Music spreads digitally, globally
Thanks to rapid expansion into new markets by services such as iTunes, Spotify and Deezer, major international digital music services are now present in 58 countries worldwide, compared to just 23 at the start of 2011, says the IFPI’s Digital Music Report 2012.
Digital music revenues to record companies grew by 8% globally in 2011 to a round $5.2 billion, compared to growth of 5% in 2010. The IFPI estimates that 3.6 billion downloads were purchased globally in 2011, an increase of 17% (combining singles and albums downloads). A number of markets now see more than half of their revenues derive from digital, notably the US (52%) and South Korea (53%).
Digital album volume sales grew by an estimated 24% globally in 2011, with the US and UK up by 19% and 27% respectively and France up 71%.
The number of paying subscribers for music services has grown by 65%, from an estimated 8.2 million worldwide in 2010 to over 13.4 million in 2011
Twenty eight percent of online users globally access unauthorised services on a monthly basis, according to the IFPI. Around half of these are using P2P networks, while the other half are using other non-P2P unauthorised channels.
