IFPI confirms fourth consecutive year of impressive global growth for the record business

The global recorded music grew by 9.7% in 2018, the fourth consecutive year of growth.

This is according to IFPI, the London-based organisation that represents the recorded music industry worldwide.

Data released overnight in IFPI’s Global Music Report showed total revenues for 2018 were US$19.1 billion.

In more good news for the recorded music sector, total streaming revenues grew 34.0% to nearly half of all revenue (47%), with 255 million users of paid streaming services at the end of 2018.

Streaming’s growing dominance was driven by paid streaming which itself bounded up 32.9%.

This more than offset the 10.1% decline in physical revenue and a 21.2% decline in download revenue.

REVENUE BREAK DOWN

37% subscription audio

25% physical

14% performance rights

12% downloads and digital

10% ad supported streams

2% sync revenues

THE BIG GROWERS

For the fourth consecutive year, Latin America was the fastest-growing region (+16.8%) with Chile (+16.3%), Brazil (+15.4%) and Mexico (+14.7%) growing strongly.

The Asia and Australasia region (+11.7%) grew to become the second-largest region for combined physical and digital revenue, with especially strong growth in South Korea (+17.9%).

Australia drew in a strong performance, up 11% and remained the 8th largest recorded music market.

North America was up 14% (but down on the 17.1% from 2017), while Europe only grew 0.1%.

TOP TEN MUSIC MARKETS IN 2018

(1) US

(2) Japan

(3) UK

(4) Germany

(5) France

(6) South Korea

(7) China

(8) Australia

(9) Canada

(10) Brazil

TWO MAJOR TRENDS

The report was launched in London at the Soho Hotel by IFPI chief executive Frances Moore.

She was accompanied by Stu Bergen, CEO, international and global commercial services, Warner Music Group; Stu Bondell, EVP business and legal affairs, international, Sony Music; Adam Granite, executive vice president, market development, Universal Music Group; and Concord COO Glen Barros.

The conversation, linked to journalists around the world including Australia, was based around two trends.

One was that due to streaming unearthing more local dialect music, the global market was becoming less English-language and with more hits coming out in Spanish and Asian.

Said Moore, “Music has truly become global – in ways never before imagined.

“From the South Korean boy band, BTS, capturing the hearts of fans from Seoul to Rio, to the Colombian reggaeton singer, J Balvin, taking his place amongst the global pop elite, to emerging stars like Mali-born French artist Aya Nakamura, showing language is no barrier to reaching beyond home borders.

“The global music community has never been more connected, and fans and artists alike are seizing the opportunities of this new era to enjoy and share the music they love, no matter where it comes from.”

Secondly, the executives took the opportunity to point out that as the globe opened up to recorded music, record labels played a larger role than ever before in investing and growing the market.

Said Moore. “Record companies continue their investment in artists, people and innovation both in established markets and developing regions that are increasingly benefitting from being part of today’s global music landscape.”

Sony Music’s Bondell cautioned, “The task for the industry now is to move consumers in the high potential markets to licensed services.

“We’re seeing now, in a streaming world, that the global consumer is much more open than ever before to non-English language repertoire.

“It’s really exciting to be able to say that, for the first time in our history, today a hit can really come from anywhere.”

Responding to questions from journalists, the execs noted that China and India would not become super-powers in the next few years.

Reason: China still had to convert streaming to money-making as it only has 33 million subscribers out of a population of 1,4 billion, while India is still bogged down in legislative issues that make it difficult for the world’s labels to operate in.

The best sellers of 2018 worldwide were Drake (recording artist), The Greatest Showman (album) and Camila Cabello’s ‘Havana’ (single).

Tomorrow TMN will take a greater look at how the Australian market performed in 2018.