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10 Music Industry Sales Statistics

Music is one of the few things that engages the human mind in its entirety. Because of that ability, music has the ability to inspire, to create specific emotions, and to cause people to dance all at the same time! As long as humanity lives on, so will music.

Global Music Industry Statistics

The global music industry generated $15 billion in revenues in 2013.

Anyone can make music, but not everyone can sell music. Thanks to self-publishing mechanisms, however, more independent artists are able to create based on their perspectives instead of industry demands. 2013 was a record year for independent artists as the most mainstream awards were given to these artists in that year. The future looks bright for the music industry in many ways!

Music Industry Sales

1. 39% of all revenues for the music industry in 2013 came from digital format sales.
2. The record companies put a combined $4.5 billion into marketing and A&R.
3. Thanks to a push for rights revenues from organizations like ASCAP and BMI, artists saw a 19% increase in this area of sales.

Takeaway: One of the biggest avenues for sales rights has been through free mediums of music enjoyment with apps or software like Pandora, Spotify, and iTunes radio. Although pirating and file sharing will always exist in some way, artists and rights holders get more of a chance to make money through these formats. Although the compensations are very small per play, the flip side is that there is greater overall exposure for record labels and artists.

Additional Music Industry Facts

1. The United States makes up more than 1/3 of all music sales, accounting for $5.9 billion in total from digital sales in 2013. This was a 4.3% increase.
2. Music subscription services accounted for more than $1 billion in revenues for the first time in 2013.
3. Advertising supported music streams from sites like YouTube increase 17.3% for the music industry in the past year.
4. 40% more people subscribed to a paid music service in 2013 than in 2012, a number that now exceeds 28 million.
5. Vinyl record sales increased by 32% in the United States last year.
6. Although overall rights revenues increased in the past year, synchronization rights declined by 3.4% in 2013.
7. One Direction had 2013’s biggest selling album, having sold 4 million copies of Midnight Memories.

Takeaway: The music industry is finally starting to adapt to modern changes and this is a good thing for everyone. Artists have a better chance at recognition. Labels can still make money. People have better overall access to music thanks to multi-device formatting and functionality. This means that there is more affordable access to more music than ever before right now without piracy or file-sharing, and that makes everyone happy.

Digital Music Industry

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