Vinyl will soon overtake CDs, new report claims – and music is now bigger than cinema

A hand taking a vinyl record out of a sleeve next to a stack of CDs
(Image credit: Shutterstock / Unsplash / Brett Jordan)

  • Music report reveals revenues now higher than global box office receipts
  • The value of music sales and streaming has nearly doubled in a decade
  • Revenues are growing 11% year on year, but artists aren't profiting

Here's a pair of facts we never thought we'd see: music is now a bigger business than cinema and vinyl is about to overtake CDs. That's according to a new report by Spotify's former chief economist (via MusicRadar), who's been tracking the value of the music business for a decade.

Will Page has spent ten years calculating the value of music copyrights and performing rights, which are the rights that generate payments when music is pressed onto records, streamed over Spotify or played on the radio. And the value of those copyrights has increased from $25 billion in 2014 to $45.5 billion now.

The movie business, by comparison, is a $33.2 billion business (see below). While music has soared movies have declined: box office revenues peaked globally in 2019 at $41.9 billion.

A bar chart showing music copyright vs cinema box office

As the bar chart above shows, cinema is still struggling to recover from pandemic closures, whereas the value of music copyright has soared. That said, the comparison isn't a direct like-for-like, with live music also likely still recovering from forced closures a few years ago. (Image credit: IFPI Global Music Report, CISAC Global Collections Report, Music & Copyright and Will Page)

Music revenues aren't necessarily going to artists – most of the music money goes to multiple middlemen; not all musicians who play music wrote it, and writing music is where the most valuable copyrights are – but the report details some fascinating trends.

The vinyl revival

a record player with a vinyl

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

In the US alone, Page says, vinyl will bring in $1 billion for record labels in 2024. That means vinyl revenues are about to overtake CDs, not just in the US but globally.

There's been a shift in how music generates money too. In 2023, revenues from live music performances overtook those for public performance licensing, which is when commercial premises such as shops or hotels pay a license to play music to their patrons.

Digital streaming, unsurprisingly, is now exceeding radio and other broadcasting; the latter used to account for over 50% compared to streaming's 5%, but streaming is the bigger money maker now.

And interestingly, there's been a significant increase in "glocalization". That's where artists from around the world sing in their own languages but have big hits elsewhere. For example, Colombian artists make more money from US streaming than they do from the entire Colombian music industry.

It's fascinating stuff, and you can get your music geek on by reading the full report.

You might also like

Carrie Marshall
Contributor

Writer, broadcaster, musician and kitchen gadget obsessive Carrie Marshall has been writing about tech since 1998, contributing sage advice and odd opinions to all kinds of magazines and websites as well as writing more than a dozen books. Her memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, is on sale now and her next book, about pop music, is out in 2025. She is the singer in Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind.

Read more
A band playing live against a bright bank of lights, with the crowd in front of them
I'm a working musician, and as Spotify says it's not to blame for how little artists make from streaming, here's how you can really support your favorite bands
The Bandcamp home page on a laptop. Badge reads: Tech resolutions 2025
Forget Spotify – I’m going all-in on Bandcamp for music in 2025, here’s why you should too
Hand holding a phone with the Spotify app logo
Spotify will 'double down' on music in 2025, but does that mean Hi-Fi or AI?
4K Blu-ray action movies splayed out on a kitchen counter
Movie sales – including 4K Blu-ray – fell again last year, but if you're going streaming only, you're massively missing out
Spotify daylist
Spotify has been filling your recommendations with fake artists and music it barely pays for, according to in-depth report
Metalic Spotify Logo
Spotify seems to be gearing up for more expensive subscriptions, and I'm annoyed
Latest in Streaming
Lilo & Stitch Official Trailer
Stitch crashes into earth and steals our hearts with the first trailer for the live-action Lilo & Stitch
Y2K cast looking shocked
Y2K has a streaming release date on Max, so you can witness the technology uprising at home
The Discovery+ homepage
Discovery+ just got a big update to its streaming app that makes it more like Max – here are 5 great new features to try
Elayne, Egwene, and Nynaeve dressed regally and on horseback in The Wheel of Time season 3
'There's a reason why we do it': The Wheel of Time showrunner responds to fans who are still upset over the Prime Video show's plot alterations
Susan holding her baby in Toxic Town.
Netflix's #3 show has a flawless 100% on Rotten Tomatoes – here are 3 more powerful dramas to watch after Toxic Town
Devil May Cry's Dante has his back to the camera, holding onto a large sword
Netflix's official Devil May Cry trailer features music from my favorite alternative rock band and it's taken me on a serious nostalgia trip
Latest in News
Google Gemini Robotics
Gemini just got physical and you should prepare for a robot revolution
Lilo & Stitch Official Trailer
Stitch crashes into earth and steals our hearts with the first trailer for the live-action Lilo & Stitch
GTA 5
GTA Online publisher Take-Two is gunning for a black market that’s basically heaven for cheaters
Y2K cast looking shocked
Y2K has a streaming release date on Max, so you can witness the technology uprising at home
The Discovery+ homepage
Discovery+ just got a big update to its streaming app that makes it more like Max – here are 5 great new features to try
Two Android phones on a green and blue background showing Google Messages
Struggling with slow Google Messages photo transfers? Google says new update will make 'noticeable difference'