According to Midia Research report, who published its projected 2018 figures, based on a combination of major label revenue reports to date, plus stats from industry organizations and confidential data from DIY distribution platforms… The global recorded music industry will turn over $18.9bn in 2018, with streaming making up 50.8% ($9.6bn) of the total.
According to these numbers, the recorded music business’s $18.9bn turnover this year will represent $1.4bn annual growth across all formats – the same monetary increase seen in the prior year.
The driver for that growth, easily offsetting download and physical declines, is, of course, streaming; according to Midia, the $9.6bn contribution from the likes of Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube this year is up $2.2bn on last year – which is, again, up by the same annual figure (+$2.2bn) as 2017 was on 2016.
