Music Streaming Subscriptions to Bring Over $30 billion in Revenue by 2026

The music industry is far from where it was eight years ago, thanks to streaming platforms like Spotify, YouTube Music, and Apple Music. Today, streaming platforms are the driving force of the music industry, generating impressive revenue and reaching more users than ever.

According to data from OnlyAccounts.io, music streaming subscriptions brought in US$25.7 billion in revenue in 2023, growing by 10.5% year-over-year. The entire market is predicted to continue the surge in the following years, with revenues rising to over $30 billion by 2026. 

The music streaming platforms have seen revenues and the number of users more than double in the past years, mostly due to their surging popularity among Gen Zers and Millenials who prefer the subscription economy. Today, hundreds of millions use platforms like YouTube Music and Spotify to access songs, podcasts, and videos from artists worldwide and listen to trending playlists.

According to Statista Market Insights, the music streaming platforms have more than doubled their revenues in five years. In 2018, the entire market grossed $11.7 billion. Since then, revenues have grown by 120% and are expected to hit $25.7 billion this year. Almost 40% of total revenue in 2023, or $10.2 billion, comes from the United States, the largest music streaming market. Far below, China, the United Kingdom, and Germany follow, with $3.1 billion, $1.9 billion, and $1.4 billion in revenue, respectively.

Analyzed by platforms, Spotify remains the absolute king in the music streaming industry, with a huge 28% market share. YouTube Music ranked as the second-most-popular platform with a 14% share. Amazon Music, Apple Music, and Soundcloud follow, with 13% and 8% shares, respectively.

Statista expects global music streaming revenue to show an average annual growth rate of 5.13% in the next four years, resulting in a projected market volume of over $30 billion value by 2026, almost $5 billion more than this year. After struggling with plunging revenues for more than 15 years, the music industry has continuously grown since 2014, primarily due to a surging number of music streaming subscriptions.

According to Statista, music streaming platforms have added around 450 million subscribers in the past five years, with their total number rising to 920 million in 2023. The user penetration rate practically doubled, rising from 6.5% in 2018 to 12% this year.

Statistics show music streaming subscriptions grew by an average of 80 million per year, with 2020 and 2021 seeing the biggest year-over-year growth. In 2020 alone, around 140 million people started paying music streaming subscriptions, and another 100 million in 2021.

Although growth rates in 2022 weren’t as high as in the previous years, the streaming platforms still added 50 million new subscribers, with the total user count reaching 830 million. Statista expects music streaming platforms to hit 90 million new subscribers in 2023, pushing the total user count to 920 million. The entire market is forecasted to hit a new massive milestone by 2025, with more than one billion subscribers worldwide.

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