, quantitative surveys, and expert interviews.

In addition to the trends and insights revealed through Audoo’s intelligent client dashboard, the device’s simple plug-and-play self-installation process at venues, plus its GDPR compliance, demonstrates the value of this technology to retail and hospitality businesses.

“The real-time dataset we were able to gather and analyze via Audoo technology on this study is great for seeing the overall impact of music in commercial spaces in such detail,” shares Sonja Schoenfield, Project manager of the Music Impact Study at GEMA.

“Audoo’s innovative technology ensured a seamless and highly-effective data collection process and the results mark a significant milestone in understanding the commercial value of music with these kinds of insights for the benefit of businesses and rights holders alike,” adds Johannes Everding, Director of Business Development at GEMA.

“Partnering with GEMA on this study is a testament to the power of real-world data in demonstrating the impact of music in public spaces,” says Ryan Edwards, CEO & Founder of Audoo. “As we continue to work with like-minded partners who share Audoo values of making public performance recognition and reporting more accurate and transparent, the landscape for all parties evolves and improves.”

Overall Top Songs Recognized by Audoo — Retail Sample

• “Lifeline” by Glockenbach ft. Ella Henderson
• “Cynical” by Chris de Sarandy, Safari Duo, twocolours
• “The Feeling” by Lost Frequencies
• “Angel Eyes” by Ásdís
• “Strangers” by Kenya Grace

Overall Top Songs Recognized by Audoo — Gastronomy Sample

• “Austin” by Dasha
• “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” by Shaboozey
• “Belong Together” by Mark Ambor
• “Wave” by FAST Boy, Raf
• “Dancing In The Flames” by The Weeknd

Top Domestic Tracks Recognized by Audoo — Retail Sample

• “Lifeline” by Glockenbach ft. Ella Henderson
• “Cynical” by Chris de Sarandy, Safari Duo, twocolours
• “I’ll Be There” by Rita Ora, Robin Schulz, Tiago PZK
• “Waterfall” by Michael Shulte, R3HAB
• “Holding On” by Leony

Top Domestic Tracks Recognized by Audoo — Gastronomy Sample

• “Wave” by FAST BOY, Raf
• “Human Being” by Nico Santos
• ”Friends” by KAMRAD
• “Beautiful Reason” by Michael Shulte
• “Someday Soon” by ClockClock

Top Domestic Artists Recognized by Audoo — Retail Sample

• Michael Schulte
• Leony
• Glockenbach
• ClockClock
• Zoe Wees

Top Domestic Artists Recognized by Audoo — Gastronomy Sample

• Trettmann
• Bläck Fööss
• Nico Santos
• Purple Disco Machine
• FAST BOY

Denver’s Señor Bear, one of hundreds of venues tracked by Audoo’s recent song-tracking pilot.

Theoretically, performing rights organizations (PROs) track and tally every song played in public and streaming platforms – then dole out the royalties accordingly. Now, London-based Audoo has hard evidence showing that billions of song plays can be counted with near-100% accuracy.

While mega-PROs like ASCAP and BMI do a laudable job of tracking, matching, and distributing royalties on billions of tracks played in the United States, a nagging question is whether these vast systems can be improved. This is more than just an academic musing: the answer to this surprisingly complex question has the potential to reshape the public performance sphere for decades to come.

Enter Audoo CEO Ryan Edwards, who is driven by a mission to count every song played worldwide in public places for years — and is marching towards that goal with backers like Bjorn Ulvaeus and Sir Elton John. Theoretically, the tech exists to count everything with total accuracy, though the details are devilish. Accordingly, Edwards and his team have spent millions developing the ‘Audio Meter’ and deployed it into thousands of venues and public places worldwide to capture the music in action.

That effort is now hitting the United States. Just recently, Audoo concluded a far-reaching first entry to the US in Denver involving hundreds of public places – with nearly 100% of songs played in those establishments tracked. That included restaurants, gyms, bars, and retail establishments across the city.

“The feedback from the license holders was very supportive,” Edwards told DMN. “Many of them have wondered for years how their fees are distributed and were very passionate about the way music sets the tone of their businesses.”

The results of the Audoo pilot, shared with Digital Music News and part of an ongoing partnership, began in late June of 2024 and concluded in February of this year.

Among the most refreshing takeaways is that virtually every song can be successfully detected, logged, and tallied with all key metadata information (including ISRC & ISWC) using the installed Audio Meters, which makes sense. Imagine an industrial-scale, private version of Shazam in every venue, and you’ve captured Audoo’s business approach.

“Music has always been consumed in so many different ways, from business owners creating a ‘mixtape’ CD or playlist, playing the radio, and empowering employees to adjust the music based on the tone they need,” Edwards said. “To us, it’s about what’s been played and then reporting that accurately. Just get the music playing, and we’ll work with the PRO/CMO to do the rest.”

But what’s actually getting played? Here’s where things start to get really interesting. The current thinking is that music played in public spaces roughly mirrors popular playlists on media like terrestrial radio and streaming platforms. But Audoo’s data shows a surprisingly slim overlap with massive DSPs (i.e., Digital Service Providers or streaming platforms) and social media platforms.

Here’s just a quick look at the overlap – or complete lack thereof.

The following breakdown was pulled from a sample week in February (2025) using the top 40 songs tracked throughout the city. It was then compared to the top 40 songs played on other platforms for the same period.

What’s the overlap percentage? Take a look.

• • Audoo x Apple Music – 0% crossover
  • Audoo x Billboard – 2.5% crossover
  • Audoo x Shazam – 5% crossover
  • Audoo x Spotify – 5 % crossover
  • Audoo x TikTok – 0% crossover

“The results mirror what we have seen and reports in other markets around the world,” Edwards shared. “The more US cities we launch into, the more diverse [data] we expect to see. This can make a difference in thousands of creators making a living, or sadly, not.”

Also surprising: most of the music played in Denver hails from the United States (more than 50%) and the UK (nearly 15%). Other countries were marginal single-digit contributors, including Australia, France, Germany, and Sweden. Those percentages are likely different in other cities, though Audoo also highlighted some interesting exceptions.

Denver bar and restaurant Señor Bear, for example, plays a blend of Latin-inspired music from Argentina, Puerto Rico, Colombia, and Spain. The curated playlist also includes 24% American music sourced from local artists.

That’s a far cry from the top 10 list of most-played artists throughout the city, which includes Tame Impala, Jungle, Hozier, Taylor Swift, Morgan Wallen, The Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, Bad Bunny, Zach Bryan, and Neil Frances. Sounds like tried-and-true stuff, though many of the most–played songs aren’t topping the charts on radio or Spotify.

The data also offers a range of other insights, including detailed breakdowns by venue type (restaurant or gym, for example) and the most frequently played songs. Audoo even tracks the level of commonality between different venue types, while identifying unique establishments (for example, a physical therapy clinic that is also a local music champion).

“Business owners know first hand the value of playing music, and of those we have started working with in the US, the feedback has been very positive,” Edwards shared. “Nobody challenges paying for a music license, despite the complexities of multiple PROs in the US. But knowing the hard-earned money is being paid to the artists they play is key.”

“Our technology is there to help PROs: no more manual surveys, proxy data sets, or outdated analogies. The past cannot be changed, but now is the time for accurate reporting for fair and transparent distributions.”

But what does this have to do with Congressional inquiries into PROs currently happening in Washington?

Just recently, the US Copyright Office launched a significant inquiry into PROs in response to Congressional concerns. Among the many questions being examined is how PROs gather performance information and how this impacts rights owners.

For Edwards, it’s a complex question with a surprisingly simple answer: just count everything!

A tally of core music industry funding, 2025 YTD (Source: DMN Pro/Digital Music News)

Duetti’s recent $200 million in debt funding pushed core music industry funding past the half-a-billion threshold for 2025, per DMN Pro’s Music Industry Funding Tracker. That’s certainly a big number, though it represents a major drop from comparable YTD fingers in 2024 and 2023. Here’s a breakdown of the numbers — and a look at which companies are scoring rounds.

As the music industry enters the first half of March, year-to-date 2025 funding isn’t too shabby. Over a total of nine core music industry rounds, funding levels have now crossed $645.5 million, per DMN Pro’s Music Industry Funding Tracker. For those hoping for an outperforming year, however, there are early signs of softness.

Compared to the same period last year, total 2025 funding is nearly 50% lower. Part of that can be attributed to an absolute gangbuster February 2024 period, which was one of the strongest music funding months in recent memory. That contributed to a strong 2024 annual funding total, which slightly edged out 2023 rounds.

Here’s a look at early-2025 tallies, 2024’s early-year rounds, and the broader funding picture over the past few years.

Table of Contents

I. Music Industry Funding Crosses Half-a-Billion In 2025: A Look at the Companies Scoring Cash This Year

II. Year-Over-Year Differences Remain Great – A Comparison to YTD Figures In 2024

III. Bigger Picture: Core Music Industry Funding, 2020-2024

IV. What’s Next? Future Research from DMN Pro

Please note that this report is for DMN Pro subscribers only. Please do not redistribute — thank you.

U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware: Ground zero for Thomson Reuters v. Ross (Photo: City of Wilmington, DE

A flyover of where things stand in the music industry’s critical AI legal cases.

We’ll open with the obvious: AI is not only transforming the music industry, it’s also shaking up thousands of other major industries and shifting daily life – for better or for worse. While ‘disruptive’ has become an overused tech-cliché, it truly fits AI – with changes churning through creative processes, production, streaming music platforms, consumer electronics, and rights management arenas.

But in the all-important arena of content creation, copyrights, and IP ownership, where do things stand on the legal front? In the AI arena, the truism remains: technology moves more quickly than the grinding court and legislative tribunals. However, developments are emerging, including a declarative judgment in the long-running battle between Thomson Reuters and ROSS Interactive.

Shifting back to the music industry, where do the pressing music-specific legal cases surrounding AI stand? Let’s do a flyover.

Please note: the following report is for DMN Pro subscribers only. Please do not redistribute — thank you.

Barcelona, Spain. Photo Credit: Iván Sanchez Jimenez

Thanks largely to streaming gains, the Spanish recorded music market generated nearly $600 million during 2024, up 9.42% year over year.

That’s according to Spain’s Promusicae, which in a newly released breakdown identified €568.85 million (currently $598.13 million) in recorded revenue for 2024.

Streaming accounted for almost 80% of the sum, with 14.1% YoY growth on the straight audio side ($395.69 million/€376.39 million) and a 7.5% YoY boost for video ($77.59 million/€73.78 million), the report shows.

Behind the figures, the trade organization pointed to 6.8 million paid on-demand subscriptions in Spain as of 2024’s end. But over 40% of the country (which is home to 48.3 million) streams music in one form or another, per the analysis. (There’s also plenty of room for subscription-streaming expansions in a variety of different European markets.)

In keeping with global industry trends, the Spanish music market experienced double-digit revenue slips in permanent downloads and ringtones, which together brought in $4.59 million/€4.37 million.

Not in keeping with global industry trends – though there’s a bit of debate here when it comes to the vinyl space’s precise footing – is the 13.3% YoY revenue decline attributed to physical in Spain for 2024.

At $56.61 million/€53.84 million overall, the sub-sector saw sales dips hit vinyl ($35.60 million/€33.86 million total, down 3.8% YoY), CDs ($20.68 million/€19.67 million, down 25.4% YoY), and other formats including cassettes ($170,369/€162,000, down 37.3% YoY) alike, Promusicae relayed.

Like with other countries’ sales summaries, these numbers have been reported in estimated retail value. Moving forward, however, Promusicae intends “to transition to trade value reporting (net of discounts, taxes, and returns) to better align with IFPI’s Global Reporting Standards.” As part of the pivot, the entity will “ensure that all historical data is restated for consistency.”

Rounding out the 2024 report, the Spanish music market posted a 12.6% YoY revenue improvement in the combined broadcasting, public performance, and private copying category, at $59.22 million/€56.31 million.

Regarding bigger-picture takeaways, the headline recorded-revenue sum marks Spain’s largest since 2004, but, like the U.S. market, remains well beneath that delivered by the 2001 peak.

Addressing the results with an in-depth statement, Promusicae’s president, Antonio Guisasola, underscored objectives of boosting subscriptions, reducing piracy, and securing enhanced public-sector support.

We previously covered a preliminary breakdown of the UK music market’s 2024 showing. Meanwhile, the RIAA’s full-year report is forthcoming, and the IFPI will release its own annual report (for the global recorded industry) on March 19th.

SoundExchange US-Based Non-Interactive Recorded Music Royalty
Payments, 2004-2024 (Source: SoundExchange Data)

SoundExchange has announced it has surpassed $12 billion in distributions to artists and rights owners since 2003. The milestone comes less than a year after reaching the $11 billion mark in 2024—after the company’s 185th distribution.

In Q4 2024, SoundExchange distributed $248.6 million to creators, bringing the company’s full-year gross distributions to $1.05 billion total. That’s an increase of 4.9% over 2023.

“This milestone is a reflection of our vigorous commitment to amplifying the value of music, paired with a healthy and growing digital music ecosystem,” says SoundExchange CEO & President, Michael Huppe. “There is nothing more satisfying than putting money into the hands of those who have earned it with their talent, artistry, and passion. It’s our reason for being and it’s our privilege and honor to reliably serve the SoundExchange creator community.”

In administering non-interactive digital streaming services, SoundExchange enables digital service providers (DSPs) to meet their obligations to artists and rights owners under current U.S. law. Serving a community of more than 700,000 registered creators, the non-profit company is the global gold standard for the collection and distribution of royalties. SoundExchange pays out monthly with more than 90% of all collections distributed within 45 days of receipt.

SoundExchange works nearly 60 international partners covering 87% of the available neighboring rights market to collect performance royalties for more than 474,000 creators when their music is played overseas. The organization advocates on behalf of creators through the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board over the last two decades to increase the value of music, achieving substantial increases—711% for satellite royalties, 294% for subscription royalties, and 215% for non-subscription royalties.

SoundExchange is the only organization designated by the U.S. government to administer the Section 114 sound recording license. In that regard, SoundExchange collects and distributes digital performance royalties on behalf of 700,000 music creators and growing. SoundExchange has paid more than $12 billion in distributions to date.

Photo Credit: Ashley King

New data published by app analytics firm Sensor Tower says TikTok & Douyin—the Chinese version—are the first non-gaming apps to surpass $6 billion in in-app purchases in 2024. TikTok also generated a record high of $1.9 billion in gross IAP revenue in Q4 2024.

Only YouTube and the Google One subscription surpassed TikTok’s Q4 revenue total in the whole calendar year. TikTok generated more than double the revenue from any other app or game in 2024—highlighting what a power house the social media app has become. The second-place app was the game Monopoly Go, which only earned $2.6 billion in 2024. Meanwhile, TikTok’s IAP revenue in 2024 is up $4.4 billion compared to 2023.

While TikTok is having a banner year in terms of IAP generated, the app was only #2 in downloads for Q4 2024. Instagram topped the list as the TikTok ban scare forced the mostly young (13-24) cohort of TikTok users to consider a different social media network. Rounding out the top five in downloads are WhatsApp, Facebook, and Temu.

It’s worth noting that TikTok’s Chinese counterpart Douyin is included in this data—which significantly helps boost the numbers. Douyin’s content is tailored towards a Chinese audience and has tighter data regulations due to the Chinese government’s regulations. Douyin is also more heavily focused towards being an e-commerce platform—something TikTok has worked on transforming for its American audience throughout 2023 and 2024.

TikTok revenue directly benefits the creator economy, as users spend real money to buy virtual gifts for their favorite creators. That money can be cashed out by the creator—though TikTok retains 50% of the payout. With the method of in-stream shopping that TikTok is building catching on, expect those numbers to skyrocket in 2025. TikTok was already the first non-game app to reach $10 billion in total consumer spending in 2023. With a potential ban seemingly shelved for now—that number will likely continue to grow.

Chartmetric’s ‘Talent Search Tool’ sifts through an enormous amount of data to better predict winners (photo: Chartmetric)

You can forgive the music industry for being blasé about the fate of TikTok in the United States.

In fact, many have privately expressed to DMN that they’d love to see TikTok pack its bags. Over the past year, TikTok has done an impressive job of pissing off a vast range of rights owners, from Universal Music Group to the smallest indie. In the blunt language of this business, TikTok’s payouts stink — and so does its attitude towards rights owners.

But there’s a deeper reason why many in the music industry have done little to advocate for TikTok’s survival in the US: it just doesn’t matter as much for their businesses. That came into stark focus with UMG: according to data unearthed by DMN Pro, Universal Music was making more from paid downloads than TikTok royalties before their dispute.

Beyond the financial calculations, there’s an even more serious issue: chasing down viral TikTok artists is becoming a losing game.

“The TikTok gold rush is declining,” Chartmetric analyst Domenico Randazzo told Digital Music News while pointing to more reliable success indicators like Instagram engagement and user-created streaming playlists — among dozens of other data predictors.

Others, including Duetti, are finding that TikTok’s supposed star-making magic only runs so deep. TikTok is undoubtedly breaking new artists and breathing life into old songs, but the success levels aren’t great outside of the flashy outliers. Digging into the data, Duetti found that even amongst the fewer than 1% of tracks that ‘go viral’ on TikTok, only about 15% experience long-term streaming growth on digital service providers (DSPs) like Spotify and Apple Music.

Those stats aren’t shocking for data players like Chartmetric. The company quickly realized that music executives were shifting away from TikTok signing derbies and more towards sophisticated data analytics to identify the next generation of chart toppers. After nearly two years of intensive research, the company recently launched a predictive talent search tool, promising to give companies an edge in the race to identify tomorrow’s superstars.

The company’s new offering, simply called ‘Talent Search Tool,’ sifts through data from over 10 million artists, identifying key “signals” that suggest an artist’s potential for long-term success. Each artist receives a daily score from 1 to 10 across various metrics, making it easier to spot emerging talent worthy of deeper investigation. Just recently, Chartmetric joined forces with DMN to broaden awareness of its data-powered predictive tool.

“Data has always been an essential component of the gut instinct that A&Rs rely on,” says Chaz Jenkins, Chief Commercial Officer of Chartmetric. “But with so many artists releasing music today, it’s nearly impossible for anyone to have sufficient awareness of the marketplace.” In that soup, Chartmetric aims to offer a data-driven lens to navigate the overwhelming volume of music being released globally.

Decoding the Signals: What Makes a Future Star?

Chartmetric’s Talent Search Tool filters in action (photo: Chartmetric)

Chartmetric’s tool categorizes these signals into Performance Metrics and Contextual Metrics. Performance Metrics, such as user engagement (for example, Instagram likes relative to followers), consistent growth across streaming platforms, and user-created playlist additions, provide quantifiable measures of an artist’s traction.

Contextual Metrics, on the other hand, offer a more nuanced view, considering factors like editorial playlist placements, presence in “trigger cities” (those with high listener growth potential), international reach, and audience demographics.

“There is no single metric that can predict success,” explains Akash Mukherjee, VP of Product Management at Chartmetric. “Each of the signals we identified integrates multiple data points from many services.”

According to Mukherjee, the tool’s power lies in its ability to handle the “heavy analytical work behind the scenes,” allowing users to identify emerging talent far earlier than traditional methods.

Suddenly, Context Is King.

Chartmetric emphasizes that these metrics are not to be interpreted in isolation. Context is crucial. For instance, a low editorial curation score might indicate that an artist is gaining traction purely through organic fan engagement, which could be a valuable asset. “Extreme values provide context about an artist’s profile, not necessarily positive or negative,” notes Randazzo.

The tool’s flexibility is also key. Users can apply filters for genre, region, gender, career stage, and other criteria to narrow their search and find artists who align with their specific goals. This customization is vital in an industry where different stakeholders have varying priorities. Labels may seek rapid growth, while publishers might focus on established, recurring success.

But is Chartmetric simply setting the stage for the next ‘A&R arms race’?

Companies are notorious for glomming around rising TikTok stars with checkbooks in hand. But Chartmetric is hoping to offer something more tailored to what different companies are actually chasing. Chartmetric’s Morgan Burrell told DMN that companies are now racing to “determine specific findings and tailor the tool to individual needs” instead of chasing a single viral sensation.

That said, more sophisticated data could create future signing derbies, particularly around fast-surging artists. But that’s always been part of the business.

Speaking of specialization, Chartmetric also noted that its Talent Search Tool goes beyond record labels and publishers. For example, artist managers can leverage the tool to track their clients’ progress and refine their strategies. Advertisers and marketers can gain insights into audience demographics for targeted campaigns. Even universities and business schools use Chartmetric to train the next generation of music industry professionals.

But great results will probably take some training, particularly for those wanting to find long-term artists who can thrive in their businesses. As for the evolving expertise required to interpret the data, this is about as far from the days of A&R guys hitting clubs and listening to demo tapes as possible.

It’s also a step beyond the madness of chasing TikTok virality. “It’s all about the nuances of interpreting various metrics on the platform,” says Randazzo. “Contextual understanding of these metrics is critical.”

Photo Credit: IFPI

What globalization? Nine of the Top 10 biggest global singles in 2024 came from American artists, IFPI’s data reveals, with Benson Boone leading the charge.

The IFPI Global Single Award is presented to the artist with the world’s best-selling single of the year across all digital platforms — and 2024 was Benson Boone’s year. His hit “Beautiful Things” took the crown for the top spot in this year’s IFPI Global Single Chart, marking his first appearance in the Top 10.

In addition to Boone, a slate of top artists dominated the global charts last year — most of them American. Sabrina Carpenter took the No. 2 spot with her single “Espresso,” while Teddy Swims came in at No. 3 with his hit, “Lose Control.” Billie Eilish came in at No. 4 with “Birds of a Feather.” Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” claimed the next spot to round out the Top 5.

In fact, nine of the Top 10 places in the chart were taken by US artists, the only exception being Ireland’s Hozier with “Too Sweet” at No. 6. That feat marks Hozier’s return to the Global Singles Chart for the first time since “Take Me to Church” reached the No. 19 spot in 2015.

The rest of the Top 10 was filled out by Post Malone’s “I Had Some Help” featuring Morgan Wallen, Kendrick Lamar’s record-smashing Drake diss “Not Like Us,” Taylor Swift’s 2019 hit “Lover,” and Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season.” Swift is also IFPI’s Global Recording Artist of the Year.

“We are delighted to present the IFPI Global Single Award to Benson Boone,” said Victoria Oakley, IFPI CEO. “It is also fantastic to see so many other newcomers to the industry shine through in the IFPI Global Singles Chart. It is a wonderful reflection of how emerging artists — working in partnership with their record labels — are finding international success.”

Though not entirely filled with US artists, the rest of the Top 20 is fairly stacked with US representation. Artists like Chappell Roan, Tommy Richman, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Zach Bryan, and Ariana Grande all made the cut.

Photo Credit: Benson Boone for IFPI

IFPI announces Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” is the winner of the IFPI Global Single Award for 2024, as the biggest-selling single of the year.

The IFPI Global Single Award is presented to the artist with the world’s best-selling single of the year across all digital formats: paid subscription streaming, ad-supported platforms, and single-track downloads. Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” took the No. 1 spot on IFPI’s Global Single Chart — his first appearance on an IFPI Global Chart Top 10.

Released in January 2024, the hit song has won accolades at the Billboard Music Awards, Los 40 Music Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, and NRJ Music Awards. Boone won Best New Artist at the MTV Europe Music Awards (EMAs), and was nominated for Best New Artist at the 2025 Grammys, where he also performed the song.

“We are delighted to present the IFPI Global Single Award to Benson Boone,” says Victoria Oakley, CEO, IFPI. “As a global breakout artist, this is an amazing achievement to produce a truly worldwide hit. Congratulations to Benson, his team and Warner Records for this incredible accomplishment.”

“It is also fantastic to see so many other newcomers to the industry shine through in the IFPI Global Singles Chart. It is a wonderful reflection of how emerging artists — working in partnership with their record labels — are finding international success.”

Sabrina Carpenter was also a new entry into the charts with her single “Espresso” at No. 2 on the Global Single Chart. Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” secured the No. 3 spot. Nine of the Top 10 places in the chart were taken by US artists; the exception was Irish artist Hozier’s “Too Sweet” at No. 6. That marks Hozier’s first return to the chart in a decade, since “Take Me to Church” reached No. 19.

Taylor Swift, IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year, featured once in the Top 10 with “Cruel Summer” — a track from 2019’s Lover. The song is now sitting at No. 9 following a resurgence in popularity after her record-smashing Eras Tour.

A breakdown of streaming music platform pricing, packages, and audio fidelity options for early 2025 (Click to enlarge; for full footnote annotations see full report; source: DMN Pro).

Can Spotify’s latest ‘super-premium’ tier break the streaming music plateau? In this report, we pick apart the rumored offerings within ‘Music Pro’ – and examine the serious challenges that each presents from both an execution and consumer adoption standpoint.

Spotify has been teasing a possible ‘super-premium’ tier for years, though nothing substantive has surfaced. Now, the latest intel indicates that Spotify is planning to release a superfan tier called ‘Music Pro’ that will include the following:

• • • Lossless, high-quality audio streaming.
    • AI-powered remixing tools allowing users to mix songs from different artists.
    • Exclusive concert ticket access, including early access or better seating options for shows.

Music Pro is expected to surface later this year with a price tag of $5.99 above existing Premium subscription rates (at least in the US). Sounds exciting, but given serious competition and overlapping features from platforms like Apple Music, will people pay for the added benefits?

Here’s a breakdown of Music Pro’s purported features themselves, and the challenges Spotify faces in building them.

Photo Credit: SoundCloud

Which music streaming platform is delivering the most reliable data on play counts? In a surprising turn of events, SoundCloud has emerged as the leader in Legitary’s latest DSP transparency and accuracy rankings, surpassing industry giants Spotify and Apple Music.

Based on Legitary’s aggregated ‘Anomaly Scores’ for music streaming platforms over the entire 2023 period, the latest ranking evaluates the accuracy and transparency of reporting practices among digital service providers (DSPs). Platforms that wildly misreport stream counts have high Anomaly Scores and lower rankings, while more accurate platforms carry lower scores and higher rankings.

Legitary, an AI-powered auditing company based in Vienna, Austria, has recently emerged as a serious player in the streaming music monitoring and oversight space. The company’s analyses are now proving critical to major content owners who need to ensure accurate reporting and payments from DSPs. But the partnerships don’t end there: just recently, Legitary joined forces with DMN to further broaden their mission to dramatically improve accuracy and transparency on streaming platforms.

To date, Legitary has scanned and monitored billions of streams across dozens of DSPs worldwide, analyzing anomalies and aberrations for content owners. The result: lots of streams are now being assessed as over-counted or under-counted and require further investigation or corrections.

Just last year, Spotify trumped Legitary’s transparency list, though stream-count accuracy and reporting have become a separate competitive arena. Enter SoundCloud, which lags far behind Spotify and Apple Music in terms of subscribers and revenues but currently boasts the most accurate stream counting in the business.

Rounding out the bottom is TikTok, a chronic underachiever. But Legitary noted that TikTok is a highly viral platform, which introduces unique challenges to tracking large—and often short-lived—spikes in song plays.

Here’s Legitary’s latest ranking of the top 10 DSPs worldwide based on overall transparency and reporting accuracy.

Outside the top three, other platforms experienced mixed results.

Deezer and Apple Music showed significant improvements in their reporting accuracy. However, YouTube’s ranking declined, and TikTok remained among the lowest performers. This indicates ongoing inconsistencies in reporting practices across the industry, though unfortunately, TikTok has been a consistently low performer in Legitary’s rankings.

Legitary’s CEO, Nermina Mumic, has emerged as an ardent champion of both transparent and reliable reporting. “This year’s ranking reaffirms that innovation and a commitment to quality can disrupt even the most established players,” Mumic shared. “Transparent and reliable reporting is the cornerstone of a sustainable future for the music industry.”

Let’s dig deeper into the Legitary data, shall we?

To understand the rankings, it’s essential to delve into Legitary’s methodology. The company’s Anomaly Score focuses on measuring the magnitude of significant under- or over-performances for each DSP relative to its total stream counts. These issues occur when reported streaming numbers are significantly lower or higher than what would be expected based on historical data and other available information, such as streaming behavior on other platforms or in different countries.

While the exact factors that separated the top three DSPs remain unclear due to the close competition, some key takeaways emerge. The consistent presence of ‘bad’ actors at the bottom and better performers at the top of the rankings suggests that reporting quality and monitoring varies significantly among DSPs.

Additionally, the rankings demonstrate that smaller DSPs can match or even exceed the reporting accuracy of larger platforms. Regardless, Mumic expressed the hope that every DSP boat will continue to elevate their games and deliver more accurate reporting and payouts to rights owners in the future.

“Reports like our latest DSP ranking underscore the critical need for transparent analyses of streaming data to ensure accountability and fair compensation in the music industry,” Mumic said. “In the end, we are all part of the same ecosystem, and only through collective efforts can we continue to elevate the integrity of our industry.”

Photo Credit: Nicolas J Leclercq

Hot on the heels of celebrating its 20th anniversary, YouTube says television (TV) is now the primary viewing device in the United States. Video podcasts help drive that growth.

In a blog post celebrating the milestone, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan shares that TV has surpassed mobile as the primary viewing platform for the video site. According to Nielsen data, YouTube has been #1 in streaming watch time in the United States for the past two years.

So what’s driving the growth of YouTube on TV? Perhaps unsurprisingly, the answer is video podcasts. Joe Rogan’s interview with President Trump garnered 55 million views. YouTube is now the most frequently used service for listening to podcasts in the United States. YouTube says it is working on features behind the scenes to roll out more tools to support podcasters, improve monetization for creators, and make it easier to discover new podcasts.

Based on that data, it’s no small wonder that Spotify is rolling out support for video podcasts and Netflix is hoping to get in on the game. In November 2024, Spotify announced uninterrupted video podcasts for its creators and listeners. Spotify says video podcasts on the platform have grown by more than 50% year-over-year. “By many metrics, it’s the fastest way to succeed on Spotify today,” said Spotify Co-President & Chief Product Officer Gustav Söderström.

Just yesterday, a Business Insider report revealed that Netflix is looking to get into the video podcast game, too. The company has been exploring deals with podcasters similar to Spotify’s expansion in the format. That move is driven primarily by YouTube’s dominance on the TV—suggesting Netflix is looking to acquire content to appeal to those TV viewers.

Last year Netflix was in talks with Alex Cooper of “Call Her Daddy” to potentially bring the podcast onto the service. But Cooper ended up striking a deal with SiriusXM for her show in a deal reportedly worth up to $125 million. “Netflix insiders have warmed to the idea of tapping podcasting talent to host a talk-based video show, after previously expressing skepticism that the format could work on the platform,” Business Insider reports.

Video podcasts appeal to Netflix because they are cheaper than traditional TV shows—while the TV format has not hindered, but helped, their growth. According to a survey by Edison Research, 89% of Gen Z podcast listeners say they watched or listened to a podcast with video in 2024. YouTube says people watched 400 million hours of podcasts on its platform in 2024—with TV driving the bulk of that growth.

Photo Credit: Guggenheim Partners / Apptopia

Despite the federal ban, US TikTok users average 107 minutes a day on the app in January, blowing YouTube and Meta apps out of the water.

New data from Guggenheim Partners and Apptopia this week shows TikTok is still going as strong as ever in the United States. That’s in spite of the federal ban last month and the platform’s uncertain future in the US.

On average, American TikTok users spend 107 minutes a day on the app, easily outpacing YouTube — the next highest time sink, with 87 minutes per day. That’s also significantly higher than Facebook, which averages 63 minutes per day.

Guggenheim analyst Michael Morris notes that TikTok’s average is bolstered by “superusers,” as an impressive 47% of daily users spend at least 61 minutes a day on the app. Notably, Guggenheim’s data showcases that TikTok and YouTube remain each other’s biggest rivals in vying for their users’ attention.

In December, a survey from Pew Research found that YouTube is the most popular app in the US among teens, visited daily by 73% of American teens between the ages of 13 and 17. That’s significantly more than TikTok, which 57% of those surveyed said they use daily. Instagram came in third, with 50% of teens reporting they use it every day.

Last year, President Joe Biden signed a law requiring TikTok, owned by Beijing-based parent ByteDance, to sell its US business by January 19, 2025, or face a ban. US lawmakers remain concerned the app could act as spyware for the Chinese communist government, as ByteDance would be required to forfeit any information to the government if requested.

But now-President Donald Trump signed an executive order on his first day back in office, granting TikTok a 75-day extension on its ban from both the Apple and Google app stores. The extension is intended to provide the platform time to find a suitable US buyer, but both the CCP and ByteDance remain adamant that no such sale is on the table.

Photo Credit: Roc Nation

Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Halftime Show becomes the most-watched ever, narrowly beating out Michael Jackson’s 1993 record.

The Super Bowl has achieved its highest viewership ever for the second year running, while Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show was even higher. On average, Nielsen reports 127.7 million people tuned in to watch the Philadelphia Eagles play the Kansas City Chiefs on February 9. But average viewership for Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show hit a whopping 133.5 million — 3% more than Usher’s halftime show in 2024.

Last year’s Super Bowl had achieved the largest TV audience recorded by Nielsen, but this year’s numbers blow 2024’s out of the water with a 2% increase. This year’s total takes into account viewers across Fox, Fox Deportes, Tubi, Telemundo, and NFL digital properties measured by Fox, Nielsen, and the NFL. That differs from last year’s 123.7 million viewers across CBS, Paramount+, Nickelodeon, Univision, CBS Sports, and NFL’s same digital properties as measured this year.

Viewership for the game peaked during the second quarter of the game — when folks who weren’t otherwise interested in the game itself tuned in to catch Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show. An average of 135.7 tuned in between 8 and 8:15 PM ET.

Meanwhile, Fox reports that streaming viewership of the Super Bowl also reached an all-time high, with 13.6 million of the total watching via Tubi, and just shy of a million between NFL+ and other NFL platforms.

Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show was a massive draw for the broadcast overall. Both fans of K.Dot and those interested in the beef between Lamar and Drake were eager to see if Grammy-winning Drake diss track “Not Like Us” would make it to the set list. The song was recently crowned the most decorated song in Grammy history, winning all five of the awards for which it was nominated.

Lamar teased the massive hit during his nearly 13-minute set before he finally launched into it. The show featured celebrity guests Samuel L. Jackson and DJ Mustard, as well as notable Drake exes: singer SZA and tennis legend Serena Williams.

Music industry funding grew year over year in January 2025, but fell short of January 2023’s total. Photo Credit: Giorgio Trovato

Thanks in large part to another sizable contribution from the catalog sub-sector, music industry funding rose considerably during January 2025.

That valuable finding and other important takeaways are made possible by DMN Pro’s Music Industry Funding Tracker. The one-stop resource compiles raises (including those, like the $25 million Series B secured by retail audio company Qsic last month, that fly under the media radar) from in and around the industry.

Previously, the all-encompassing database pointed to nearly $5 billion in core 2024 music industry funding – with a substantial portion of the tranche attributable to catalog-focused businesses.

Catalog Factored Heavily Into January 2025 Music Industry Funding

The trend didn’t let up during January 2025, when core music industry funding (excluding another $1 billion round for Anthropic and, though a bit closer to the industry proper, Triller’s $50 million equity raise) came in at $425.91 million.

This sum is about eight times larger than its 2024 counterpart ($51.96 million) and represents an average of $106.48 million per round. But almost 85% of the January 2025 funding total derived from Influence Media Partners’ $360 million ABS, which was by far the month’s biggest core raise.

Even when omitting the ABS – which, like every huge securitization, probably won’t receive a follow up for some time – January 2025 delivered 26.8% more core funding ($65.91 million) than January 2024.

Despite the YoY Boost, January 2025 Music Industry Funding Was Beneath the January 2023 Sum

Notwithstanding January 2025’s YoY funding growth, however, the month failed to top January 2023’s cumulative $1.09 billion in raises. While sizable, the older figure would have been greater yet if Premier Music Group had attached a dollar amount to its publicly disclosed round.

In any event, January 2023 funding resulted from five rounds, the biggest being Kakao Entertainment’s nearly $1 billion private equity raise, followed by a $100 million share subscription facility for Events.com.

Is Funding History Bound to Repeat Itself? Similarities Emerge Across January 2023, 2024, and 2025

Besides ensuring that startups don’t fall through the media cracks (keeping tabs on each industry company would otherwise be a tall task) and enabling the illustration of useful YoY trends, the Tracker allows for bigger-picture takeaways.

For instance, January 2023, 2024, and 2025 alike brought between five and six industry and industry-adjacent rounds apiece.

In each of those three Januarys, one industry round was worth less than $1 million. And contrasting the many massive non-equity or -ABS raises ushered in between 2020 and 2022, all January 2023-25 seed, Series A, and Series B rounds were valued at no more than $40 million apiece, with an average of roughly $11.2 million.

The latest streaming music platform market share breakdown in the United States by subscriber (source: DMN Pro/Digital Music News)

If 2024 goes down as the year that streaming music entered a plateau, then 2025 could be the year that Apple Music closed the gap on Spotify’s subscriber lead — at least in the US . Here’s a look at the latest DSP market share numbers heading into Apple Music’s monstrous Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show sponsorship.

Who’s winning the race for streaming music subscriber dominance? That’s a question we keep revisiting – only to discover an ever-tightening race amongst the biggest players.

In our latest DMN Pro Weekly Report, we take a look at the latest US-based subscriber market share stats, specifically through November of 2024, including breakdowns across various subscriber tiers. Our subscriber data has been sourced, verified, and organized from multiple sources, including two of the largest music publishing conglomerates in the world.

Table of Contents

I. Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and YouTube Music: Is There Any Room Beyond the ‘Big Four’?

II. The DSP Top 10: A Detailed Look at the Latest Subscriber Market Share Breakdowns

III. Spotify vs. Apple Music: Yes, Spotify Could Lose Its Lead In 2025

IV. Does Price Matter? Apple Keeps Its Prices Low and Bets Big on a Major Introductory Offer

V. Appendix: A Few Notes on Methodology

Please note: the following report is for DMN Pro subscribers only. Please do not redistribute — thank you.

Spotify US-based subscribers, both overall and Individual Premium, from November, 2023 to November, 2024 (Source: DMN Pro/Digital Music News)

Surprising declines in Spotify’s US-based individual Premium subscriptions first emerged in September of 2024, part of a broader slowdown in music subscription growth in the country. Now, Spotify’s all-important subscription tier appears to be flatlining, with slight year-over-year gains surfacing for November of 2024.

After years of breakneck subscriber and revenue growth, 2024 offered the music industry a rude slowdown in music streaming subscription growth across multiple markets. Suddenly, the music industry discussion became dominated by a ‘streaming plateau’ that roiled labels, publishers, and investors while raising vexing questions about future revenue sources.

As 2025 sets sail, a number of major markets are grinding through the slowdown, including the United States. The US-based streaming music market is now dominated by four major platforms – Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and YouTube Music – with at least two of those platforms exhibiting serious signs of a subscriber slowdown.

Report Table of Contents

I. The Music Subscription Plateau: Troubling Signs at Amazon Music and Spotify In Late 2024

II. Spotify’s Individual Premium Subscriber Declines: The First Indications

II. The Latest Individual Subscription Data: A Look at the Relative Flatline

IV. A Parting Thought for the Price Increase Hawks

This report is for DMN Pro subscribers only. Please do not redistribute. Thank you.

Photo Credit: Brett Jordan

Amazon Music and Apple Music are crushing Spotify in the per-stream royalty department for indie artists – at least according to a new report exploring on-demand platforms’ compensation specifics.

Duetti disclosed this and other noteworthy findings in its second-annual Music Economics Report today. As laid out in the resource, across-the-board recording royalties (covering the aforementioned services as well as YouTube, Tidal, Qobuz, Deezer, SoundCloud, and Pandora) “are finally stabilizing” for indie acts.

Against the backdrop of price bumps – and an inherent streaming-volume increase – that refers to a global average of $3.41 per 1,000 streams in 2024, down just slightly from 2023’s $3.46 and more than that from 2022’s $3.69.

But behind the average, Amazon Music led the pack in royalties paid out per 1,000 streams ($8.80), followed by Apple Music ($6.20), YouTube ($4.80), and then Spotify ($3.00), the report shows.

That data is interesting on multiple levels – especially since Spotify early last year went ahead and stopped paying recording royalties on the vast majority of uploads.

As things stand, tracks need to rack up 1,000 annual streams on Spotify before they can even begin receiving recording royalty payments. Also pertinent here are Spotify’s stateside prices (which are more expensive than those of Apple Music and Amazon Music) and the fact that Apple Music, as first reported by Digital Music News, pays out royalties at a higher rate for works made available in spatial audio.

Regarding other important takeaways, Duetti indicated that indie professionals utilizing Spotify’s Discovery Mode – which promotes tracks in exchange for a reduced royalty rate on the resulting plays – generated 26% of their on-platform streams from the feature in 2024.

That’s double 2023’s 13% and, for obvious reasons, contributed significantly to the “lowering overall per stream payout rates” for indie talent, per the study.

Digital Music News reached out to Spotify about Duetti’s findings – chief among them that Spotify’s per-stream royalty rate is less than half Apple Music’s and close to one-third of Amazon Music’s.

“These claims are ridiculous and unfounded,” a Spotify spokesperson responded. “No streaming service pays per stream because that approach would incentivize streaming services to minimize streams. It would mean low engagement, fewer artist connections, and lower overall payouts. Instead, we take the opposite approach. We want users to engage more so that they pay more – both by sticking around and choosing premium. We are proud to be the leader in total payouts, but that doesn’t happen by accident; it’s by design.

“Further, not only do we dispute the numbers and unattributed ‘guesses’ across the board, but we reject the premise of the report because it is out of step with the reality of how the industry works,” the rep concluded.

To state the obvious, artists do, in fact, receive per-stream royalty payments from Spotify and competing platforms. While the payout process isn’t as simple as attaching a set sum to each play – among different things, eligible streams are actually pooled and then compensated by market based on their share of the relevant revenue – it ultimately boils down to pay per stream.

And it’ll certainly be worth keeping the above information in mind during the remainder of 2025 and beyond. For better or worse (with an emphasis on the latter), the audio-upload deluge, increasingly fueled by AI, appears unlikely to abate on streaming services.

Meanwhile, on-demand play volume, including in regions where monetization is a challenge, is still on the rise, separate reports have spelled out.

Music startups have crashed across nearly every category, DMN Pro data reveals (Photo: DMN Pro/Digital Music News)

Splashy funding announcements are extremely common in the music industry. But what happens to startups after they exit the media spotlight? It’s not always pretty.

When it comes to startup success, getting the big funding round is just the beginning. Unfortunately for many startups, it’s also the beginning of the end — with a brutal crash, hard pivot, or other unfortunate ending emerging just a few years later.

So how many promising music startups have crashed in the past few years? For our latest Weekly Report, we scoured our database to find out.

Dialing it back to 2020, DMN Pro found more than $320 million in burned cash, with little to show for it. Many of those came from flash-in-the-pan categories like NFTs, though surprising, crashed startups hailed from a wide number of different sub-sectors.

Data was pulled from DMN Pro’s Music Industry Funding Tracker, which is available to all subscribers. Here’s a closer look at the carnage.

Please note: this report is for DMN Pro subscribers only. Please do not redistribute. Thank you!

Photo Credit: Spotify

Maybe it’s just an accounting slip — or maybe it’s a serious dip. But according to preliminary Spotify royalty stats shared with Digital Music News by multiple US-based publishers, we may have a problem here.

Spotify’s mechanical publishing royalties took a sudden-and-sizable dip this month for many US-based publishers and songwriters, according to preliminary stats shared with Digital Music News over the past few days. That includes multiple reports of 30-40% drops compared to previous months — all specifically tied to US-based mechanical publishing royalties.

By law, Spotify remits mechanical licensing royalties and processes them through the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC). However, the same organization manages broader publishing calculations involving both mechanical and performance licenses, which are interrelated in the streaming realm. For currently unclear reasons, performance royalties jumped dramatically in January for these same publishers, shifting the ratio between the two licenses.

This issue appears to be isolated to Spotify and not happening at other DSPs — but we’ll keep you posted if similar issues surface on other platforms.

It’s also important to stress that it remains unclear what exactly is causing the drop and shifts — and this might be attributable to an error or methodology change. At press time, DMN had connected with Spotify via email on the matter, but the streaming platform has yet to issue a statement (update: Spotify has now issued a statement on the drops, see below).

Diving further into the weeds: the payment drops are specifically tied to plays in October 2024, with January 2025 being the payout month.

One publisher told DMN that the drops weren’t tied to a specific artist, genre, or region but were ‘across the board.’ Furthermore, none knew of any special adjustments or changes in their royalty calculations, and none tied the declines to usage drops. Q4 is often a time of streaming increases for many publishers, depending on their catalogs.

As for the massive shift towards performance licenses, nobody had any answers.

The declines applied to specific streams and aggregate amounts, with both declining a ‘very large and substantial amount’ compared to previous, late-2024 payments.

Update (January 24th): Spotify has now shared a statement on the matter, acknowledging the drop but attributing it to an increase in September and other possible factors, while noting that these figures haven’t been fully finalized.

“Monthly mechanical payments are estimates and subject to fluctuations based on payments and accruals to PROs, among other things. While we saw an increase in September, the October payouts returned to the level of previous months. The final payments are subject to accounting with the Annual Report Of Usage.”

The development closely follows some eyebrow-raising stats—published exclusively on DMN Pro—showing Spotify’s extreme shift towards bundled subscription options in 2024.

Amazingly, music-only, non-bundled subscriptions now account for fewer than 1% of all US-based subscriptions. That’s trivia for most, but not for publishers and songwriters, who receive substantially lowered mechanical royalties on bundled plans.

Back to the present decline: sorry if we’ve ruined the weekends of any accounting teams — but hopefully this one gets sorted out.

More as this develops.

Photo Credit: Minh Luu

The IFPI has launched the first official music charts for Southeast Asia covering six countries—Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The launch of the chart for both the Philippines and Vietnam marks the first time ever in these countries that official, industry-backed charts are available. In the inaugural weekly chart in the Philippines, Pinoy R&B star Dionela took the top spot with his viral hit “Marilag.” The track was released in November 2024 and is one of three by the artist in the current Top 10.

In Vietnam another domestic artist took the top spot, Dương Domic with his track “Mất Kết Nối.” Eight of the top ten tracks this week in the country were by Vietnamese artists, showcasing the popularity of local content in this fast-growing music market.

The existing charts in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand will be rebranded as the official charts respectively. All six charts will present the top 20 tracks in each market every week, showcasing the most popular music from local and international artists. For the first time, music fans will be able to follow their favorite artists and keep up to date with the biggest tracks across the region in a central hub.

“We are thrilled to announce the launch of IFPI’s official Southeast Asia charts, which aims to elevate the region’s artists and connect them with a global audience,” says Shridhar Subramaniam, President, Asia and Middle East at Sony Music Entertainment and Chairman of the IFPI Asia Regional Executive Board.

“This unified platform will provide a launchpad for artists, giving them a stage to showcase their talent and celebrate their successes. Meanwhile, fans will gain a curated destination to explore the vast and exciting musical landscape of Southeast Asia.”

Supported by the recorded music industry, the charts combine streams from global platforms Apple Music, Deezer, Spotify, and YouTube as well as regional services such as Langit Musik. The charts are managed by IFPI with the close collaboration of national industry bodies ASIRI (Indonesia), RIM (Malaysia), RIAS (Singapore), and TECA (Thailand). The charts are built on data prepared by BMAT, in accordance with IFPI’s global charts principles and methodologies.

Photo Credit: Weverse

Hybe’s social platform Weverse saw a 19% increase in users in 2024, thanks to superstars like Ariana Grande, Dua Lipa, and Megan Thee Stallion.

Hybe’s social platform for superfans, Weverse, has already been crushing it in the K-pop space, but 2024 saw an impressive uptick in use in North America. That’s in no small part due to artists like Ariana Grande, Dua Lipa, Megan Thee Stallion, and Conan Gray, who joined the platform last year.

The platform saw a 19% increase in users in 2024 as a result, as well as a 13% increase in physical and digital merchandise transactions. Users in both the US and Canada increased by 16%, with strong growth elsewhere too — Brazil (21%), Mexico (14%), Japan (22%), and Taiwan (54%). The growth follows Hybe’s global expansion, branching outside K-pop groups.

According to Joon Choi, Weverse President, 2024 was a “transformative year” for the company, expanding the platform’s artist communities, fan engagement, and commerce activities. “Weverse remains committed to innovating its services to meet the evolving needs of artists and fans, solidifying its position as the center of global fandom culture,” said Choi.

Weverse launched in 2019 as a platform for music industry superfans. Last year, it introduced a subscription tier to provide ad-free viewing, video downloads for offline access, high-quality streaming, and language translation. “Digital membership, we believe, is the very first cornerstone of the future evolution of Weverse,” the company told Billboard in December.

What sets Weverse apart from other social networks is its e-commerce solutions. Through its shop, Weverse sold 20.6 million pieces, a 13% increase from 2023. Physical merchandise like albums and collectibles saw a 10% increase, while digital merchandise like artist memberships and online content saw a 24% increase, with 3.4 million sold.

Aside from Weverse’s home market of South Korea, the US and Japan were the top markets for the platform in terms of merchandise. Top-selling digital items include artist memberships, such as BTS ARMY and SEVENTEEN’s CARAT memberships.

YouTube TV viewership grew once again in the U.S. during December 2024, according to newly released consumption data. Photo Credit: Muhammad Asyfaul

Look out, Spotify – YouTube expanded its TV viewing share over other streaming platforms in December, when it accounted for a record 11.1% of U.S. television watch time, per new data.

That data comes from Nielsen’s Media Distributor Gauge, which just recently disclosed its figures for November 25th through December 29th. Formally unveiled this past May, The Media Distributor Gauge charts stateside TV consumption and ranked YouTube second, behind only The Walt Disney Company’s various services, for November 2024.

At least as laid out in the “cross-platform view of total TV consumption,” however, YouTube’s television reach is on the rise. With its aforementioned 11.1% of U.S. TV viewing (of 43.3% for streaming overall) in December, the Google-owned platform turned in a 7% increase from the prior month and topped Netflix (8.5%) as well as Prime Video (4%).

The Gauge measures streaming, cable, and broadcast, but YouTube’s 11.1% share stemmed from the video-sharing platform itself – excluding “linear streaming” like that offered via its namesake live-TV service, the report shows.

In other words, YouTube’s U.S. television viewing share percentage is higher when factoring also for YouTube TV, which reportedly has over eight million subscribers in the States.

But even the core percentage is significant, especially against the backdrop of Spotify’s aggressive video buildout.

Most conspicuously, said buildout encompasses video podcasts, though concert specials, television shows, and more are likewise part of the initiative.

And while it perhaps goes without saying, competition is stiff in the video arena, where well-entrenched players are evidently having a hard time topping YouTube by certain consumption metrics.

Particularly on the podcasting side, a clear-cut market preference for video episodes seemingly enabled YouTube to overtake Spotify as the foremost podcast platform in the U.S. TV consumption is helping YouTube cement the position; last month, the platform revealed that its users had “watched over 400M hours of podcasts monthly on living room devices” in 2024.

Stated differently, Spotify has a long way to go before catching up to YouTube generally and when it comes to video podcasting. Closer to 2025’s beginning, Spotify officially debuted its video-podcast-focused Partner Program, under which eligible creators will receive a cut of Premium revenue when paid users watch their uploads.

Of course, it’ll be worth closely monitoring the Partner Program’s effect on Spotify’s podcast positioning throughout 2025. Without diving too far into the multifaceted subject, more than a few proper podcasts are vying for viewers and listeners on Spotify (and elsewhere).

But Spotify’s aggressive video embrace has brought with it growing pains as well; one needn’t spend very much time searching to find video “podcasts” that are difficult to objectively classify as such.

More troubling are video-podcast uploads of (not just containing) protected music, presumably unauthorized television episodes, adult content, and different media yet that definitely shouldn’t be on the platform at all. Last year, Spotify moved to hire several content-moderation and -safety team members.

TikTok remains unavailable on the Apple App Store as of Monday, January 20th at 8: 30 am PT (Photo: Digital Music News)

Where is TikTok down in the US? Here’s the latest availability report.

Apple App Store: ⊗ Not Available (see Apple statement here)

Google Play Store: ⊗ Not Available

Existing, Already-Downloaded Apps: √ Available (Restored)

Web Version: √ Available (Restored) 

Akamai: √ Available (Restored)

Oracle: √ Available (Restored)

TikTok, along with ByteDance-owned apps, was officially banned in the United States as of Sunday, January 19th, 2025. On January 20th, President Trump signed an Executive Order allowing a 75-day stay on the ban while ByteDance and the United States negotiated a joint ownership arrangement.

The ban was instituted across multiple platforms late Saturday (January 18th) to comply with the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, and TikTok shuttered access to its app on Saturday evening. As of Sunday (January 20th), TikTok and various internet backbone providers began reinstating the app following assurances by Donald Trump, while both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store have pulled the app entirely and have not reinstated the app. Here’s the latest.

Latest developments

January 20th, 5:30 pm PT

Incoming President Trump signs an Executive Order delaying the ban by 75 days. Trump indicated interest in negotiating a joint ownership arrangement with ByteDance, with the United States a 50/50 joint venture partner.

January 19th, 1:00 pm PT:

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, issues a warning on X that “any company that hosts, distributes, services or otherwise facilitates communist-controlled TikTok could face hundreds of billions of dollars of ruinous liability.”

The post was a direct response to TikTok’s announcement that it was restoring service.

January 19th, ~10:00 am PT:

Major CDNs like Akamai and Oracle have restored availability of the app, based on assurances from incoming President Trump that an Executive Order would extend the ban deadline and lift all fines against carriers of the app. Most users are reporting that the app is coming back online for them, with a ‘Welcome Back!’ message from TikTok.

January 19th, 6:30 am PT:

TikTok states via X that its service is being restored, while thanking Trump.

“In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service. We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive.”

January 19th, 4:00 am PT:

On Truth Social, Trump urged a pause on the ban and outlined a deal in which the United States would own 50% in a TikTok joint venture.

“I would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture. By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to say up,” the post outlined.

At this point, it’s unclear if ByteDance or any other stakeholders have agreed to this top-level ownership structure.

January 18th, 11:15 pm PT:

After the Supreme Court denied a late-stage appeal, the TikTok app was removed on the evening of January 18th from most platforms, including Apple’s App Store and Google Play Store. Existing users were also told the app was blocked and unavailable.

The removals from the App Store and Play Store prevent future downloads and updates; blocks on the existing app were done by TikTok itself.

Anyone who removed the app ahead of the January 19th ban cannot currently re-download the app.

]]> https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2025/01/17/vinyl-sales-2024-luminate-analysis/ Fri, 17 Jan 2025 22:17:51 +0000 https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/?p=312526

Are U.S. vinyl sales actually declining? Luminate’s 2024 year-end report is raising questions about where the purportedly surging format stands. Photo Credit: Maryna Nikolaieva

Are vinyl sales suddenly declining in the U.S.? Newly released 2024 data is prompting discussion about whether the long-resurging format is grappling with a commercial plateau.

Yesterday, we touched on this 2024 vinyl sales data when breaking down the Luminate year-end report in which it appeared. But in light of the format’s well-documented (and, as calculated by different entities, ongoing) comeback, the matter warrants closer scrutiny.

To be sure, the RIAA registered a 17% YoY vinyl sales spike at estimated retail value for H1 2024. (The trade organization’s full-year recorded-market analysis is forthcoming.)

Luminate, on the other hand, pointed to a 1% YoY decline in full-year 2024 physical album sales volume (including vinyl, CD, and cassette alike, with vinyl by far the largest contributor of the three) in the U.S. – albeit when excluding “independent retail strata sales.”

The dip refers specifically to 55.6 million units moved in 2024, down from 56.2 million units in 2023, the report shows. Meanwhile, indie retail’s physical sales showing was isolated not on a whim, but amid continued controversy over the underlying methodology.

Just to recap, heading into 2024, Luminate overhauled its methodology for calculating independent retailers’ physical sales.

DMN tracked the multifaceted episode in detail last year, including fierce opposition from record stores, Luminate’s subsequent calculation adjustments, and more. But ultimately, sales figures under the retooled model decreased substantially.

We know as much because Billboard (which shares a corporate parent with Luminate) charted the possible vinyl sales slips in its Market Watch breakdowns. Eventually, Billboard pulled all physical sales metrics from Market Watch, and Luminate’s 2024 report acknowledges the measurement pivot in question.

“As previously reported,” the explanation reads in full, “Luminate changed the methodology behind its independent retail sales reporting beginning Week 1 of 2024. While the new modeled methodology more accurately represents the independent retail market, we do not have comparable historical data to provide an accurate year-over-year trend.

“Therefore, independent retail physical sales under the new methodology for 2024 are isolated and no trending is provided versus 2023.”

Trending is, in fact, absent from the 2024 report, which simply discloses indie-retail album sales of 17.3 million vinyl units, 5.4 million CDs, and 165,000 cassettes.

Even after adding the cumulative 22.9 million indie-retail physical units to the non-indie total of 55.6 million units, however, we’re left with 78.5 million physical sales in the U.S. for 2024, per Luminate. That’s well beneath the overall physical sales of 87 million units (up 8.9% YoY) that the company pinpointed in its 2023 report.

It’s also noticeably beneath the RIAA’s H1 2024 estimate, which identified 42.5 million physical units shipped (not necessarily sold to customers) for Q1 and Q2 alone.

In any event, pressing questions remain, in part because there isn’t exactly a consensus on precisely what constitutes an eligible indie retailer for the purposes of Luminate sales data.

If the indie side’s modeled methodology really is more accurate, that would seemingly render Luminate’s historical physical sales data heavily inflated.

Also possible is that U.S. vinyl sales are actually declining – and/or that certain indie retailers’ sales aren’t registering under the fresh model. It’ll be worth keeping each of the possibilities in mind throughout 2025, particularly as the RIAA prepares to release its own 2024 annual report.

And it should be highlighted in conclusion that locally owned record stores, despite the often-used indie descriptor, move quite a few projects from well-known acts like Taylor Swift. Thus, the multifaceted subject carries commercial implications (or at least sales-measurement implications) for a variety of companies, stakeholders, and professionals.

Spotify non-bundled subscription accounts in 2024 (Digital Music News/DMN Pro Data)

Spotify’s non-bundled, music-only subscriptions virtually disappeared in 2024, according to DMN Pro’s latest intel. But that’s a Spotify feature, not a Spotify bug. Here’s what the latest data shows across all plan types and tiers in the United States, and what this means for streaming royalties going forward.

For those just tuning into this imbroglio: during the first part of 2024, Spotify aggressively shifted its subscribers towards subscription packages that went beyond on-demand music to include audiobooks. More importantly from a financial perspective, the shift allowed the platform to take advantage of statutory royalty discounts that apply to bundles – and shave considerable royalty costs in the process.

Now, several months after the company’s pronounced shift into bundling, there are few signs that Spotify is letting up on this strategy. Here’s the latest data on Spotify’s ‘project bundle’.

Table of Contents

I. Spotify’s Big, Bad Subscription Bundle Is Here to Stay: How We Got Here

II. A Dying Breed: Percentage of Music-Specific Spotify Accounts In the United States as of November 2024

III. Big Bundles = Big Savings: A Look at Spotify’s $100 Million+ Bundling Windfall

IV. Spotify Is Mercilessly Killing Off Its Music-Only Subscribers – Here’s a Look at the Plunge In 2024

V. Further Research: Will Other DSPs Follow Spotify’s Lead?

Please note: this report is for DMN Pro subscribers only, so please don’t redistribute. Thank you!

On-demand music streaming volume increased modestly in the U.S. during 2024, but jumped north of 17% in all other nations, according to a new report. Photo Credit: Devon Divine

U.S. on-demand audio streams increased a respectable 6.4% during 2024, while global music streaming volume spiked 14% to 4.8 trillion, according to newly released data.

These and other noteworthy findings come from Luminate’s 2024 year-end report, which covers all manner of domestic and international consumption stats across its 90 pages.

Keeping the focus on streaming, however, the above-highlighted U.S. on-demand audio streams came in specifically at 1.4 trillion last year, the breakdown shows. Bearing in mind the global market’s 4.8 trillion on-demand streams, the remaining 3.4 trillion non-U.S. streams represent a 17.3% YoY boost.

By core genre, R&B and hip-hop tracks were far and away the most popular on-demand streaming uploads in the U.S. during 2024, the report indicates, followed by rock, pop, and country, respectively.

Nevertheless, hip-hop’s stateside on-demand streaming share continued to slip last year, when Latin and then country/folk rather definitively led the pack growth-wise, the document notes.

Transitioning to the international stage, Luminate’s 2024 report, despite spanning 11 more pages than its 2023 counterpart, doesn’t seem to include a list of the top-10 countries by streaming volume.

According to the appropriate resource, though, India (1.04 trillion on-demand video and audio streams) was threatening to overtake the U.S. (1.45 trillion) in 2023. And given the aforementioned 17.3% YoY growth for global on-demand streams, the overarching trend presumably continued in 2024.

Moving on to 2024’s more minute streaming trends, an average of 99,000 new ISRCs (not necessarily proper songs) arrived on DSPs daily – down from 2023’s daily average of 103,500, the resource shows.

Running with the point – and bearing in mind Spotify’s highly controversial practice of paying recording royalties only on tracks with over 1,000 annual streams – just 13% of DSPs’ recordings surpassed 1,000 streams apiece in 2024, the report states.

Closing with a look at the physical side, U.S. album sales (across vinyl, CDs, and cassettes alike) fell 1% in 2024 to 55.6 million units, according to the analysis.

As many will recall, 2024 brought with it a much-debated sales-calculation pivot at Luminate for indie retailers – and adjacent questions about the accuracy of comparisons with historical numbers.

Consequently, the year-end report acknowledges “the new modeled methodology” and the absence of “comparable historical data to provide an accurate year-over-year trend.”

Stated differently, the updated physical sales numbers for indie retail are materially lower than under the prior model, historical comparisons previously disclosed. In any event, as identified by “the new modeled methodology,” 2024 saw indie stores move 17.3 million vinyl units, 5.4 million CDs, and about 165,000 cassettes in the U.S.

“U.S. Vinyl sales are +4.3% in 2024 compared to 2023 when excluding the independent retail strata,” the report clarifies for good measure.

Photo Credit: Charmetric

In their latest 2024 Year In Music Report, Chartmetric has revealed some interesting data insights into the critical trends shaping the music industry. Over 11.1 million artists and 126 million tracks are tracked on Chartmetric—making it one of the most comprehensive databases for tracking trends and seeking actionable insights.

The following comes from Chartmetric, a company DMN is proud to be partnering with.

With more than 11 million artists tracked in Chartmetric data for 2024, the platform saw an added 1.7 million from their 2023 findings. On average, around 4,600 artists were added to the platform every day in 2024. The top six countries represented by artist growth include the United States (32%), United Kingdom (4.7%), France (3.8%), Germany (3.7%), Canada (3.6%) and Italy (3.2%).

Consistent with data in the Chartmetric 2023 report, the majority of artists today are undiscovered or still developing. But actionable insights into data trends have helped 2,800 artists achieve mainstream status in 2024—while 308 artists reached the ‘superstar’ level. These career stages are based on Chartmetric’s assigned artist score, which is an aggregate of various measures of success across different platforms.

2024 By The Numbers—Artists And Career Levels

Chartmetric tracked around 818,000 new, undiscovered artists who are new to the scene or have few available metrics for tracking them across various platforms. The platform tracked around 61,500 new developing artists who are more connected than their undiscovered counterparts. Many have taken the first steps to establishing their presence across digital service platforms (DSPs) or establishing their social presence. Around 8,500 artists are new to the mid-level career stage, showing consistent growth in audience and engagement across their DSP and social media performance.

Around 2,800 artists are newly ‘mainstream’ in 2024 and have broad recognition and appeal across a wide audience. They have major visibility on platforms including radio, streaming services, and social media. Some artists who broke into the ‘mainstream’ category on Chartmetric in 2024 include British sensation Lola Young and Colombian singer Ela Taubert.

Chartmetric tracked 308 new superstar artists, who reached a level of recognition that brings them into celebrity status. New additions to the superstar tier include Chilean reggaeton newcomer FloyyMenor and HYBE UMG’s girl group KATSEYE. Meanwhile, Chartmetric says there are 65 newly minted ‘legendary’ artists tracked on its platform—artists with a lasting music legacy more than 30 years old. Newly minted legendary artists this year include Australian rock duo Air Supply, the ‘Queen of Jazz’ Ella Fitzgerald, and Spanish hit-maker Julio Iglesias.

Chartmetric’s Year End 2024 report offers some interesting insights into the massive jump in appeal Chappell Roan experienced in 2024. The pop star was considered a mid-level artist on January 1, 2024 and just eleven months later, she peaked within the top 1% of artists tracked on the platform—making her a superstar. Superfans played a crucial role in bringing about that transformation for Chappell Roan.

With 2024 being the second year Chartmetric has offered a year-end review, it gives us some insights into artist popularity year over year based on Chartmetric score. Taylor Swift dropped from the #1 spot in 2023 to #2 in 2024, while The Weeknd slid down the charts from #4 in 2023 to #8 in 2024. So who were the top artists on Chartmetric based on their score? Here’s a quick aggregate:

1. 1. Bruno Mars
   2. Taylor Swift
   3. Billie Eilish
   4. Rosé
   5. Drake
   6. Lady Gaga
   7. Justin Bieber
   8. The Weekend
   9. Eminem
   10. Ariana Grande

An interesting trend for 2024 is that 13% of the top 500 artists by peak Chartmetric rank were Latin artists. The highest ranked artist is KAROL G, who peaked at #13. The top Latin artists in 2024 ranked by Spotify monthly listeners are Bad Bunny (70.15M), Shakira (60.9M), J Balvin (57.9M), Karol G (57M), and Daddy Yankee (53.7M).

Chartmetric has data on more than 129 million tracks and 40 million albums. In 2024, a total of 25.7 million tracks were ingested into the Chartmetric system, 10.5 million of which were released this year. On average, that puts new track releases daily at around 28,700 per day.

Songs are most commonly released on Fridays, with the most active months for new releases being March, April, and May. Some of the top tracks released in 2024 include:

1. 1. Benson Boon — “Beautiful Things”
   2. Shaboozey — “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”
   3. Teddy Swims — “Lose Control”
   4. Hozier — “Too Sweet”
   5. Jack Harlow — “Lovin On Me”
   6. Tate McRae — “Greedy”
   7. Sabrina Carpenter — “Espresso”
   8. Dua Lipa — “Houdini”
   9. Dasha — “Austin”
   10. Miley Cyrus — “Flowers”

Chartmetric made a huge effort this year to improve its genre system. After consolidating and revamping its classification system, Chartmetric now tracks a total of 1,691 genres. The genres with the most tracks added in 2024 based on Chartmetric data were Hip-Hop, Dance, Alternative, Pop, Electronic, Latin, Rock, R&B/Soul, and Jazz.

The rap beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar kept hip-hop at the forefront of the music world in 2024. According to the data, Kendrick Lamar emerged on top in that fight. His tracks “Not Like Us” and “euphoria” peaked higher on the Billboard charts than any of Drake’s responses. “Not Like Us” debuted in the #1 spot and earned over 61 million YouTube views, compared to just 28 million for Drake’s “Family Matters.” The boost saw Kendrick Lamar’s Spotify monthly listeners jump from 52 million to a peak of 78 million—overtaking Drake on July 17.

Platform Performance—Spotify Remains King of Music Listening

Of the 11 million Spotify profiles tracked, only 1.58 million (14%) of them have more than 10 listeners per month. That data highlights just how much Spotify is used by undiscovered artists. From the 1.58 million, 37% have more than 1,000 monthly listeners.

When it comes to radio, the platform may no longer be the juggernaut of discovery it was in the past—but the curated approach still makes radio a powerful discovery tool. Chartmetric currently tracks 2,860 radio stations across the globe with a total of 2 million tracks played on those tracked stations for a combined one billion spins. Artists who dominated radio airwaves include David Guetta, Chris Brown, Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa, Morgan Wallen, and Post Malone.

Chartmetric’s ability to aggregate and visualize data from diverse sources provides unparalleled insights into the music industry. Whether it’s tracking global streaming trends or identifying the social platforms driving fandom growth, the Year in Music report serves as a vital tool for artists, labels, and industry professionals. Get a comprehensive look at Charmetric’s full 2024 Year-End Report here.

2024 music industry funding trends are providing valuable insights as 2025 ramps up. Photo Credit: Kelly Sikkema

On top of bringing close to $5 billion in music industry capital announcements, 2024 delivered several noteworthy funding trends. Here’s a breakdown of what the key developments mean as 2025 kicks into high gear.

Illustrating those details is possible thanks to DMN Pro’s one-stop Music Industry Funding Tracker, which compiles funding disclosures from in and around the music space. In its latest weekly report, DMN Pro, leveraging the Tracker, took a deep-dive look at 2024’s funding ins and outs.

And this look, covering everything from core funding ($4.64 billion, up slightly from 2023) to exactly which types of companies scored the capital, brought out valuable takeaways for the current year.

Top-Heavy Catalog Funds Skewed 2024 Data – And Set the Stage for Continued IP Deals

First, 2024’s music industry funding would have decreased substantially from 2023 if not for a few massive capital disclosures on the catalog side. Hipgnosis led the pack with its almost $1.5 billion asset backed securitization, followed by an over $1 billion funding confirmation from Iconic Artists Group and then an $850 million ABS from Concord.

There are multiple angles to consider here – most immediately, 2025 seems poised to usher in a steady stream of fresh song-rights sales. Admittedly, this isn’t exactly a surprise in light of 2024’s IP purchases and recent years’ sale trends.

But it is intriguing in that there are only so many bodies of work available to buy. Without naming names, steady inflation and dipping rates or not, certain creators’ sold IP will take quite a while to pay off for investors.

With purchase pickings comparatively slim but ample capital already committed to the asset class, it’ll be interesting to see exactly which catalogs move during 2025.

Considered from another angle, as huge tranches have already been earmarked for music IP, it’s unclear whether investors will publicly set aside billions more for catalogs.

A Superfan Sector Showdown? Multiple Platforms Compete for Diehard Supporters’ Business

Against the backdrop of an industry-wide push to more effectively monetize diehard support, superfan startups accounted for over 11% of 2024’s industry raises by volume. That includes sizable rounds from the likes of Mellomanic, Tune.fm, FanCircles, Hangout, and Trax.

Meanwhile, Universal Music in 2024 inked a decade-long Hybe deal encompassing (among other things) initiatives on the Weverse superfan app, and Warner Music is presumably still developing a superfan offering of its own. (The latter was initially slated to release sometime last year.) Plus, a superfan-focused Spotify Deluxe tier is forthcoming in the States.

In other words, there are only so many hours in a day for artists and fans, with consumer spending also a concern. Superfan-sector competition could well intensify during 2025 en route to driving consolidations during the year’s second half and into 2026.

Will 2024’s Live and Ticketing Funding Rounds Spur Market-Share Changes During 2025?

Lastly, time will tell whether live and ticketing startups, which accounted for over 13% of 2024’s core music industry raises by volume, can capitalize on their ample capital to take on well-entrenched players during 2025.

Though the observation raises more questions than it answers, niche live players like Seat Unique and ticketing upstarts like TickPick recorded major funding achievements last year. And with Celebratix making waves on the blockchain-ticketing side as Posh zeroes in on small events, for instance, something of a disruption could be in store.

Amid rumblings of a music industry funding comeback during 2025, it remains to be seen which sub-sectors will fill the void potentially left behind by live/ticketing and superfan businesses, which appear generally well-situated from the perspective of operating capital.

Music Industry Funding Breakdown by Type, 2024 (Digital Music News/DMN Pro)

Music industry funding ticked upward in 2024, but year-over-year levels would have plunged if not for a few huge raises. Amid rumblings of a significant rebound, what does 2025 have in store?

Will 2025 offer a funding bounce? While we don’t have an answer to that all-important question, we certainly aren’t without valuable takeaways from 2024. Like with our prior analyses, those takeaways are made possible by DMN Pro’s Music Industry Funding Tracker, a one-stop database of raises from in and around the music space.

On top of marking a slight YoY increase, 2024 core funding was well above the respective annual totals associated with 2020, 2021, and 2022. But the noticeable funding spike turns into a substantial slip when omitting 2024’s three largest raises (Hipgnosis, Iconic, and Concord).

Here’s a breakdown of the funding picture in 2024, and what it might portend for 2025.

Report Table Of Contents

I. Core Music Industry Funding Grew Slightly In 2024 – But The Total Fell 71% When Omitting the Year’s Three Largest Raises

II. By Raise Type and Quantity, Music AI, Live, Collaboration, snd Superfan Startups Dominated 2024

III. How Does 2024’s Music Industry Funding Stack Up Against Prior Years?

Please note that this report is for DMN Pro subscribers only. Please do not redistribute.

River Thames as seen from London. Photo Credit: Georg Eiermann

Thanks in large part to continued streaming and vinyl growth, the UK music industry generated all-time-high recorded revenue during 2024, according to newly released data.

That data comes from the Digital Entertainment and Retail Association (ERA) and follows separate 2024 sales figures from the British Phonographic Industry. As we reported, the BPI pointed to 9.7% YoY growth for album equivalent sales at 200.5 million units.

Now, the ERA has identified a 7.4% YoY improvement in UK music industry revenue, to about $2.95 billion/£2.39 billion. While inflation means the total is still well beneath the market’s peak in terms of actual value, the sum technically topped the previous record high (achieved in 2001) of $2.74 billion/£2.22 billion, the ERA noted.

Behind the 2024 figure, overall physical sales spiked 6.2% YoY to $408.04 million/£330.1 million, per the breakdown. And within the category, vinyl revenue experienced a 10.5% YoY boost to $242.28 million/£196 million, against essentially flat CD revenue of $156.02 million/£126.2 million, according to the preliminary findings.

(Unsurprisingly, Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department ranked first in total album sales, 783,820, and moved more vinyl copies than any other project, 111,937. All told, 6.7 million vinyl LPs sold in the UK during 2024, according to the BPI.)

Also in keeping with long-running commercial trends, streaming contributed the lion’s share of UK music industry revenue in 2024, $2.50 billion/£2.02 billion, up 7.8% YoY, the ERA found. Revenue growth is, of course, revenue growth.

But it’s worth reiterating that Spotify in May 2024 once again upped prices on its UK plans. The smallest of the raises hit Individual, the cost of which rose by 9% to $14.82/£11.99 per month, as bigger increases reached Duo and Family.

In other words, price bumps at the global streaming market leader seemingly outpaced subscription revenue growth in the UK during 2024. Of course, Spotify isn’t the only on-demand listening option, and Apple Music still charges $13.59/£10.99 per month for Individual.

But especially when considering the majors’ well-documented subscription-growth woes as well as the additional revenue impact of new customers, the points are interesting.

So are optimistic comments about the 2024 data from ERA CEO Kim Bayley, whose organization also tracks film, television, and video game sales.

“2024 was a banner year for music,” weighed in Bayley, “with streaming and vinyl taking the sector to all-time-high records in both value and volume. This is the stunning culmination of music’s comeback which has seen sales more than double since their low point in 2013. We can now say definitively – music is back.”

Photo Credit: Adrian Korte

BPI has revealed data about the UK recorded music market showcasing a 9.7% rise to 201 million albums. Streaming also hit a new record high of just under 200 billion audio streams across the year.

According to data provided by The Official Charts Company, women topped the Official Singles Chart for the majority (34) of weeks in 2024. They also claimed half of the year’s Top 20 albums for the first time. Physical music purchases saw positive year-on-year growth for the first time in 20 years, led by the 17th consecutive annual rise in vinyl album sales and CD purchases nearly level with 2023.

The UK recorded music industry growth was driven by an 11% rise in the streaming market, with 199.6 billion audio streams accumulated in 2024. Streaming now accounts for 88.8% of music consumption, up from 87.7% in 2023. In May, the Official Charts Company recorded over 4 billion audio streams in a single week for the first time ever.

More than 20 British groups and solo acts topped the Official Album Chart during the year. These included The Last Dinner Party, D-Block Europe, Charli XCX, Dua Lipa, singer-songwriter James Arthur, Beadadoobee and Lewis Capaldi, rock bands Blossoms, Elbow, Idles, James, Kasabian, The Libertines, Shed Seven, and Snow Patrol, Rod Steward & Jools Holland, Michael Ball & Alfie Boe, Liam Gallagher & John Squire, David Gilmour, Oasis, Coldplay and The Cure.

While UK artists and music companies remain at the vanguard of talent and creativity, 2024 also highlighted the intensifying global competition provided by both by traditional leading players, such as the US, as well as from emerging, fast-growing markets like South Korea and Latin America. Both South Korea and Latin America are achieving international success with their artists in part because their governments are backing their industries.

Official Charts Artist Albums Chart 2024

1. Taylor Swift — The Tortured Poets Department
2. The Weeknd — The Highlights
3. Sabrina Carpenter — Short N’ Sweet
4. Noah Kahan — Stick Season
5. Billie Eilish — Hit Me Hard And Soft
6. Chappell Roan — The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess
7. Fleetwood Mac — 50 Years – Don’t Stop
8. Charli XCX — Brat
9. Coldplay — Moon Music
10. Olivia Rodrigo — Guts

Official Charts Most-Streamed Audio Tracks 2024

1. Noah Kahan — “Stick Season”
2. Sabrina Carpenter — “Espresso”
3. Benson Boone — “Beautiful Things”
4. Teddy Swims — “Lose Control”
5. Hozier — “Too Sweet”
6. Shaboozey “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”
7. Billie Eilish — “Birds Of A Feather”
8. Chappell Roan — “Good Luck, Babe!”
9. Sabrina Carpenter — “Please Please Please”
10. Dasha — “Austin”

An official poster for Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, which is set to release in IMAX on January 3rd. Photo Credit: CT & Co

Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown pulled in another $11.6 million at the box office over the weekend, thereby upping its domestic gross past $23 million, according to early sales data.

That sales data comes from Box Office Mojo, which specifically pointed to $23.17 million in gross U.S. tickets moved as of yesterday. Running 141 minutes, A Complete Unknown released on Christmas Day and is teed up for a January 3rd IMAX premiere.

With all things considered, and against the backdrop of an ongoing box-office recovery, the commercial showing appears solid enough for the Searchlight film. Moreover, the relatively strong viewership will presumably drive results in other areas.

Most immediately, these potential results refer to bolstered streaming listenership and physical sales.

Beginning with the latter, though Bob Dylan only offered public support for the biopic towards the top of December, September brought the release of a 27-CD set from the 83-year-old. Apparently designed with superfans in mind, the massive collection encompasses north of 400 tracks.

Then there’s the potential to reach new fans via A Complete Unknown. It stands to reason that the release, in part because it stars Timothée Chalamet (age 29) and features talent including Elle Fanning (age 26), may attract new fans yet for the 10-time Grammy winner.

Time will reveal the revenue impact of any fresh following, but Fleetwood Mac and several others have reaped career benefits in recent years after catching on with younger supporters.

(Regarding the royalties behind the possible listenership boost, Dylan sold his recordings to Sony Music at 2022’s start, after closing 2020 by cashing in on his compositional holdings under a Universal Music Publishing Group deal.)

Meanwhile, Dylan in his aforementioned social media message plugging A Complete Unknown encouraged fans to read the book upon which the movie is based, Elijah Wald’s Dylan Goes Electric!

At the time of this writing, the 2015 book was the bestseller in Amazon’s Rock Music and Folk & Traditional Music categories. (Suze Rotolo’s A Freewheelin’ Time was occupying the number-two spot in Folk.)

Bigger picture, with a streaming windfall presumably in the longer-term cards for A Complete Unknown as well, additional major-motion-picture biopics about legacy acts could be forthcoming.

However, while it perhaps goes without saying, not every story is ideal for the biopic treatment; straight documentaries are continuing to roll out in the music world.

To name one example, Disney+ released The Beach Boys this past May, after Irving Azoff (who produced the film) bought the appropriate catalog via his Iconic Artists Group in February 2021.

The same service added Martin Scorsese-produced Beatles ’64 one month ago, and Led Zeppelin’s first officially authorized documentary is slated to hit theaters in February.

Ad-supported streaming plans are picking up steam on the video side — and raising questions about the music space heading into 2025. Photo Credit: Oscar Nord

Ad-supported VOD subscriptions are surging in the U.S. – and raising new questions about pricing pivots for music streaming platforms in 2025.

VOD streaming’s continued ad-supported growth came to light in a new report from Antenna, a self-described “market data platform for the subscription economy.”

Diving directly into the relevant data, the Bertelsmann-backed firm indicated that as of Q3 2024, ad-supported video streaming tiers accounted for “43% of all subscriptions among those services that offer ad plans.”

As many know, said services now include everything from Peacock to Hulu and Disney+ to Netflix. According to the same breakdown, ad-supported subscription tiers at Netflix (44% of subs’ gross additions attributable to ad-supported), Max (39%), and Disney+ (62%) experienced sizable Q3 share spikes from the same period in 2023.

Meanwhile, VOD subs’ overall ad-supported total of 43% hiked 11% from Q3 2023, marking a material boost from Q3 2022’s 28%, per the analysis. At the intersection of those points, ad-supported VOD tiers’ share was largely flat between the top of 2022 (also 28%) and Q3 2023 (the above-disclosed 32%).

Furthermore, the percentage jumped from 39% to the noted 43% across Q2 and Q3 2024, the firm found.

Though it’s difficult to pin down the precise reasons behind the trend, rising subscription prices, pressure on consumers’ wallets, and the relatively new inability to share Netflix accounts (without paying an additional fee, that is) all come to mind.

In any event, from the perspective of the music space and otherwise, the trend is worth monitoring heading into 2025.

While there aren’t short-and-sweet answers to related questions, we aren’t without valuable insight here. At the top level, ad-supported listening generates significantly less revenue than its subscription counterpart, but is often billed as a reliable means of adding users who may then subscribe down the line.

To be sure, Spotify’s ad-supported MAUs have increased substantially in recent years, numbering a cool 402 million as of Q3 2024’s conclusion. As we’ve covered when analyzing Spotify earnings for several quarters running, however, much of this growth is now attributable to users in emerging (and streaming-heavy) markets.

A breakdown of Spotify ad-supported accounts growth between 2014 and 2024. Photo Credit: Digital Music News

Specifically, 55% of Spotify’s total MAUs resided in regions besides Europe and North America as of this year’s third quarter. Taking that point a step further, it’s possible that Spotify’s freemium funnel has been, at least for the time being, tapped out in the States, where data is fueling fears of an outright Individual subscriber decline.

Then there’s the fact that Apple Music, which doesn’t have an ad-supported tier, reportedly boasts more Individual subs in the U.S. than its Spotify rival. Moreover, subscription-streaming growth is slowing at the majors, at least one of which has not so subtly called for charging for ad-supported listening in well-established markets.

In other words, it’ll be interesting to see where the points lead in the new year, which could be poised to deliver new streaming-compensation overhauls and more.

Photo Credit: Thom Bradley

Just how popular are Apple’s AirPods? According to Bloomberg estimates, the Cupertino giant raked in $18 billion in revenue on AirPods sales last year. That’s more than Spotify ($14B), Nintendo ($12B), eBay ($10B), and Intuit ($12B).

The figure cited is revenue and not profit, but it still highlights just how popular the bite-sized earbuds have become for iOS users. Apple has shipped an estimated 550 million units of AirPods since they were introduced eight years ago. They were introduced alongside the iPhone 7, which was the first iPhone not to feature a headphone jack. The migration to wireless earbuds and headphones was swift for iPhone users and a pay-day for Apple.

With wired earbuds no longer provided for free with every iPhone purchase, Apple was able to turn a negative product cost into a positive revenue flow. AirPods are also notorious for how easy they are to lose, which often end up with one earbud left on planes, trains, and in grandma’s automobile. In fact, AirPods owners spent an estimated $700 million just replacing lost earbuds. While we don’t have exact figures, estimates on Apple’s revenue per year attributed to AirPods has seen double-digit growth each year.

Apple AirPods Revenue By Year

• • 2017 — $1.76 billion
  • 2018 — $3.2 billion (+82%)
  • 2019 — $6.1 billion (+90%)
  • 2020 — $10.1 billion (+65%)
  • 2021 — $12.1 billion (+20%)
  • 2022 — $14.5 billion (+19%)
  • 2023 — $18 billion (+24%)

Apple’s AirPods are the best-selling wireless earbuds on the market and account for around 34.4% of the wireless earbud market in the United States alone. They’re also the top choice worldwide for anyone in the market for true wireless sound (TWS), accounting for 19% of global market share for the hearables segment. The only other brand that comes close on a global scale is Sony (17%), Samsung (16%), BOSE (10%), Sennheiser (5%), LG (4%), and Jabra (2%).

AirPods themselves account for around 5-7% of Apple’s total revenue, highlighting why the tech company made the switch from free earbuds to premium TWS add-on. It’s estimated that AirPods sales could reach as high as $22 billion this year after the holiday season. By 2030, analysts expect AirPods will generate $45 billion in yearly revenue for Apple—surpassing iPad sales. Apple expects the attachment rate to iPhone buyers for AirPods will reach 60% by 2030.

Photo Credit: Usher by Kevin Mazur for Getty Images / Live Nation

Usher wraps up the North American leg of his Past, Present, Future tour in Miami, clocking 62 sold-out shows across the trek.

On December 19, entertainment icon Usher wrapped up the North American leg of his Past, Present, Future tour at Kaseya Center in Miami. Guests of the evening included Uncle Luke, DJ Khaled, and JT Money, creating a truly unforgettable night.

The North American leg of the tour sold over 800,000 tickets, with 62 sold-out shows and multiple nights in each city. Usher delivered performances that celebrated his evolution as an iconic performer, while honoring his unmatched contribution to the industry.

Throughout the tour, Usher brought in an impressive lineup of special guests, including Raheem DeVaughn, Stevie Wonder, LL Cool J, Kevin Hart, Boyz II Men, SWV, Keyshia Cole, Lil Jon, and many more. With dazzling choreography and production alongside his signature roller skating routines, Usher delivered a legendary experience to fans across the country.

“We brought the past, the present, and the future to this leg of the tour night after night. Packed arenas with the most dedicated fans continues to serve as our motivation for making each show unforgettable,” said Usher. “Thank you to Live Nation, my team, my cast and crew, and everyone involved with this tour — see you in March when we bring ATL to Europe.”

The tour picks up next year in Europe, making stops in Paris, Amsterdam, and Berlin, including an incredible 10-night run at The O2 Arena in London.

Usher: Past, Present, Future 2025 International Dates

March

• 29 | London, UK — The O2 Arena
• 01 | London, UK — The O2 Arena
• 02 | London, UK — The O2 Arena
• 05 | London, UK — The O2 Arena
• 06 | London, UK — The O2 Arena
• 08 | London, UK — The O2 Arena
• 09 | London, UK — The O2 Arena
• 11 | London, UK — The O2 Arena

April

• 15 | Paris, France — Accor Arena
• 16 | Paris, France — Accor Arena
• 22 | Amsterdam, Holland — Ziggo Dome
• 23 | Amsterdam, Holland — Ziggo Dome
• 25 | Amsterdam, Holland — Ziggo Dome
• 26 | Amsterdam, Holland — Ziggo Dome
• 28 | Amsterdam, Holland — Ziggo Dome

May

• 01 | Berlin, Germany — Mercedes-Benz Arena
• 02 | Berlin, Germany — Mercedes-Benz Arena
• 04 | Berlin, Germany — Mercedes-Benz Arena
• 06 | London, UK — The O2 Arena
• 07 | London, UK — The O2 Arena

Ask Hearby in action (Photo Credit: Area4Labs)

How much bigger can the global live concert space grow? Boston-based Hearby is betting that AI-generated concert searches can crack the discovery riddle and boost attendance across the board. Here’s a look at the just-launched ‘Ask Hearby.’

Ready for a break from AI infringement problems, endless legal battles, and dystopian nightmares? While most of the music industry is focused on the very serious threats posed by AI, a number of companies are playing in less problematic sandboxes and making serious strides.

That includes Hearby, an AI-focused music braintrust owned by Area4Labs in Boston. The company is focused on concert-related applications driven by AI, with an eye towards resolving decades-old issues. Just recently, Hearby joined forces with DMN to accelerate its mission.

As Chat GPT doesn’t provide information on live events, the group has a mission to solve the giant discovery gap that exists in live music, particularly for music fans who are surrounded by great music but often lack awareness of what’s out there.

“Giant shows for artists like Beyoncé and Taylor Swift are only one-third of the market,” Area4Labs cofounder Ian Condry relayed. “The rest of live music events in smaller venues is scattered and difficult to find.”

Suddenly, AI is doing something great – helping people find gigs and discovering new artists. It’s a refreshing change of pace.

If you’ve stumbled on a great jazz set in your neighborhood – or worse, didn’t realize an artist you love played last night – then you’re one of millions of music fans Hearby wants to help.

Enter ‘Ask Hearby,’ a first-to-market AI chatbot for live event discovery.

Ask Hearby taps into Large Language Model (LLM) AI technology and decades of anthropology expertise to properly match intent with great gigs. On the LLM front, Hearby has been tinkering with this tech for more than five years, according to details shared with DMN.

The end goal, according to the company, is to simulate a knowledgeable friend offering curation of local gigs.

Actually, the goal is to supercede that benchmark, given that a knowledgeable music fan is likely to offer recommendations based on their specific preferences and favorite venues, not yours.

The result is – voila! – an AI chatbot specifically designed for discovering live events. Based on specific prompts, Ask Hearby shakes the tree on what’s out there, effectively shifting discovery beyond personal recommendations, chance encounters, and limited online apps.

“This is the first of its kind in the live event discovery space,” said Area4Labs CEO Gary Halliwell.  “Our coverage of live music shows across UK cities and towns is second to none, and we look forward to extending discovery of North American shows in 2025.”

That’s completely different from more closed-end AI chatbot systems like Satisfi, which focus on providing support details after concert tickets have been purchased. Shifting the timeframe to the moments before a ticket is purchased, and the challenge becomes exponentially more challenging.

We tested Ask Hearby out by asking for live events in our area.

The results were interesting: some local jazz spots were highlighted alongside some lesser-known alternatives. That includes restaurants that added trios or pianists to accentuate the ambience, which can be tricky to find.

There were also a few misses, depending on your perspective: Azealia Banks was noted as a jazz option, perhaps based on a line in her biography referencing jazz as an influence. That type of result could lead to some disappointing results for concertgoers, though Ask Hearby will learn what’s relevant – and what isn’t – over time.

The next step in Ask Hearby’s development arc involves serious personalization.

Based on your repeated searches and results, the company envisions generating personally curated show lists that can be shared on social media. Suddenly, fans aren’t limited to a few mega-shows at $150 a pop. Instead, the options will include more local gigs, up-and-coming artists, and hole-in-the-wall jazz trios more accessible than ever.

Following indications of a subscriber growth plateau, new data is pointing to an outright decline in stateside Spotify Individual subscribers. Photo Credit: Kojo Kwarteng

Following numerous signs of a paid-streaming plateau, new data is shedding light on an even more troubling trend: some outright subscriber declines in the world’s largest music market.

That data comes from DMN Pro, which has now provided multiple in-depth looks during 2024 at the hard numbers behind the U.S. streaming space. Earlier in December, one of those breakdowns revealed a decrease in overall domestic subscribers for Amazon Music, which still charges Prime members $9.99 monthly for Individual.

But it turns out the stateside subscriber dip, far from solely hitting Amazon Music, is further impacting today’s biggest on-demand music service. As explored in DMN Pro’s latest weekly report, Spotify Individual subscribers totaled 23.96 million in September 2024.

The total is up about 300,000 from September 2023 but represents a falloff of almost 431,000 subs from February 2024. Of course, it’s difficult to draw concrete conclusions from the shorter-term development, particularly against the backdrop of a rapidly diversifying streaming sector.

However, the trend is worth noting heading into the new year, particularly as the majors plot strategies to meet longer-term subscription-revenue growth targets.

History and logic underscore that price increases (and royalty-calculation recalibrations) are among the more readily accessible means of pursuing the goals. With that said, as Spotify now charges $11.99 monthly for Individual in the States – up from $9.99 in the not-so-distant past and still above Apple Music’s $10.99 price – the timing hardly appears right for yet another U.S. bump.

Nevertheless, other monetization-minded options are definitely on the table. While there’s seemingly little near-term wiggle room for a fresh Spotify Individual price boost, Family is a different story.

Earlier in 2024, Warner Music head Robert Kyncl rather directly expressed a desire to bolster the multi-user package’s revenue potential in one way or another. And notwithstanding Individual’s decline, Spotify managed to add around 2.67 million U.S. subscribers (not subscriptions) across September 2023 and September 2024, per DMN Pro estimates.

Then there’s Spotify’s ongoing advertising buildout and an already-confirmed “Deluxe” tier. It’s unclear when the latter, one component of an increasingly aggressive superfan focus, will roll out. But it’ll reportedly include a long-rumored audio-quality upgrade, a collection of AI tools, and more, with a price point of closer to $18 per month, according to Spotify CEO Daniel Ek.

Whatever the new year holds on this front, it should be highlighted that Spotify itself remains relatively insulated from discussions pertaining to the majors’ subscription-growth slowdowns. Still adding subs (albeit mainly in markets where ARPU is often lower), the service is diversifying well beyond music and leaving no savings stone unturned amid a newfound emphasis on profitability.

Even after factoring for a recent price slip, Spotify stock (NYSE: SPOT) is up 141% on the year at $454 per share. The corresponding market cap, $91.2 billion, is almost twice as large as that of Universal Music Group (UMG on the Euronext Amsterdam).

A look at Spotify’s US-based paying subscriber numbers, including Individual Premium subscribers, since September 2023 (Source: DMN Pro)

Last week, DMN Pro pointed to US-based subscriber declines at Amazon Music as part of our latest DSP competitive analysis. Now, full year-over-year data is revealing tepid US-based premium subscriber gains for Spotify, including near-zero growth and recent declines in the all-important Individual Premium subscriber category.

Now, another alarming statistic has surfaced based on an expanded, full-year dataset of US-based subscribers.  Specifically, DMN Pro has discovered that Spotify Individual Premium subscribers have essentially flatlined. The total number of Individual Premium subscribers totaled approximately 23.96 million for the month of September 2024, which is a mere 1.3% increase over the September 2023 figure of 23.66 million and represents a slight decline from early 2024 totals.

More importantly, Individual Premium subscribers have actually declined over the past two quarters, suggesting a possible downward trend heading into 2025.

Report Table of Contents

I. More Data, More Problems: Subscriber Trouble Signs Continue to Emerge In the US

II. The ‘Big Four’ Subscriber Growth Picture: Apple Music, Amazon Music, Spotify, YouTube Music

III. US-Based Individual Premium Subscribers Flattening for Spotify: A Closer Look at the Data

IV. Spotify’s Broader Global Subscriber Picture

V. Time to Pause Aggressive Price Increases?

This research report is for DMN Pro subscribers only. Please do not redistribute, thank you! 

Photo Credit: Pew Research

Pew Research Center reveals data about the top social media platforms among teens, with YouTube ranking surprisingly higher than TikTok.

Amid growing national concern about technology’s impact on young people, teens are as online as ever. Most teens use social media and have a smartphone, and nearly half of those surveyed say they’re online almost constantly.

Pew Research Center conducted an online survey of 1,391 teens in the United States from September 18 to October 10, 2024, through Ipsos. Ipsos recruited the teens through their parents, who were part of its KnowledgePanel, a probability-based web panel recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses.

The survey was weighted to represent U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 who live with their parents by age, gender, race and ethnicity, household income, and other factors. This research was reviewed and approved by Advarra, an external institutional review board, with an independent committee of experts specializing in helping to protect the rights of research participants.

Interestingly, YouTube tops the list of the online platforms most frequented by teens. Nine in ten teens report using the site, slightly down from 95% in 2022. TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat remain widely used among this demographic, with roughly six in ten teens saying they use TikTok and Instagram, and 55% saying they use Snapchat.

Facebook and X (Twitter) have declined sharply in usage over the past decade. Ony 32% of teens say they use Facebook, down from 71% in 2014 and 2015 — though the share of teens who use the site has remained stable in recent years. Meanwhile, 17% say they use the former Twitter, only around half of the share who used the site a decade ago (33%) and down from 23% in 2022.

Around a quarter (23%) of teens say they use WhatsApp, up 6% since 2022. Meanwhile, 14% of teens use Reddit, a share that has remained stable in the past few years. As for Threads, Meta’s answer to Twitter launched in 2023, only 6% of teens report using it.

Roughly half of teens surveyed say they go on Instagram or Snapchat every day, including around one in ten who say they’re on each of these platforms (YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook) almost constantly. The amount of teens who say they use Instagram almost constantly has increased from 8% in 2023 to 12% today. Still, relatively few teens report using Facebook daily, at 20%. But across all five of these platforms, one-third of teens use at least one of these sites almost constantly.

By gender, teen girls are more likely than boys to say they use TikTok almost constantly (19% vs. 13%). And teen boys are more likely than girls to use YouTube as often (19% vs. 11%). Unlike last year, a similar share of boys and girls (13% vs. 12%) today say they use Snapchat almost constantly. There are no notable gender differences in the shares of teens who report using Instagram and Facebook almost constantly.

By race, roughly a quarter of Black (28%) and Hispanic (25%) teens say they use TikTok almost constantly. This share drops to 8% among white teens. Black and Hispanic teens are also more likely than white teens to say they constantly use YouTube or Instagram. There are little to no racial or ethnic differences in the shares of teens visiting Snapchat and Facebook constantly.

By household income, Facebook remains more commonly used among teens in lower-income households. To that end, 45% of teens in households earning less than $30,000 a year say they use Facebook.

That number drops to 35% among teens in households earning between $30,000 and $74,999 a year, and 29% among teens with household incomes of $75,000 or more. Teens in lower-income households are also more likely than those in the highest-income households to say they use TikTok (73% vs. 59%).

A breakdown of streaming music subscriber share in the US as of September 2024 (Source: DMNPro)

As the sun sets on a wild 2024, here’s where major streaming music platforms stand in the all-important race for paying subscribers.

Who’s winning the race for streaming music subscriber dominance? In this DMN Pro Weekly Report, we pick apart the latest US-based subscriber market share stats, including breakdowns across various subscriber tiers. Our latest data has been culled from multiple sources, including one of the largest music publishing conglomerates in the world.

Let’s jump in.

Report Table of Contents

I. Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and YouTube Music: Has the Paid Streaming Music Market Congealed In the US?

II. A Detailed Breakdown of the Latest US-Based Subscriber Share Stats

III. What’s Happening With Amazon Music?

IV. The Plateau Boogeyman Looms Over 2025

V. Appendix: A Few Notes on Methodology

This report is for DMN Pro subscribers only — please do not redistribute. Thanks!

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Photo Credit: Dennis Leopold

The self-proclaimed Queen of Christmas has expanded her celebration of “All I Want For Christmas Is You” over the last five years. This year includes a Christmas tour—but longtime fans may be getting tired of the song. NBC News is now reporting listening data that shows the song’s rise and fall over the last 20 years.

The data captures 20 years of fans’ listenership of the famous Christmas song, highlighting how listening habits have changed over the years. Back in 2005, the song mostly gained traction during the week of Thanksgiving, being mostly a December affair for those who love the festive song. In 2010 it started getting played sooner and sooner with most of November covered by 2017.

Things really kicked into high gear in 2018, with “All I Want For Christmas Is You” playing throughout the month of October and lightly in September. But this year, the plays throughout September and October diminished greatly, while November and December has retained the same coverage.

NBC News reports that listenership in the month of October declined 35% between 2023 and 2024 and 22% from November 2023 to November 2024. The song has inspired countless covers from other artists, but listeners of the song seem burned out this year. Perhaps over-exposure to the Queen of Christmas this year is to account for the lull?

Mariah Carey announced her Christmas tour this year for a blowout celebration, but fans haven’t been responding so well. Footage from social media over the weekend on Saturday shows a group of fans fighting at CFG Bank Arena during the choir interlude to “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” This new fighting incident comes just weeks after another at Mariah Carey’s show in St. Louis at the Enterprise Center on November 29. That fight happened while Mariah Carey was on stage singing the iconic song.

Carey kicked off her Christmas Time tour on November 6th in California and it will go on until December 17th with a final performance at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Music industry funding turned in YoY growth in November 2024 despite a significant falloff in the cumulative value of YTD raises. Photo Credit: Vladimir Solomianyi

Building on October’s growth, core music industry funding increased by double digits during November 2024. Nevertheless, the cumulative value of YTD raises remains well beneath its 2023 counterpart.

These and other worthwhile insights come from DMN Pro’s Music Industry Funding Tracker, a one-stop database compiling rounds from in and directly around the industry. Running with the information provided by that searchable and filterable resource, the music space recorded five raises in November 2024 – the same number delivered by the prior-year month.

Unlike November 2023, however, November 2024’s rounds, the largest being Trolley’s $23 million Series B and the smallest being Conduction’s $250,000 in pre-seed capital, didn’t benefit from a $50 million AI raise.

Subtracting that sizable industry-adjacent tranche (secured by Stability AI) from the total leaves November 2023 with $36.80 million. By contrast, core music industry funding came in at $46.60 million for November 2024, representing a close to 27% YoY spike.

(There isn’t a one-size-fits-all way to distinguish between “core” and “industry-adjacent,” but there are several ways to analyze the numbers at hand. While not currently targeting the industry, PlayAI is working to replicate human voices, and as that objective strikes close to the music sphere, the startup’s $21 million seed round is included in the core category here.)

Notwithstanding the improvement – and in one of the many granular takeaways that would have gone unnoticed without the Funding Tracker – the average core industry round size was nearly identical across November 2023 ($9.2 million) and 2024 ($9.3 million).

Heading into this year’s final weeks and particularly 2025, it remains to be seen whether recent months’ industry funding growth is indicative of a broader trend.

As things stand, raises announced between January and November 2024 brought about $3.21 billion in disclosed capital – roughly 68% beneath the 2023 period’s $10.08 billion.

With that said, the 2023 window delivered considerable industry-adjacent funding, to the tune of at least $4.2 billion pulled down by AI giants and $200 million for Diplo-backed Torch Capital (which doesn’t limit its investments to the industry), to name a couple.

Even when omitting non-core capital, though, music industry funding still suffered an almost 35% YoY slip during the nearly year-long window in 2024, with a raise-volume falloff to boot, the data shows.

Also worth reiterating are the massive funding contributions of a few companies across January and November 2024. Concord’s $850 million ABS and Iconic Artists Group’s $1 billion in capital alone made up just shy of 58% of total industry funding throughout the 11-month stretch.

That share increases further yet when factoring for Create Music Group’s $165 million strategic round and TickPick’s gargantuan $250 million growth investment, for instance.

There’s no telling exactly which developments are on the horizon, but logic and evidence suggest that the decidedly red-hot ticketing arena is due for something of a funding cooldown owing to 2024’s capital injections as well as broader market trends.

Similarly, the above-mentioned catalog investors and others, despite aggressively pursuing a number of deals, appear well-situated on the funding front for the foreseeable future.

A new report is breaking down the possible impact of generative AI on music industry revenue. Photo Credit: Possessed Photography

Just how big an impact will generative AI have on the music sector? A study is exploring the unprecedented technology’s potential multibillion-dollar consequences for creators and rightsholders.

That newly released (and previously announced) study comes from the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC), which tapped Paris-based PMP Strategy to perform the underlying research.

Focusing on both the music and audiovisual worlds, the breakdown aims “to assess the economic weight and impact of” AI, not to gauge the job-related fallout at hand.

From there – and with several relevant legal actions and initiatives already in full swing – the findings can theoretically “inform and enlighten the debate on remuneration mechanisms” for the music space, per CISAC.

Lastly, in terms of pertinent background details, the report consists of estimates made through “a qualitative and quantitative methodology,” factoring for “interviews and workshops with over 50 industry professionals,” the text indicates.

Digging into the analysis, the estimated yearly market value of generative AI music outputs could crack a staggering $16.82 billion/€16 billion in 2028, up from about $1.05 billion/€1 billion in 2023, the document shows.

As currently forecasted, the lion’s share of the 2028 sum would stem from AI tracks on traditional streaming platforms, followed by B2B AI music providers and then streaming services dedicated to AI listening.

However, perhaps the most noteworthy component of the streaming prediction is that AI-generated tracks may account for approximately one-fifth of streaming platforms’ revenue by (not in) 2028.

Additionally, the same machine-made songs could make up “around 60% of music libraries revenues,” the report relays.

Unsurprisingly, the far-from-ideal point may drive an income decrease for the (human) talent responsible for actually making music – to the tune of putting 24% of “creators’ revenues at risk in 2028” when comparing the year’s figures “to a no Gen AI situation,” according to the findings.

This includes a disconcerting possible 2028 decline of 30% for creator revenue from digital sources – chief among them streaming.

And the overall falloff would mark a north of $10.51 billion/€10 billion loss between 2024 and 2028, with $4.20 billion/€4 billion attributable to the latter year alone. Meanwhile, the study’s organizers anticipate that generative AI music services’ revenue might approach the same level (€4 billion) in 2028.

Though it probably doesn’t need saying, the report’s hard numbers – which, incidentally, largely align with those disclosed in an August breakdown of the same area – underscore the pressing need to address generative AI via laws and litigation.

Related courtroom confrontations are plodding along in the U.S. as well as Europe, where the multifaceted AI Act’s implementation remains a key focus. Stateside, lawmakers have introduced artificial intelligence bills including the NO FAKES Act and the newer TRAIN Act, but their legislative progress has proven slow to date.

The sun sets on Coachella (Photo: Jason Persse, CC 2.0)

The music festival body count for 2024 is simply staggering — and we still have a month left. Here’s a closer look at why so many mega-events crashed in 2024, and the scary possibilities heading into 2025.

How many music festivals went kaput in 2024? 

That’s a surprisingly tricky question to answer, though we can comfortably declare that 2024 wasn’t a healthy growth year for music festivals. With more than 170 events canceled, postponed, or quietly disappearing according to DMN Pro’s running tally through November of this year, the crashing-and-burning seemed non-stop – with more implosions undoubtedly ahead.

The list of nixed festivals in 2024 is extensive and global, with Made In America, Desert Daze, Lovers & Friends, Life is Beautiful, Firefly Music Festival, Blue Ridge Rock Fest, Splendour in the Grass, and multiple Lollapalooza and Primavera festivals calling it quits.

One of the latest victims is Sick New World, which canceled its Las Vegas metal-focused festival in late November despite headliners Metallica and Linkin Park.

Like most other festival cancellations, organizers declined to offer reasons for ending their event. But buyers – and more vocally, those that didn’t buy – cited exorbitantly high ticket prices and broader expense concerns.

That’s a common complaint, though festivals are rarely cheap. So why was 2024 the year it all crashed down? That’s the focus on DMN Pro’s latest Weekly Report, which includes a full rundown of music festivals calling it quits this year.

Photo Credit: Edison Research

Despite substantial changes in non-music audio, listeners in the US spend 74% of their average daily audio time listening to music as opposed to podcasts and other spoken-word audio.

A new report from Edison Research reveals just how much Americans listen to music, and it’s more often than you might think. Despite the attention given to the prevalence of audiobooks and podcasts in the press, listeners in the United States spend 74% of their average daily audio time listening to music.

In a way, this might sound obvious — there’s a lot more music out there than podcasts and audiobooks. As Edison Research puts it, “If podcasts go back decades, music libraries go back hundreds of years (we’re looking at you, Bach, Gershwin, and more), and those substantive libraries are available on a variety of audio platforms.”

Interestingly, for listeners aged 13-plus in the US, 32% of their music-listening time is spent with AM/FM radio and radio streams, which makes radio the most-used source to deliver music content.

Streaming services like Spotify, Apple, Amazon, Pandora, and YouTube trail closely behind at 28%, and YouTube for music and music videos accounts for 18% of daily music listening. Another 9% is spent with SiriusXM, 9% with “owned music” such as vinyl, CD, or downloaded digital files, and 3% is spent with music channels on TV.

Notably, this data pertains to listeners aged 13 and older. Looking at listeners aged 13-64 specifically, streaming surpasses AM/FM radio by one percentage point, with streaming accounting for 31% of music listening by this demographic.

Edison Research will unveil its Top 10 Findings of 2024 in a webinar on December 10 hosted by Edison Research Vice President Megan Lazovick and Director of Research Laura Ivey. The group’s findings on audio, podcasts, radio, exit polls, and more across Edison’s custom research and syndicated datasets will be presented by many of the researchers who worked on the studies.

Meanwhile, the fifth anniversary of the Latino Podcast Listener Report will be unveiled at a webinar on December 17, providing up to five years of trending data and other new findings about Latino podcast listeners. This report will highlight video interviews of podcast creators for the first time, discussing how they’ve utilized the studies throughout the years. The webinar will be presented by Gabriel Soto, Senior Director of Research at Edison Research, and Elsie Escobar, Director of Community and Content at Libsyn.

The European Union Intellectual Property Office building in Alicante, Spain. Photo Credit: Kristof Roomp

Amid continued streaming growth and actions targeting illegal platforms, music piracy appears to be flattening, according to a new report out of the European Union.

The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) just recently published that multifaceted breakdown, which spans north of 100 pages and charts unapproved media consumption across music, film, television, and more.

Pertaining specifically to the European Union as of 2023, the analysis is EUIPO’s fourth such report since 2019. And to reiterate the obvious, the reach of on-demand music streaming (including but not limited to Spotify) has expanded dramatically in the interim.

At the intersection of this point, ongoing efforts to decommission stream-rippers, and the well-documented buildout of non-music streaming players, overall piracy in the EU stabilized at an average of “about 10.2 accesses per internet user per month” in 2023, according to EUIPO.

The figure has been roughly flat since 2021 – though both TV and music piracy increased slightly between 2022 and 2023 in the EU, the report shows.

Nevertheless, music accounted for a small portion (a monthly average of 0.6 accesses per internet user) of European Union piracy last year, according to EUIPO. In 2023, music’s average piracy rate was about one-quarter of its level in 2017, EUIPO relayed.

Unsurprisingly, the mentioned stream-rippers, which enable users to download videos’ audio, are said to have remained the most popular music piracy method in 2023, making up nearly half of the EU’s illegal consumption.

But the piracy method’s share (by content consumption) was particularly large in Denmark (63%), Hungary (67%), and Greece and Slovenia (68%), to name some. In Ireland, on the other hand, a combined 67% of 2023 music piracy derived from streaming (25%) and downloading (42%), EUIPO specified.

Straight downloading was the second-most-prevalent music piracy method in the EU during 2023, followed by streaming and, with a decidedly small share, torrenting, EUIPO indicated. And all told, a clear-cut majority of the EU’s music piracy occurred on mobile devices as opposed to desktops last year.

Piracy has presumably kept on leveling off in the EU during the current year, and especially in light of ongoing market factors, it’ll be interesting to monitor illegal consumption trends moving forward.

To put it mildly, proper artists’ per-stream compensation remains less than ideal. But legal on-demand listening has certainly helped curb piracy, and it isn’t hard to argue that illegal music access simply isn’t worth the trouble.

New subscribers in the States and a number of European nations can currently receive three months of Spotify Premium for free, for instance, and even in several EU nations, Individual costs substantially less than €10.99 monthly.

A live performance from Pink, who’s said to have generated close to $700 million in gross ticketing revenue while touring during 2023 and 2024. Photo Credit: Talitha Conway

“Who Knew” Pink was selling so many concert tickets? The 45-year-old raked in nearly $700 million from performances during 2023 and 2024 – thereby turning in the “2nd highest grossing tour of all time from a female artist,” according to Live Nation.

The Ticketmaster parent touted Pink’s commercial feat in a detailed breakdown, which comes less than one week following the conclusion of the Trustfall Tour. Compared to decidedly high-demand tours from the likes of Taylor Swift and Oasis, that 34-date series didn’t receive an abundance of media coverage.

Nor did Pink’s Summer Carnival, which also took place (albeit with 97 dates) during 2023 and 2024. Even if some were in the dark about the artist’s extensive touring, however, diehard supporters were evidently well aware of the shows, buying approximately five million tickets overall, per Live Nation.

All told, the sales (attributable to Pink Live dates as well as those mentioned) fueled the initially noted $700 million or so in gross receipts. Meanwhile, in visiting 98 cities across 15 nations, the three-time Grammy winner broke several venue-specific attendance records, per Live Nation.

To name a few of the many attendance accomplishments at hand, Pink reportedly achieved record audience sizes at 15 venues, among them Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park and Minneapolis’ Target Field.

Down Under, Summer Carnival’s Australia and New Zealand leg “brought in over 1 million fans across 20 stadium dates,” Live Nation communicated. It’s possible that a small number of superfans enjoyed more than one of Pink’s Oceania shows, and some international tourists may have purchased passes while vacationing.

But assuming for simplicity’s sake that each attendee was unique and based in Australia or New Zealand, around 3.1% of the nations’ combined population saw Pink perform live.

Worth noting is that the tours’ sales would have been greater yet if not for the cancellation of four previously postponed shows. Pink just recently took to Instagram to apologize for the nixed gigs, explaining in more words that they were shelved because she requires surgery to fix lingering knee and shoulder injuries.

Bigger picture, these and other ticket-sale triumphs have arrived against the backdrop of slowdowns in certain areas – referring in part to Coachella’s failure to sell out and to a relatively long list of tour cancellations from prominent acts.

Unsurprisingly, touring’s mixed 2024 bag is affecting the way festivals, artists, and others are plotting their 2025 strategies. Last week, for instance, Coachella revealed a stacked 2025 lineup featuring Green Day, Post Malone, Travis Scott, and Lady Gaga.

Photo Credit: Possessed Photography

Björn Ulvaeus and CISAC complete the ‘first global economic study’ on AI’s impact on musicians and creators, out December 4.

Update: CISAC has clarified that Björn Ulvaeus is not the author or researcher on the study; he will be presenting the findings in the upcoming CISAC meeting.

ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus, president of CISAC, is now preparing to deliver the first global economic study on generative artificial intelligence’s impact on music and audiovisual industries. The study’s findings will be revealed on December 4, with an online press briefing on December 3.

The event will feature a panel led by Ulvaeus and the study’s authors, PMP Strategy, who will discuss how generative AI is set to have a multi-billion dollar impact on revenue streams for creators, from songwriters and composers to translators, directors, and screenwriters.

Program Highlights

• • Presentation of PMP Strategy’s Findings: Economic projections on the size of the burgeoning AI content market and an analysis of creator income losses contrasted with revenue growth trends for AI companies.
  • Panel Discussion: Featuring CISAC President Björn Ulvaeus, Vice President and film director Angeles González-Sinde Reig, Board Chair Marcelo Castello Branco, and Director General Gadi Oron.
  • Q&A Session

The study is commissioned by CISAC, the largest global network of authors’ rights societies (collective management organizations) representing six million creators. It comes with a call to action for policymakers to safeguard human-made works which are fuelling the AI content market.

The report comes on the heels of CISAC’s annual report earlier this year, which revealed AI technologies becoming an unsurprisingly prominent part of the discussion of current trends.

“AI will bring the biggest revolution the creative sector has seen. To prepare, we must act now. We should not sit on our hands waiting to see how things evolve,” wrote Ulvaeus in his foreword in that report.

“We cannot let tech companies and policy makers sit at the decision-making table while the creators are left outside the room. On the contrary, we must raise our voices so they are heard by governments at the highest level. We must be coordinated and united, looking for global solutions.”

Both Ulvaeus and Oron hailed the EU’s AI Act as an important first step. “I think copyright and creators’ interests are now higher on the agenda of governments than before, but there is still a huge amount of education and advocacy to do,” said Oron.

CISAC has also previously organized an open letter to policymakers laying out its views and those of other creative industry bodies on the regulatory wishlist for AI.

Platform American listeners use most frequently for podcasts (Q2 2024; Source: Edison Research)

Spotify bet the farm on podcasts by dumping hundreds of millions of dollars on high-profile hosts and content factories. But the podcasting format is now morphing into something different – and pushing Spotify into second place. Here’s a closer look at what happened.

Quick: what’s the biggest podcasting platform on the planet?

If you answered Spotify, you can be forgiven. In 2021, Spotify quickly moved past Apple as the largest podcasting platform in the world after spending hundreds of millions of dollars to dominate the format. Acquiring exclusive rights to The Joe Rogan Experience was only part of the blowout, with follow-ups like Alexandra Cooper’s Call Her Daddy drawing in more listeners.

But while Spotify was binging, podcast behaviors were radically changing — and slowly creating a new dominant player.

Report Table of Contents

I. Spotify spends big – and loses its podcasting lead

II. YouTube quietly assumes the podcasting throne – but how did this happen?

III. The Gen Z riddle

IV. Podcasting hits its cultural mainstream moment – and YouTube is enjoying the most upside

V. Fast-forward to now: Spotify introduces video podcast creator incentives

VI. The field has changed: Can Spotify compete on YouTube’s turf?

Please note that this report is for DMN Pro subscribers only. We kindly ask that you not redistribute. Thank you!

Photo Credit: iXimus

A closer look at whether TikTok can beat the ban under the Trump Administration in 2025 — and why many in the music industry couldn’t care less.

The emergence of TikTok as a dominant social media platform has not only transformed how users engage with content and music. It has also raised significant concerns about data privacy, underage exploitation, influence peddling, and national security over the past few years.

For many within the industry, the sentiment toward TikTok is ambivalent at best. And if TikTok is shown the exit door, some will undoubtedly advise the app to monitor its rear on the way out.

But will that happen?

Under the previous Trump administration, TikTok was at the center of a contentious political debate, leading to calls for a ban on the app due to its ties with China. Under President Biden, those calls intensified and led to a law banning the app in 2025. With Trump set to return to the presidency, however, the fate of TikTok remains a toss-up.

This DMN Pro report will delve into the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” the potential timeline for a TikTok ban, Trump’s new stance on the app, international developments, including Canada’s recent ban, and the implications for the American music industry amidst these changes.

Report Table of Contents

I. The Looming TikTok Ban: A Look at the Fast-Dropping ‘Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act’

II. Could TikTok Actually Go Dark In January 2025?

III. Trump’s 180 on TikTok – And Where He Stands Heading Into 2025

IV. A Look at Canada’s Recent Ban

V. How Would a Reversal in the U.S. Work, Anyway?

VI. Why the American Music Industry Might Not Miss TikTok, After All

VII. Trump: TikTok Savior?

Please note that this report is for DMN Pro subscribers only. Thank you.

US-based recorded music revenues, all formats, inflation-adjusted, 1994-2023 (Data Source: RIAA)

Here’s a hard, inflation-adjusted look at the actual state of recording music sales in 2024 – and where things might go next.

Somewhere, in the gigantic and conflicting jumble of music industry statistics being bandied about, recorded music sales made a clean comeback. The phrase, ‘streaming saved the music industry,’ is partly true. However, when it comes to actual recorded music revenues, the latest data reveals that streaming hasn’t come close to powering an actual recorded music sales comeback, particularly in the largest recorded music market.

Report Table of Contents

I. Where Music Recordings Really Stand In 2024 – The Latest Inflation-Adjusted Data

A. A Look at the Most Important Recorded Music Formats, 1994-2023

B. How Is 2024 Likely to End? A Look at the H1 Stats

II. The Streaming Plateau: Discouraging Financials from Universal Music Group

III. What Breaks the Logjam? Streaming Music Evolution, Physical Formats, Superfan Engagement Await In 2025

Please note that this report is for DMN Pro subscribers only. Please do not redistribute. Thank you!

Core music industry funding increased in October 2024, but the YTD total is noticeably smaller than its 2023 counterpart. Photo Credit: Vladimir Solomianyi

Core music industry funding achieved a significant year-over-year increase during October, though the YTD total remains well beneath its 2023 counterpart, according to an analysis of DMN Pro data.

These and other valuable takeaways come specifically from the Music Industry Funding Tracker, DMN Pro’s searchable, filterable database of funding rounds from in and around the industry. Previously, we crunched the numbers and identified a substantial Q3 2024 industry-funding falloff from the same three-month period in 2023.

But at least when it comes to the core music space, the trend let up during Q4 2024’s first month, which delivered seven raises worth a cumulative $1.13 billion or so. Technically, that’s lower than the $2.02 billion (courtesy of six rounds) attributable to October 2023.

However, as noted, the comprehensive resource compiles pertinent industry-adjacent rounds as well – like the $2 billion that Anthropic scored in October 2023. Minus the AI giant’s massive contribution, the month’s industry funding came in at $24.03 million last year. (Additionally, Lounges.tv didn’t publicly attach a value to its October 2023 raise.)

By contrast, just one of October 2024’s raises, Twitter/X competitor Bluesky’s $15 million Series A, fell outside the core industry. Of course, that round is materially smaller than Anthropic’s $2 billion capital commitment from October 2023.

Is the funding boost a sign of things to come during the remainder of 2024 and possibly the new year? While we can’t say for certain at present, that doesn’t mean we’re without telling insights.

Focusing on the bigger picture, music IP investments are here to stay. Though that won’t necessarily come as a surprise (especially given 2024’s steady stream of high-profile catalog purchases), it’s worth pointing out because there are only so many bodies of work for buyers to bet on. Despite an increasingly large pile of wrapped song-rights purchases, capital is continuing to pour into the sub-sector.

For October 2024 alone, that refers to nearly $1 billion in total proceeds from the asset-backed securitizations of Concord ($850 million) and Duetti ($80 million on top of a $34 million equity raise). Earlier in 2024, the likes of Iconic Artists Group ($1 billion) and Duetti (this time a $90 million venture round) unveiled separate raises.

To underscore the obvious, catalog-earmarked capital must wind up somewhere – with additional deals yet presumably forthcoming in 2025 and beyond. On the other hand, it’s unclear whether this type of publicly disclosed music industry funding, already in the billions in a year that’s seen a YoY decline in cumulative raises, will approach the same level next year.

Closing with a quick look at where overall YTD music industry funding sits through October, total raises (adjacent and otherwise) as registered by the Music Industry Funding Tracker are down about 68.4% YoY, at $3.16 billion from just shy of $10 billion in January-October 2023.

Photo Credit: Ashley King

Ticket reseller scams are a tale as old as time. Now a new report suggests social media is used to facilitate 90% of these ticket scams.

A Lloyds report focusing on analysis of scam reports made by its own customers discovered the Oasis Live ‘25 tickets are a favorite for scammers. Ticket fraud claims in the first month since the reunion tour was announced accounted for around 70% of all reported concert ticket scams since August 27. Lloyds reports that victims taken in by these scams on average lose £346 ($450)—though some victims report losses as high as £1,000 ($1,303).

The most likely age bracket to be targeted by ticket scammers on social media is aged 35-44 years old. That age bracket accounted for around around 31% of fraud reports. High-profile shows like Oasis, Taylor Swift, and the Adele residency are selling for thousands of dollars from Ticketmaster legitimately. So it’s no small wonder scammers target eager fans who may not know how modern ticketing works.

Ticket scammers trick fans into sending money for tickets via bank transfer to buy tickets that don’t exist. These scams will involve fake adverts, listings on social media, or tickets offered at discounted prices. Fraudsters also love to target sold-out events, since they can jack up the price without the victim getting cold feet.

Scam tickets are usually posted to social media in two waves. First when tickets are made available and again as the event date approaches. For fans looking to acquire concert tickets, you should keep these brief pointers in mind to avoid getting scammed.

Stick to trusted retailers—Only purchase tickets from the venue itself, Ticketmaster (or an authorized reseller). Do not purchase tickets from a third-party.

If It Seems Too Good To Be True, It Is—Ticket scammers love to prey on people seeking a good deal. Those $40 tickets with an obstructed view just posted on Facebook Marketplace are likely a scam. If the scam listing can net just 10 people interested in throwing $40 for fake tickets—scammers make $400.

Use a Secure Payment Method—Never pay for a concert ticket through a bank transfer, wire transfer, Western Union, MoneyGram. Only use a debit card or a credit card to pay. A credit card offers more protection than a debit card, since you can dispute the charge. Then your card’s issuing bank will deal with the matter.

“Frausters wasted no time in targeting loyal Oasis fans as they scrambled to pick up tickets for next year’s must-see reunion tour,” Liz Ziegler, Fraud Prevention Director for Lloyds told Digital Music News. “The fact that so many cases start with fake listings on social media, often in violation of the platforms’ own rules, underscores the importance of these companies taking stronger action to tackle scams.”

Ticket selling is in direct violation of the Facebook Marketplace commerce policy. Yet many scams are slipping through the cracks here and bilking loyal fans out of hard-earned money. Any seller who asks for a bank transfer payment (usually through social media) should set off alarm bells for any potential ticket purchaser.

Billboard has now removed CDs (and other physical sales) from its Market Watch breakdown, which compiles Luminate data. Photo Credit: Mick Haupt

The latest installment of Billboard’s weekly “Market Watch” sales breakdown is here – minus figures pertaining to CDs and all other physical formats, which have been removed from the commercial snapshot.

As many already know, that U.S.-focused commercial snapshot consists of data provided by Luminate, which elicited strong indie-retail pushback after retooling its sales-calculation methodology at the top of 2024.

Followed by additional pivots in the wake of further opposition, this recalibration (at least according to critics) effectively excluded a number of record stores’ sales from the appropriate calculations – and spurred the creation of a rival indie-sales chart.

While substantial, that controversy was in retrospect only the tip of the iceberg. Previously, we explored in detail an apparent discrepancy between Luminate’s view of the Market Watch data and the way the relevant stats had been laid out by Billboard.

In a nutshell, the latter was pointing to a massive year-over-year decline in stateside vinyl sales – a stark contrast to, among other things, RIAA data and the wider resurgence often attributed to the format.

After DMN Pro tracked an ugly disagreement between higher-ups at the companies (which share a corporate parent), Billboard booted vinyl figures, presumably temporarily, from Market Watch altogether.

And last week, we noted that the “weekly national music consumption report” showed a 19.1% YoY decline for CD sales, once again contrasting stats from the RIAA and others.

Now, the curious episode has taken yet another strange turn: As initially highlighted – and as things stand – CDs and physical music sales generally are no longer part of Market Watch.

As a matter of fact, the entire “Album Consumption Units by Format” section, previously featuring CD, vinyl, track-equivalent, audio-on-demand-equivalent, digital, and “other” data, is absent from Market Watch for the week of October 24th.

Predictably, when they were live, all those categories save audio-on-demand equivalent displayed material YTD sales declines from 2023, a Wayback Machine screengrab indicates. Similarly, Billboard’s “Album Sale by Age” analysis of Luminate data, likewise absent from Market Watch at present, suggested sizable sales falloffs for both current and catalog releases.

It’s unclear exactly how the increasingly involved episode plays out from here – but given Luminate’s reach in the sales-data space, a statement (and an eventual formal update to Market Watch) would probably be a good place to start.

Due in part to the benefit of hindsight, we can see that it definitely wasn’t a great idea to spring for year-over-year sales comparisons amid Luminate’s above-mentioned methodology changes.

Even in the current Market Watch installment, Billboard maintains that “the new modeled methodology more accurately represents the independent retail market” – simultaneously emphasizing that “there is not available comparable historical data to provide an accurate year-over-year trend regarding physical sales, including vinyl.”

When it comes to Luminate data, then, that leaves a couple main possibilities, and neither is exactly encouraging for the figures in question. Most conspicuously, the adjusted approach to measuring sales might actually be more accurate – which, in keeping with the aforesaid YoY falloffs formerly displayed on Market Watch, would mean historical stats could have been inflated.

Furthermore, beneath this top-level consideration, Luminate may be registering, to some extent, a genuine sales slip.

An aerial shot of the highest-population city in California, which has the largest music industry GDP of any U.S. state. Photo Credit: Matthias Münning

Just how much money does the music industry contribute to the United States’ GDP? Courtesy of a new report, we have an answer to the question – on top of more intricate information about specific states’ own contributions.

That report comes from the RIAA, which tapped Secretariat’s Robert Stoner and Jéssica Dutra to create the top-level music industry GDP analysis as well as the state-level breakdown. The third such deep-dive published since 2018, the report focuses chiefly on 2017-versus-2020 comparisons and rather unsurprisingly draws from all manner of data sources.

Those sources include the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the private sector, to name just a few. On the private-sector front, the RIAA pointed to supplemental contributions from indie labels and venues, PROs, music museums, and others yet.

Moving beyond the details and similarly involved methodology particulars, the overall U.S. music industry is said to have achieved a GDP of $211.8 billion in 2020 – 0.9% of the broader economy’s nearly $24 trillion GDP and a roughly 18% boost from 2017.

Predictably, California led the pack within the $211.8 billion sum, kicking in $51.4 billion in 2020 music industry GDP. New York followed with $24.9 billion, the report shows, as Florida placed third ($9.3 billion), Texas took the fourth spot ($8.2 billion), and Tennessee rounded out the top five ($7.5 billion).

The top-six states by total music industry GDP in 2020. Photo Credit: RIAA

Regarding music industry GDP’s percentage of each state’s total gross domestic product, Tennessee took the uppermost position with 1.7%, followed closely by California (1.5%) and then New York (1.3%). At the risk of diving too far into the details – the RIAA has put out a website featuring comprehensive state-by-state information – Florida’s positioning is interesting against the backdrop of continued Latin music growth.

Shifting to U.S. music industry employment specifics, the sector is said to have “supported,” both directly and indirectly, 2,539,280 jobs as of 2020 – a jump of 373,737 from 2017.

Spanning “a wide array of occupations,” those positions were heavily concentrated (nearly 43%) in the mentioned top-five states by industry GDP.

Closing with a look at the actual earnings of companies (and their employees) by NAICS code, manufacturers of musical instruments, audio and video equipment, and music software achieved the largest cumulative boost across 2017 and 2020, 43% to $8.26 billion, per the report.

(“Earnings” here refers to “wages, salaries and proprietors’ income,” besides employers’ health-insurance contributions, and extends to direct industry impact as well as “ripple” revenue.)

Next, in terms of cumulative percentage change between 2017 and 2020, agents, managers, promoters, and artists themselves enjoyed a 17.8% hike to almost $60 billion, according to the resource. The multifaceted music production and distribution category (encompassing publishers, studios, radio stations, and much more) saw a 13.2% earnings spike to $36.03 billion, followed by 10.7% for music schools ($116.12 million) and then 2.1% for retail establishments ($5.86 billion).

Which country is witnessing a CD-powered surge in album sales? Read on… (Photo Credit: DMN Pro)

Before streaming, downloads, UGC monetization, and virtual concerts, the CD reigned supreme and powered the recording industry’s most lucrative era. But after flatlining into obscurity, is the CD format quietly staging a comeback?

In this DMN Pro Weekly report, we take a look at some strange new data surrounding this decades-old format. That includes canvasses across multiple markets and datasets for signs of CD-selling life, and a deeper examination of why so many artists — from Taylor Swift to The Weeknd to New Jeans —  are now pressing their albums on digital disc.

Enjoy.

Table of Contents

I. The CD: A Format That Refuses to Ride Into the Sunset

II. Artists Seem to Like CDs – And Why Not?

III. A Look at the Numbers: What Are They Saying About CD Sales?

A. US: The Luminate YoY Crash – And the Stark Contrast With RIAA Figures

B. UK: Sorry, No Booming Comeback Here

C. But Wait: Why Are Global CD Sales Ticking Upward?

IV. The Situation In Japan & South Korea

V. So, Are CDs Coming Back?

Please note: the following report is for DMN Pro subscribers only. Thank you!