IFPI 2022 report: Africa saw healthy increase in recorded music revenues

Overall, music market revenues hit $25.9bn in 2021, an 18.5% increase year-on-year thanks to positive growth in streaming, physical formats, performance rights and synchronisation. “[I]n fact, revenues grew in all formats except digital downloads and other (non-streaming) digital. Each of the world’s top 10 markets posted gains,” IFPI said, adding that streaming accounted for 65% of all revenues – a 24.3% increase from the previous reporting period.

The MENA region saw 35% growth in 2021, constituting the fastest regional growth rate globally. Unsurprisingly, streaming was a particularly strong revenue driver in the region with a 95.3% share of the market.

Sub-Saharan Africa recorded 9.6% growth last year, largely driven by streaming. Ad-supported streaming was especially strong in the region, with revenues from this format growing by 56.4%. The report shows that globally, subscription streaming revenues increased by 21.9% to $12.3bn, with 523 million people paying for music in 2021.

Global growth is largely the product of record companies investing in local artists in high-potential markets across Asia, Latin America and Africa, and the continued advancement of vibrant and diverse local music ecosystems in mature markets like Europe and North America.

The report was released at a digital media launch on Tuesday, where Warner Music South Africa managing director Temi Adeniji termed Africa’s increase in revenues as transformative, but said more needed to be done to grow the entire African music industry, which was currently dominated by Afrobeats. She cited 2019 non-English hit ‘Love Nwantiti’ by Nigerian artist Ckay as an indication of the appeal of African music around the world.

IFPI CEO Frances Moore pointed out that as more regional markets matured, they would contribute to the accelerating success of an interconnected global music industry.

“Consequently, today’s music market is the most competitive in memory,” she said. “Fans are enjoying more music than ever and in so many different and new ways. This creates enormous opportunities for artists. Those who choose to partner with a record company do so to benefit from the support of agile, highly responsive global teams of experts dedicated to helping them achieve creative and commercial success and build their long-term careers.” 

Elsewhere, music revenues in Europe, the second-largest recorded music region in the world, grew by 15.4%, a steep increase on the previous year’s growth rate of 3.2%. The region’s biggest markets all saw double-digit growth: UK (13.2%), Germany (12.6%) and France (11.8%).

The dominant US and Canada region grew by 22% in 2021, outpacing the global growth rate. The US market alone grew by 22.6%.

Similar to the MENA region, Latin America saw an increase of 31.2% – one of the highest growth rates globally. Streaming accounted for 85.9% in that market.

Asia music revenues grew by 16.1%, with its largest market, Japan, which ranks second in the world after the US, experiencing a 9.3% increase. Excluding Japan, the region racked up a 24.6% increase in revenues. In a continuing trend, Asia accounted for a significant share of global physical revenues (49.6%).

The report also ranks the top 10 global recording artists of 2021, with south Korean boy band BTS leading the pack, followed by Taylor Swift, Adele, Drake, Ed Sheeran, The Weeknd, Billie Eilish, Justin Bieber, Seventeen and Olivia Rodrigo.

Moore added: “As technologies and the online environment continue to evolve and expand, so too do the creative opportunities to share music experiences. From the metaverse to in-game content, record companies have invested in the people and the technologies to deliver new, highly interactive experiences – adding to the evolving ways for artists to make connections with their fans.”

Read the full IFPI Global Music Report 2022 here or download it below (PDF).