Electronic music reaches a large and varied streaming audience. In 2024, streaming represented 69.0% of global recorded-music revenue, while electronic music gained 566 million new fans across Spotify, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. The figures below show the scale of listening, the ways audiences choose music, and the country-level benchmarks reported for 2023.
Contents
- Global streaming reach
- How listeners discover and choose music
- Age differences in subscription streaming
- China, India, and Indonesia
- Nigeria, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE
- Electronic music growth across platforms and markets
Global streaming reach
The IFPI Engaging with Music 2023 report found that 73% of people surveyed across 26 music markets used licensed audio streaming services in 2023. Subscription audio streaming was used by 48% of people surveyed across IFPI’s core 18 countries. The same report recorded an average of 20.7 hours of music listening per week in those 18 countries.
Streaming also occupied a substantial share of music-engagement time. Audio streaming, including subscription and free tiers, accounted for 32% of the time people spent engaging with music worldwide in 2023. Video streaming, including long-form and short-form services, accounted for another 31%.
| Global streaming measure | Reported result | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Licensed audio streaming use across 26 markets | 73% | 2023 |
| Subscription audio streaming in IFPI’s core 18 countries | 48% | 2023 |
| Music-engagement time from audio streaming | 32% | 2023 |
| Music-engagement time from video streaming | 31% | 2023 |
| Average weekly listening in IFPI’s core 18 countries | 20.7 hours | 2023 |
| Paid subscription-account users worldwide | 752 million | End of 2024 |
The latest industry revenue benchmark in the supplied IFPI data is for 2024. Streaming represented 69.0% of global recorded-music revenue that year, global recorded-music streaming revenue increased 9.5%, and the number of paid subscription-account users reached 752 million at the end of the year. These are global recorded-music measures rather than electronic-music-only measures.
The IFPI report also describes broad and varied listening behavior. Music fans used more than seven different methods to engage with music on average in 2023 and listened to more than eight different genres on average. For electronic music, that variety matters because a listener may move between audio subscriptions, video platforms, short-form clips, playlists, and artist-led discovery.
Source: IFPI Engaging with Music 2023; Industry Data | IFPI.
How listeners discover and choose music
Streaming audiences do not make choices in just one way. In 2023, 63% of surveyed listeners chose specific songs when deciding what to hear on a streaming service. Specific artists were chosen by 57%, while 42% chose specific albums. These results describe selection behavior across the surveyed listening population, not electronic music alone.
Personal organization was also important. Fifty-nine percent of surveyed listeners used their own playlists when choosing music on streaming services in 2023. That gives playlists a measurable role alongside song, artist, and album searches.
The IFPI findings show why on-demand access remains central to streaming. Seventy percent of surveyed listeners agreed that they could find a piece of music when they wanted it on the services they used. Seventy-three percent agreed that it was easy to listen to music wherever they were and whatever they were doing. In addition, 72% were satisfied with the amount of recorded music available and how easily they could access it.
Listening time on subscription audio-streaming services grew 7% in 2023. The combination of growth in listening time, high reported access, and playlist use suggests a discovery environment in which electronic tracks can be selected directly, found through artists or albums, or reached through a listener’s existing playlist library. That is a description of the reported behavior, not a separate estimate of electronic music’s share of those actions.
Source: IFPI Engaging with Music 2023.
Age differences in subscription streaming
Subscription audio-streaming use differed by age in IFPI’s 2023 survey. Use was highest among 25–34-year-olds at 62%, followed by 16–24-year-olds at 60%. It was 50% among 35–44-year-olds, 40% among 45–54-year-olds, and 28% among 55–64-year-olds.
| Age group | Used subscription audio streaming | Period |
|---|---|---|
| 16–24 | 60% | 2023 |
| 25–34 | 62% | 2023 |
| 35–44 | 50% | 2023 |
| 45–54 | 40% | 2023 |
| 55–64 | 28% | 2023 |
Short-form video was especially prominent among younger listeners: 82% of 16–24-year-olds engaged with music through short-form video in 2023. The measure covers music engagement through that format and should not be read as a subscription-streaming percentage.
For electronic music publishers, artists, and platforms, these figures identify distinct audience contexts. Younger listeners show high short-form-video engagement, while subscription audio streaming is also widely used among 16–24 and 25–34 audiences. Older age groups remain part of the streaming picture, though the reported subscription percentages decline from 50% among 35–44-year-olds to 28% among 55–64-year-olds.
Source: IFPI Engaging with Music 2023.
China, India, and Indonesia
The IFPI 2023 country sample shows high listening time and strong licensed-audio-streaming use in China and India. People in China spent 27.9 hours listening to music each week, and 96% used licensed audio streaming. Fifty-three percent discovered a new artist or music weekly, and people used an average of 9.5 methods to engage with music. Dance/EDM ranked ninth among China’s top ten reported music genres.
India’s sample reported 24.4 hours of weekly music listening. Licensed audio streaming reached 94%, while 74% discovered a new artist or music weekly. People in India used an average of 11.4 methods to engage with music, and Dance/EDM ranked seventh among the country’s top ten reported music genres.
People in Indonesia spent 28.3 hours listening to music each week in the 2023 country sample. Dance/EDM ranked seventh among Indonesia’s top ten reported music genres. The supplied country results do not include an Indonesian licensed-streaming percentage or weekly-discovery percentage, so those measures are not added here.
| Country sample | Weekly listening | Licensed audio streaming | Weekly new-artist or music discovery | Dance/EDM ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| China | 27.9 hours | 96% | 53% | 9th |
| India | 24.4 hours | 94% | 74% | 7th |
| Indonesia | 28.3 hours | Not reported here | Not reported here | 7th |
These country figures are benchmarks from IFPI’s 2023 country samples. They indicate how listening time, licensed streaming, discovery, and genre position can differ by market; they do not represent population totals or forecasts.
Source: IFPI Engaging with Music 2023.
Nigeria, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE
Nigeria recorded the highest weekly listening figure among the country benchmarks listed here: 31.1 hours in IFPI’s 2023 country sample. Licensed audio streaming was used by 93% of people in the sample, and 62% discovered a new artist or music weekly.
People in the Philippines spent 28.3 hours listening to music each week. Sixty-eight percent discovered a new artist or music weekly. The supplied results do not provide a Philippines licensed-audio-streaming percentage, so the discovery figure should be kept separate from streaming-service adoption.
Saudi Arabia reported 27.2 hours of weekly listening. In that sample, 88% said music was important to their mental health in 2023. This is a reported attitude measure, not a streaming-use measure.
The UAE recorded 28.7 hours of weekly listening. Licensed audio streaming reached 89% of people in the country sample, and 73% discovered a new artist or music weekly.
| Country sample | Weekly listening | Licensed audio streaming | Weekly new-artist or music discovery | Other reported measure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nigeria | 31.1 hours | 93% | 62% | — |
| Philippines | 28.3 hours | Not reported here | 68% | — |
| Saudi Arabia | 27.2 hours | Not reported here | Not reported here | 88% said music was important to mental health |
| UAE | 28.7 hours | 89% | 73% | — |
The country results point to substantial listening time across several regions, while the available measures vary by market. Discovery is particularly high in the UAE at 73% and the Philippines at 68%, while the reported licensed-streaming figures are 93% in Nigeria and 89% in the UAE.
Source: IFPI Engaging with Music 2023.
Electronic music growth across platforms and markets
The IMS Business Report 2025 valued the global electronic music industry at $12.9 billion in 2024 and reported 6% growth from 2023 to 2024. The report also counted 566 million new electronic music fans across Spotify, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook in 2024.
Platform-level indicators show different kinds of momentum. SoundCloud plays across electronic genres increased 14% in 2024, while SoundCloud uploads in UK Garage increased 100%. On Beatport, Afro House rose from 23rd to fourth among the most-searched genres in 2024. These figures describe the named platform or search measure and are not interchangeable with global streaming users.
Mexico’s Spotify electronic-music listener base grew 60% year over year in 2024. Electronic acts represented 18% of global festival lineups in 2024, compared with 13% in 2021. The festival comparison covers lineup representation, not streams or unique listeners.
Participation also extended beyond listening. Female users represented 16% of AlphaTheta’s registered user base in 2024, and 60 million users engaged with music-creation apps during 2024. These measures refer to a registered user base and music-creation-app engagement respectively, rather than a single global electronic streaming audience.
Taken together, the 2024 electronic-music measures show growth across audience reach, platform plays, search interest, country listening, festival representation, and music creation. The measurements use different definitions and sources, so they are best read as separate benchmarks rather than added into one audience total.
Source: IMS Business Report 2025.