Streaming drives music industry sales

The sale of music rose 10% in 2018 from online streaming for the fourth year in a row.

According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry which represents the recorded music industry worldwide revenue reached US$19.1bil (RM77.92bil) last year. This was presented in the Global Music Report 2019.

“We are now much more optimistic,” said IFPI chief executive Frances Moore, describing the period prior to recent growth as a “mourn-fest” when “we only had bad years”. 

However, the overall growth of 9.7% in sales masks a discrepancy within the industry, with streaming taking precedence over downloads and physical purchases which continues to drop.

The streaming sector, which includes subscription fees and advertising income, grew by 34% to reach US$8.9bil (RM36.30bil) in 2018. 

The report stated that there were 255 million paid streaming users.