What are the world’s Top 10 Music Markets?

What are the top 10 markets for music globally? The recent IFPI Global Music Report answers the question and adds some regional context.

As of 2022, the world’s Top 10 music markets are:

1. USA
2. Japan
3. UK
4. Germany
5. China
6. France
7. South Korea
8. Canada
9. Brazil
10. Australia

A closer look

Recorded music revenues grew in every region around the world in 2022:

• Asia grew by 15.4% with its largest market, Japan, seeing growth of 5.4% whilst the second largest market, China, grew by more than 20% (28.4%), becoming a global top five market for the first time. In a continuing trend, Asia also accounted for almost half of global physical revenues (49.8%).
• Australasia experienced growth of 8.1%, an increase on the prior year’s growth rate of +4.7%. Australia (+8.1%) remained a top 10 market globally and New Zealand saw a rise in streaming revenues push the overall market to growth of 8.0%.
• Revenues in Europe, the second-largest recorded music region in the world, grew by 7.5%, with the region’s three biggest markets all posting gains: UK (+5.4%), Germany (+2.2%) and France (+7.7%).
• Latin America saw gains of 25.9%, maintaining more than 10 years of regional increases. Every market in the region posted double-digit growth.
• Middle East and North Africa – previously the fastest growing market in 2021, MENA had third highest growth rate in 2022, seeing increase of 23.8%, and representing the highest share for streaming of any region globally (95.5%).
• Sub-Saharan Africa – becoming the fastest growing region in 2022 with more than 30% growth (34.7%), SSA was driven largely by a significant boost to revenues in the region’s largest market, South Africa (+31.4%).
• The USA & Canada region – the world’s largest in revenue terms – grew by 5.0% in 2022; The world’s single biggest market, the USA, grew by 4.8% a – exceeding US$10 billion for the first time – and Canadian recorded music revenues increased by 8.1%.

MORE: Paid subscriptions hit 589M as global music revenue growth slows to 9%

Bruce Houghton is the Founder and Editor of Hypebot and MusicThinkTank, a Senior Advisor at Bandsintown, President of the Skyline Artists Agency, and a professor for the Berklee College Of Music.