France’s recorded music revenues reached $1.1 billion in 2024, up 7% YoY, according to industry group SNEP. The total revenues, including digital, physical, sync, and neighboring rights, came in at EUR €1.031 billion, or USD $1.12 billion at the average exchange rate for 2024. Recorded music revenues have grown by 58% since 2015, when France’s music market began to emerge from the crisis triggered by music piracy. However, adjusted for inflation, last year’s revenues matched those of 2007, and amounted to just 54% of the record level of 2002.
Streaming revenue grew 9.5% YoY, with €664 million ($718.6 million) coming from streaming, up 9.5% YoY. The vast majority of that – €522 million ($565 million) – came from paid streaming subscriptions, which were up 11.4% YoY. Ad-supported streaming grew 6.0% YoY to €75.2 million ($81.4 million). However, SNEP called the streaming revenue data “positive but misleading,” as French consumers have been relatively slow to adopt music streaming, meaning the large increase comes off a relatively low baseline.
The music streaming penetration rate in France was 25.9% in 2024, close to that of other Mediterranean countries but far removed from other major music markets. In all, 27 million people in France streamed 138 billion songs in 2024, with 80% of streams coming via paid subscriptions.
The physical music market accounted for nearly 19.0% of total recorded music revenues, with total physical revenue coming in at €195.6 million ($211.7 million), up 1.3% YoY. This was driven by growth in direct-to-consumer channels such as artists’ online stores, which were up 33% YoY and have grown fivefold in five years.
French music exports soared 19% YoY in 2024, reaching €162 million ($175.3 million), attributed to last year’s Paris Olympics and Paralympics, along with labels’ efforts to increase the popularity of French music abroad. Additionally, the growth of global streaming is a key driver of this dynamic.
