The global music industry grew by 5.9 per cent in 2016, its fastest rate of growth since 1997, as revenue generated by streaming services surged 60 per cent.

The annual Global Music Report compiled by the IFPI, the industry trade body, showed revenue generated by the sector hit $15.7bn in 2016 compared with $14.8bn in 2015. That was driven by growth in paid-for streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music and more localised companies like Tencent in China, with overall digital revenue accounting for 50 per cent of global sales. Overall digital revenue grew 18 per cent to $7.8bn as the streaming boom — driven by 112m users of subscription services — offset a 20 per cent drop in download sales.

The streaming boom has also paid off for independent labels. Charles Caldas, chief executive of Merlin which represents 20,000 independent labels, said: “A music consumption and discovery ecosystem, devoid of the old-school limited channels that could be dominated by whichever record companies were able to wield the largest cheque books, has created the marketplace of the future.”

Sales of physical music fell by 7.6 per cent last year, but the CD and booming vinyl markets remain resilient. Only 25 markets derive more than half of their overall music revenue from digital, with Japan, Germany and France still dominated by sales of traditional physical music formats. Beyoncé’s Lemonade was the biggest selling album of 2016 with 2.5m sales, according to the IFPI, with Metallica’s Hardwired . . . to Self-Destruct, David Bowie’s Blackstar and The Rolling Stones’ Blue & Lonesome among the top 10 albums of the year.

Source: ft