Music fans now spend an average of 20.7 hours listening each week, according to IFPI’s Engaging with Music 2023, while the global recorded music market reached US$28.6 billion in 2023. The figures point to a broad, multi-platform relationship with music: fans use more than seven methods to engage with it on average, and live events connected 151 million fans with artists in 2024, according to Live Nation’s 2024 Annual Report.
Contents
- Listening time and ways fans engage
- Streaming, radio, and discovery
- Music fans across selected markets
- Recorded music revenue by region
- Streaming platforms and subscriber scale
- Live music attendance and fan behavior
Listening time and ways fans engage
The average person listened to music for 20.7 hours per week in 2023. IFPI reported that this was up from 20.1 hours in 2022, an increase of 0.6 hours in the survey’s reported average. The same IFPI study found that fans worldwide listened to more than eight different genres on average. That breadth matters for electronic music listeners, whose listening can move between dance subgenres, mainstream releases, radio programming, video platforms, and live sets.
Music engagement was distributed across several formats in the IFPI 2023 measurement. Audio streaming, including both subscription and free tiers, represented 32% of music-engagement hours. Video streaming, including YouTube and TikTok, represented another 31%. Radio accounted for 17%, purchased music such as CDs, vinyl, DVDs, and downloads for 9%, and other forms such as television, premium video services, or music shared with friends and family for 7%. Live music, including livestreaming, represented 4% of music-engagement hours.
| Music activity | Share of music-engagement hours |
|---|---|
| Audio streaming | 32% |
| Video streaming | 31% |
| Radio | 17% |
| Purchased music | 9% |
| Other listening forms | 7% |
| Live music, including livestreaming | 4% |
These figures are shares of engagement hours reported by IFPI, not shares of revenue or the number of fans using each format. IFPI also found that fans use more than seven different methods to engage with music on average, supporting a picture of music consumption that is distributed rather than limited to one service.
Access and creative control were important themes in the same study. Seventy-nine percent of people said there are more ways to listen to music than ever before, and 57% said access to music from anywhere in the world was important to them. Among people aged 16 to 24, that access figure was 65%. Human creativity was considered essential to creating music by 79% of people.
The IFPI findings also measured views among people aware of AI music capabilities. Seventy-four percent said AI should not clone or impersonate artists without authorisation. Seventy-six percent said an artist’s music or vocals should not be used or ingested by AI without permission, and 73% agreed that an AI system should clearly list any music it had used. These are reported opinions from the 2023 study, not measurements of how AI tools are actually used.
Streaming, radio, and discovery
Radio remained a meaningful music touchpoint in the IFPI 2023 research. Among radio listeners, 76% said they listen to radio mainly for the music. Sixty-seven percent said they would not listen to the radio without music, while 63% said they tune in to their favourite station because of the music it plays. If music were removed from radio, 85% said they would seek it elsewhere, most often through subscription streaming services.
The recorded market data shows why streaming is central to the economics of music. IFPI’s Global Music Report 2024 said subscription streaming revenues grew 11.2% in 2023 and represented 48.9% of the global recorded music market. Paid subscriptions to music streaming services passed 500 million globally for the first time in 2023, while the report counted more than 667 million users of paid subscription accounts. Those two reported measures use different wording and should not be treated as interchangeable.
The RIAA reported that streaming accounted for more than 80% of U.S. music industry revenues in 2023, when U.S. recorded music revenues grew 8% to a record $17.1 billion. In the first half of 2024, RIAA reported $8.7 billion in estimated retail value, up 4%, and 99 million streaming subscriptions, up 3%. At wholesale value, total U.S. recorded music revenues reached a record $5.5 billion in the first half of 2024, up 3%. These retail and wholesale figures are separate measures.
Discovery was especially frequent in several markets measured by IFPI in 2023. Fifty-two percent of music fans in China said they discover a new artist or music weekly. The figure was 53% in India and 68% in the Philippines. These percentages describe respondents’ reported discovery frequency, rather than the number of new artists discovered or the size of a fan base.
Music fans across selected markets
The country-level results in IFPI’s Engaging with Music 2023 show substantial variation in weekly listening time and the number of engagement methods used. Music fans in Indonesia reported the highest weekly average among the listed markets at 31.1 hours. India and the Philippines each reported 28.3 hours, Saudi Arabia 27.2 hours, and China 24.4 hours.
| Market | Weekly listening | Average engagement methods | Licensed audio streaming |
|---|---|---|---|
| China | 24.4 hours | 9.5 | 61% |
| India | 28.3 hours | 11.4 | 96% |
| Indonesia | 31.1 hours | 10.3 | 94% |
| Philippines | 28.3 hours | 10.2 | 82% |
| Saudi Arabia | 27.2 hours | 11.2 | 88% |
The same research reported that 61% of music fans in China use licensed audio streaming, compared with 96% in India, 94% in Indonesia, 82% in the Philippines, and 88% in Saudi Arabia. It also reported unlicensed or illegal listening among 74% of fans in China, 75% in India, 76% in the Philippines, and 62% in Saudi Arabia. These categories are survey responses and are not a calculation of market share.
Views about music’s personal role also varied. In China, 87% of music fans said music is important to their mental health. The corresponding figures were 75% in India, 59% in the Philippines, and 88% in Saudi Arabia. In Saudi Arabia, 90% said music helps them relax and cope with stress. Human creativity was considered essential in music creation by 74% of fans in China, 87% in India, 82% in the Philippines, and 89% in Saudi Arabia.
The number of engagement methods was 9.5 in China, 11.4 in India, 10.3 in Indonesia, 10.2 in the Philippines, and 11.2 in Saudi Arabia. These results sit alongside the global IFPI finding of more than seven methods on average, but the country figures should not be combined into a new overall average without a stated weighting method.
Recorded music revenue by region
Global recorded music revenues reached US$28.6 billion in 2023 and grew 10.2%, according to IFPI’s Global Music Report 2024. Five of the world’s seven regions posted double-digit percentage gains. North America, specifically the United States and Canada, represented 40.9% of global recorded music revenues. U.S. and Canada revenues grew 7.4% in 2023; U.S. revenue grew 7.2%, while Canada grew 12.2%.
Europe represented 28.1% of global recorded music revenues after growing 8.9%. Within the region, the United Kingdom grew 8.1%, Germany 7.0%, and France 4.4%. Asia’s recorded music revenues grew 14.9%, with Japan up 7.6% and China up 25.9%.
| Region or market | 2023 recorded music revenue change or share |
|---|---|
| North America share of global revenues | 40.9% |
| Europe share of global revenues | 28.1% |
| Asia growth | 14.9% |
| Latin America growth | 19.4% |
| Australasia growth | 10.8% |
| Middle East and North Africa growth | 14.4% |
| Sub-Saharan Africa growth | 24.7% |
Latin America recorded music revenues grew 19.4%, with Brazil up 13.4% and Mexico up 18.2%. Streaming made up 86.3% of Latin America’s recorded music revenues in 2023. Australasia grew 10.8%, including 11.3% growth in Australia and 8.4% in New Zealand. Middle East and North Africa streaming revenues held a 98.4% share of that market, while the region’s recorded music revenues grew 14.4%.
Sub-Saharan Africa recorded music revenues grew 24.7%. South Africa accounted for 77.0% of the region’s revenues and recorded 19.9% growth. Across formats, physical revenues grew 13.4% globally in 2023 and performance rights income grew 9.5%. These are industry revenue measures, not direct measures of individual fan listening time.
Streaming platforms and subscriber scale
Spotify’s company information says the platform has 761 million users across 184 markets and 293 million subscribers across those markets. It offers more than 100 million tracks, 7 million podcast titles, and 500,000 audiobooks in select markets. These are Spotify-reported platform figures, and the audiobook availability is explicitly limited to select markets.
Spotify’s quarterly earnings figures show reported monthly active user growth during 2024: 615 million in the first quarter, 626 million in the second quarter, 640 million in the third quarter, and 675 million in the fourth quarter. Ad-supported monthly active users reached 393 million in Q2 and 402 million in Q3. Ad-supported revenue increased 13% year over year in Q2 and 6% year over year in Q3.
Engagement also appeared in Spotify’s 10th annual Wrapped campaign. Spotify’s Q4 2024 earnings materials said the campaign delivered 10% year-over-year growth in user engagement across 184 markets and 53 languages in 2024. The platform figures come from different Spotify sources and periods, so the company-information totals should not be read as a replacement for the quarterly measures.
Live music attendance and fan behavior
Live Nation’s 2024 Annual Report said the company connected 151 million fans to approximately 11,000 artists at 54,000 events in 2024. Its annual fan count grew by more than 5 million, or 4%. Live Nation hosted 60 million fans at its own venues and festivals, operated in more than 45 countries, and invested $14 billion in artists, up from $13 billion the prior year. The company said it supported three times as many artists on the road in 2024 as a decade earlier.
Live Nation promoted nearly 6,000 shows in U.S. clubs and theaters it does not own. It also reported that fans attending more than 50,000 shows in 2024 formed part of its 150 million-plus fan total, while 25% more payouts to club and theater acts were delivered in 2024 than in 2019.
The company’s quarterly results add more detail. In the first six months of 2024, Live Nation’s concerts fan count was nearly 62 million, up from 56 million in the first six months of 2023, a gain of 6 million fans or 10%. In Q2 2024, 39 million fans attended approximately 15,000 concerts globally, up 5% and 20%, respectively. Through Q3, Live Nation said 112 million fans attended its concerts globally, up 3%, and its arena and amphitheater show count was up 13% to approximately 40,000.
Fan behavior extended beyond ticket attendance. About 90% of live music goers agreed that seeing live music content on social media makes them want to attend shows, according to Live Nation’s 2023 Q4 results. Around 70% agreed that brands can enhance their time at a show. Live Nation also reported that amphitheater onsite spending increased by nearly 40% in the first six months of 2024, while average net per-fan spending grew by more than $3, or 9%, for the same artists’ shows in 2024 relative to 2022 and 2023.
Supply expanded alongside attendance. Live Nation planned to open at least 12 major venues globally in 2024/25, creating capacity for over 8 million additional fans. Its year-to-date show count for Afrobeats was up 400% in 2024, while Latin shows in the United States were up approximately 40%. Major festivals with more than 100,000 attendees were up double digits globally in 2024. The On The Road Again program supported more than 3,000 developing club artists with $1,500 in gas and travel cash per show, and Live Nation had gifted more than 3 million tickets to the Veteran Tickets Foundation since inception.