The global market value for music publishers – including majors and indies – was EUR €9.8 billion in 2023, which translates to USD $10.6 billion at the average exchange rate for 2023.
That’s according to the latest Global Market View report from the Independent Music Publishers Forum (IMPF).
Because of the slow-moving nature of publishing royalties, the 2025 report looks at 2023 data.
That number includes the share of revenues that flow through CMOs to publishers, plus publishers’ direct licensing collections, but exclude royalties paid to songwriters and composers.
The report also reveals that the global value of the independent music publishing sector was €2.57 billion ($2.78 billion), up 5.7% YoY in 2023, and up 105.6% since IMPF’s inaugural report in 2018, which pegged indie publishers’ value at €1.15 billion that year.
According to the report, the 2023 total gave indie publishers a market share of 26.3%, down slightly from 26.7% in 2022, and it marks the third consecutive year that indie publishers have seen market share drop.
In 2020, they had 27.9% of the market.
Indie publishers’ market share declined due to “consolidation” in the music rights space, according to the IMPF.
Conversely, the major publishers saw their combined market share of the global publishing business rise to 60.6%, from 60.1% a year earlier, according to IMPF’s estimates.
Sony Music Publishing remained the leader among the majors, with 24.9% of the market (up from 24.7% in 2022), followed by Universal Music Publishing Group at 23.3%, down a tenth of a percentage point from the year before, while Warner Chappell Music took 12.4% of the market, up from 12% the year before, according to IMPF’s estimates.
The IMPF numbers also include an “Others” category – music publishers with more than 5% market share who are classified as neither “indie” nor “major.” The report didn’t identify which ones these are, but in previous reports they were BMG and Kobalt.
The “others” took 13.1% of the global music publishing market, down a notch from 13.2% the year before.
Nonetheless, indie publishers saw revenues grow thanks to what the IMPF report described as “strong music rights collections by CMOs,” which rose 7.6% YoY in 2023 to €11.7 billion ($12.7 billion), driven by rapid growth in digital revenues.
“There is a paradox here as, on the one hand, independent music publishers’ market share is diminishing, but its global value is increasing,” the report noted.
“This can be explained by the exceptional growth of the overall music copyright sector and, in particular for music publishing, the growth in music collections globally, boosted by the development of digital collections worldwide.”
At the same time,” independent music publishers have been affected by an increasing consolidation of the global music publishing market, which mirrors a similar situation in the recorded music side of the business,” the IMPF said.
“Catalogs that were previously independently managed have been changing ownership and acquired by majors, BMG or Kobalt.”
This trend is “expected to continue,” the report said, because “songs have become hot property, with top catalogs selling for seven figures, if not more, making the publishing sector more attractive to investors, and resulting in many independent companies selling to majors or big venture capitalist groups.”
“Songs have become hot property, with top catalogs selling for seven figures, if not more, making the publishing sector more attractive to investors, and resulting in many independent companies selling to majors or big venture capitalist groups.”
IMPF
The IMPF sees this as a “concern” because “independent publishers serve a key role in the music ecosystem. The reduction of the number of companies and catalogs available, and the new levels of investment in catalog acquisition, closes independent routes to the music market, and has a negative impact on cultural diversity.”
Using data from CISAC, the global umbrella group of CMOs and performing rights organizations (PROs), the IMPF broke down publishers’ revenues by region. It found that Europe remains the largest source of collections, at €6.0 billion ($6.5 billion) in 2023, up 8.3% YoY, of which €0.79 billion ($0.85 billion) went to indie publishers.
That was followed by the US and Canada at €3.19 billion ($3.45 billion), up 7.9% YoY, of which €0.42 billion ($0.45 billion) went to indie publishers. The fastest growth was clocked in Latin America, where revenue grew 26.2% YoY, but from a low base. The region saw €0.69 billion ($0.75 billion) in collections in 2023, of which approx. €90 million ($97 million) went to indies.
The Asia-Pacific region was the only one to see a decline, down 0.3% YoY to €1.78 billion ($1.93 billion). However, that was “more a factor of adverse currency conversion rates, affecting mainly Japan and Korea, than a reflection of the dynamism of the region,” the report stated.
India and China are “both showing promising signs,” with India now ranking as the 24th largest market in publishing revenue, at €57 million ($61.7 million) in 2023 – a notable achievement given it didn’t even rank in the top 50 until a few years ago. China ranked 26th, with €51 million ($55.2 million) in revenue.
“Both countries have the potential to become top 10 markets in a decade or so if they continue to grow at the [current] rate,” the report stated.
Broken down by types of usage, digital was “a prime driver of growth,” the report said, noting that digital revenue overtook broadcast income for the first time in the US and Canada.
“At €1.4 billion, digital now accounts for 43.6% (+12.6%) of the market,” the report said.
“Certain markets have digital revenues now exceeding 50% of the total, such as Mexico (69.8%), Sweden (64.7%), Australasia (61.4%) and Canada (53.2%).”
In a trend that comes as no surprise to anyone following the music business closely, revenues from live and public performance grew in 2023, up 21.8% YoY, while revenues from radio and TV continued to decline, down 5.3% YoY, though that was offset by a 9.3% YoY jump in digital revenue.
Looking ahead to the 2024 report, the IMPF is optimistic that price hikes at the major music streaming services, continued growth in live music, and “the resilience of traditional media” will translate into further revenue growth.
“The synch market is also expected to be strong as 2024 was marked by significant AV activity across the globe,” the report noted.
The IMPF’s report compiles data from CISAC’s Global Collections Report, Music & Copyright’s annual music publishing market share report, and economist Will Page’s report on the value of the music copyright market.Music Business Worldwide
