London, 28th April 2010 – IFPI today publishes the Recording Industry in Numbers 2010 (RIN), providing a comprehensive picture of key trends of today’s music business. Highlights include:
- Global recorded music revenues declined 7% in 2009
- Some key markets saw a return to growth
- Digital sales grew strongly in many markets
- Piracy continued to erode legitimate music sales worldwide
Highlights of the RIN 2010
Global Recorded Music Sales
Global recorded music sales for 2009 show a mixed picture. Trade revenues to record companies fell by 7.2% to US$17 billion, with the world’s two biggest markets, the US and Japan, making up 80% of the decline. The worldwide fall in revenues outside the US and Japan in 2009 was 3.2%. Physical sales fell by 12.7% globally.
There are key areas of market growth, however. Digital music sales rose by 9.2% to US$4.3 billion, more than ten times the digital market value in 2004. Digital channels now account for 25.3% of all trade revenues to record companies. In the US, digital sales account for nearly half – 43% – of the recorded music market. More than 30 countries saw double-digit growth rates in digital sales, and 17 markets, including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Singapore, Sweden and UK, saw digital sales grow by more than 40%.
There was a return to growth in 13 markets, including Australia, Mexico, South Korea, Sweden and the UK. Improving legal environments in the last two to three years in South Korea and Sweden – combined with the launch of popular legitimate services - helped both countries to market growth rates of 10% in 2009.
New licensing models progress
There are now more than 12 million tracks available from over 400 legal music services worldwide. They range from download stores such as Amazon or iTunes to video streaming sites such as YouTube and audio streaming services such as Deezer and Spotify. Some ISPs, such as Sky, TDC and Telia, have already partnered with record labels or digital retailers to deliver legitimate music services.
A recent study by Ovum in the UK suggests that if ISPs themselves offer music services, they could boost their revenues. The UK study, published in March 2010, suggested that ISPs could generate more than £100 million by 2013.
Key markets show impact of piracy
Spain (-14.3%) and Canada (-7.4%), countries with some of the world's weakest legal defences against piracy, show the sharpest falls, along with Italy, over a decade among the top 10 markets. Spain, where illegal file-sharing is more than double the average rate in Europe, has seen the biggest market fall, down 60%since 1999. Canada, practically the only government of a developed country not to have implemented international copyright treaties agreed over a decade ago, is a major source of the world’s piracy problem. A disproportionate number of illegal sites are hosted on Canadian soil.
Research in March 2010 measures the economic impact of piracy on the creative industries. Tera Consultants suggest that the EU could lose 1.2 million jobs across the creative sector by 2015 if no effective action is taken to tackle piracy.
Peer-to-peer (P2P) piracy remains the most prevalent channel for illegal distribution of unauthorised content, accounting for more than 20% of internet traffic globally. In Latin America this increases to 35% and in Europe to 29%. (Sandvine, Global Broadband Phenomena 2009).
Susan Boyle tops global album sales
Susan Boyle had the best global selling album of 2009 with I Dreamed a Dream, which sold 8.3 million units. This figure was sharply up on the 6.8 million copies of Coldplay’s Viva La Vida which topped the global album charts in 2008. The death of Michael Jackson, aged just 50, propelled three albums of his work into the global top ten. Two were compilation albums and the third was Thriller, his seminal 1982 album, widely believed to be the best-selling title of all time.
Top 10 global selling albums 2009:
| Artist | Album |
| Susan Boyle | I Dreamed a Dream |
| Black Eyed Peas | The E.N.D.(The Energy Never Dies) |
| Michael Jackson | This Is It |
| Taylor Swift | Fearless |
| Lady Gaga | The Fame |
| Michael Bublé | Crazy Love |
| U2 | No Line on the Horizon |
| Michael Jackson | Thriller |
| Michael Jackson | Number Ones |
| Andrea Bocelli | My Christmas |
Performance Rights Income
Global performance rights revenues – generated from the use of music by third party businesses in broadcast and public performance - have shown considerable resilience in the face of tough economic conditions, growing by 7.6% in 2009 to US$0.8 billion. This reflects an unbroken trend of growth since 2003, with performance rights revenues now accounting for 4.6% of record companies’ trade revenues.
Broader music industry declines in value
The broader music industry, which takes in areas including radio advertising, live performance sales and the sale of audio equipment fell 8% to an estimated US$140 billion in 2009. Live music, songwriters’ music copyrights and the performance rights market were the only sectors showing growth in 2009. Growth in live music revenues (up 4%) has slowed significantly in the last three years.
/source: IFPI/
