LONDON — Global music sales grew for the sixth consecutive year in 2020, despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry's (IFPI) "Global Music Report 2021."
Total revenues climbed to $21.6 billion, a rise of 7.4% on the previous year. Driving the growth was a 19.9% rise in streaming revenues, which totaled $9.9 billion last year.
Total streaming (including paid subscription and ad-supported) grew 19.9% to $13.4 billion, accounting for more than 62% of all recorded music sales and offsetting a 4.7% fall in physical sales and 10% drop in performance rights revenues.
IFPI attributed the fall in performance rights (the use of recorded music by broadcasters and public venues) down to the near-global shutdown of live music and hospitality venues as a result of the pandemic. Global sync revenues were also impacted by COVID-19 with filming production delays leading to a 9.4% drop in income. Sync's share of total global revenues stands at 2%, a slight fall on 2019.
Nevertheless, sustained growth in record sales as a result of streaming means that the industry has climbed back above 2003 levels when global revenue totaled $20.5 billion -- at least on an absolute dollar basis, not counting for inflation. IFPI started reporting global music sales in 2001 when the recorded music industry was worth $23.6 billion. Piracy and declining physical sales saw the market bottom out at $14 billion in 2014.
As previously reported, BTS topped IFPI's "Global Recording Artist of the Year" charts, representing the bestselling and most popular artists worldwide in 2020. The K-pop phenomenon also had the year's top two highest selling albums with Map of the Soul: 7 (selling 4.8 million units) and BE Deluxe Edition (2.69 million units). The year's best-selling single across all digital formats was The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights," which generated 2.7 billion subscription stream equivalents globally.
There are now 443 million users of paid streaming services worldwide, reports IFPI, up from 341 million in 2019. Streaming accounted for more than half of all recorded music revenues in 48 markets, up 12% on last year’s total.
"These are not easy times, but the music community with its creativity, innovation and determination continues to drive forward, to an even greater future," said IFPI chief executive Frances Moore in the report's foreword. She said the rise in revenues at a time of global crisis highlighted "the enduring power of music to console, heal and lift our spirits."
IFPI’s Global Music Report 2021 Key Figures:
Excluding streaming, digital revenues slipped 15.7% with download sales generating just over $1.2 billion for labels, representing less than 6% of all music sales worldwide.
CD and vinyl sales totaled $4.2 billion in trade revenue, accounting for just under a fifth (19.5%) of the total global market. Breaking the physical market down, CD sales were down 11.9% year-on-year, while vinyl’s ongoing resurgence saw revenues rise by 23% on 2019, nearly four times the 6.1% growth of vinyl in 2019.