Creator royalties hit another all-time high in 2024, according to newly-released numbers from CISAC, a global umbrella group of collective management organizations (CMOs).
In its latest Global Collections Report, CISAC, which represents 228 CMOs in 111 countries, reported total royalty collections of €13.97 billion (USD $15.12 billion) across music, audiovisual, visual arts, literature and drama in 2024. That’s a 6.6% increase over 2023.
Royalties to songwriters and publishers accounted for fully 90% of that total, growing 7.2% YoY to €12.59 billion ($13.63 billion).
Digital music royalties were the largest segment, breaking the €5 billion ($5.4 billion) mark for the first time, up 10.8% YoY. The report attributed that to continued growth in the number of music streaming subscribers and price hikes across the major streaming platforms.
The US alone accounted for more than a quarter of digital music revenues, rising 16.1% YoY to €1.4 billion ($1.5 billion). However, Italy saw the fastest growth in digital music collections in 2024, rising 27.2% YoY, which the report attributed to improved contracts and new distributor licenses.
The report cited MiDIA data showing there were 818 million music subscriptions globally in 2024, forecast to grow to 1 billion by 2027.
However, the CISAC report warned of a potential slowdown in the growth rate of digital revenues. An analysis from Futuresource Consulting, included in the CISAC report, predicted a 7% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for music between 2025 and 2028 as services shift their focus from subscriber acquisition to revenue per user.
“The competitive battleground is now all about broadening content portfolios, refining tier structures and keeping audiences engaged in the long run,” Futuresource Principal Analyst James Duvall wrote in the report.
Despite the ongoing shift to streaming, radio and TV music royalties rose 1.2% YoY to €3.42 billion ($3.70 billion), a notable turnaround from the 5.3% YoY decline the previous year. However, radio/TV royalties have grown only 2.3% since 2015, compared to a nearly seven-fold (596.2%) increase in digital.
The CISAC report noted that growth in radio/TV revenues, for all repertoires, was driven primarily by the US, France and Spain, while nearly half of all countries recorded a decline.
The live and background category saw 10.4% YoY growth to €3.38 billion ($3.66 billion), with the report noting that 2024 was “another record-setting year” for live music, noting the success of Taylor Swift’s The Eras tour, which became the highest-grossing tour of all time, while Coldplay set a record for most tickets sold.
However, the report added that “this success at the top contrasts sharply with ongoing challenges at the grassroots level, where venue closures in several countries continue to limit opportunities for emerging artists.”
The report said 2024 was also a year when “momentum began to level off following the rapid surge in revenue seen during the initial post-pandemic years,” and live music is moving into “a more stable period of moderate growth.”
“This trend was reflected in the financial results of leading promoter Live Nation, whose revenue growth slowed to just under +2% in 2024, following a +36% increase the previous year,” the report stated.
“The competitive battleground is now all about broadening content portfolios, refining tier structures and keeping audiences engaged in the long run.”
James Duvall, Futuresource Consulting
Broken down by geography, the US unsurprisingly remained the largest market for songwriter and music publisher royalties, with collections rising 10.1% YoY to €3.14 billion ($3.40 billion), while France took second spot with €1.50 billion ($1.62 billion, up 7.9% YoY), followed by the UK at €1.18 billion ($1.28 billion, up 8.2% YoY).
The report also noted that, for the first time, Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) was the fastest-growing region for music royalties, with collections rising 17.9% YoY to €470 million ($509 million) and digital royalties rising 20.2% YoY.
The report noted that CEE still remains behind when it comes to digital adoption, with digital revenues accounting for just 13.9% of the regional total.
Two regions noted for the rapid growth of their music industries recorded relatively slow growth, with Asia-Pacific music collections rising 2.9% YoY to €1.84 billion ($1.99 billion) and Latin American collections rising 3.3% YoY to €718 million ($777 million).
The CISAC report devoted a considerable amount of space to concerns regarding AI’s potential impact on the creator community, citing research the organization commissioned which estimated that AI-generated music could account for 20% of music royalties by 2028.
“Artificial intelligence is not simply another means of distributing creative works; it is a technology that can appropriate and replicate them,” CISAC Director General Gadi Oron said. “It advances at a speed far greater than current regulation, and without proper safeguards or data transparency, it risks undermining the very foundation of creative value.”
“Without proper safeguards or data transparency [AI] risks undermining the very foundation of creative value.”
Gadi Oron, CISAC
A study commissioned by CISAC and released in late 2024 estimated that 24% of music creators’ revenues could be cannibalized by AI by 2028 if action if current trends don’t change.
However, CISAC President and ABBA co-founder Björn Ulvaeus said there is “reason for guarded hope” given recent developments. He cited the new AI license developed by Swedish collection society STIM, which Ulvaeus said “demonstrates that creators’ rights and technological progress can coexist, if licensing and transparency are made central.”
Additionally, there have recently been a number of licensing partnerships between AI music platforms and music rightsholders, perhaps most notably a deal between Udio and Universal Music Group.
Under that deal, which included a settlement of the copyright suit UMG brought against Udio, the AI platform will use music licensed from UMG artists, and the created AI-generated works will exist within a “walled garden” on the platform, meaning it won’t join the massive flood of AI music being uploaded to streaming services.Music Business Worldwide
