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In 2025, music streaming revenues reached ** billion U.S. dollars worldwide, the highest ever recorded and over times the figure for 2015, when music streaming revenue amounted to *** billion. Streaming revenues now account for over ** percent of total global recorded music revenue.

The music industry is changing

Over the last two decades, the music industry has been heavily impacted by the development of technology and the internet. Physical sales were the main source of revenue in the music industry before digital formats were invented. Even in 2000, U.S. album shipments still amounted to around *** million U.S. dollars before dropping each year until the figure stood at just under ** million in 2024. This development is also mirrored in music industry revenue trends. Streaming has dramatically increased its share of U.S. music industry revenue, making up ** percent in 2024, up by almost 20 percentage points from the figure recorded in 2017. Meanwhile, the share of music revenue generated by physical sales has decreased as well, and in 2024 accounted for just ** percent of the total.

Streaming platforms

With over *** million paying music subscribers worldwide, streaming platforms have become an essential part of the music industry’s landscape. Swedish streaming giant Spotify has dominated the market for years and commands roughly one third of music streaming subscribers globally. On the other hand, Apple Music, making up ** percent of the market, and Amazon with ** percent, have struggled to keep up with Spotify’s growing audience. In the fourth quarter of 2025, Spotify’s revenue from its premium subscribers exceeded **** billion euros and the climbing number of ad-supported users brought in an additional *** million euros. By comparison, just seven years earlier in the corresponding quarter of 2016, Spotify’s premium subscriber revenue was *** million euros and its ad-supported revenue just at nearly *** million euros.