Image Credit: Warner Music Canada
The IFPI Global Music Report 2025 highlights Canada’s strong music market, with revenues growing to $660.3 million USD in 2024. The report, which represents the global recording industry, notes that Canada’s 2024 revenues saw a relatively small growth of just 1.5%, but this is in comparison to an unusually high 2023, which saw a large one-off performance rights revenues payment.
Canada’s most popular musician, Drake, saw his global standing rise, rising from No. 4 to No. 2 in the IFPI’s artist rankings, behind only Taylor Swift. Canada’s major labels invest heavily in finding new talent, breaking Canadian and Indigenous artists at home and around the world, and developing new technologies to help them achieve their commercial and creative goals. A robust Canadian market is what enables that re-investment and the success of future generations of talent.
Beyond Canada, the U.S. saw growth of 2.2%, but the major expansion in revenues is happening in MENA (Middle East and North Africa), Sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America, which saw growth of 22.8%, 22.6%, and 22.5% respectively. Global music growth slowed slightly compared to last year, but still had some major milestones. Streaming revenues exceeded $20 billion USD for the first time, representing 69% of total revenues, which reached $29.6 billion. Paid subscription streaming saw a global increase of 9.5%, with subscription account users reaching 752 million worldwide.
The report emphasizes the importance of recognizing music’s cultural and economic value through protections for copyright holders and advocating for supporting “music’s competitive marketplace.” It also puts a spotlight on one of the most polarizing developments in music and technology: generative AI. The unauthorized use of copyrighted material by developers of generative AI systems poses a real and present threat to human artistry.
The report highlights Warner Canada and Warner India’s joint venture, 91 North Records, as a case study in cross-border collaboration. The label has had success with artists like Chani Nattan, AR Paisley, and Jonita Gandhi, and works together to foster the burgeoning superstardom of Karan Aujla. The goal is not to Westernize these artists, but to support them and help them become global superstars.
