Reports Music

Music merchandise demand Who, what, and where

Tatiana Cirisano
Cover image for Music merchandise demand
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20,000 foot view:

The music merchandise market has transformed, with significantly more artists selling merch and more product variety than ever before. The traditional line between “hard” and “soft” merch is blurring as new generations buy vinyl as a collectible keepsake, rather than a consumption format. Merch fever reached new heights in 2024, with record labels intent on monetising fandom. However, merchandise revenue growth is set to slow over the next five years as the market matures. How much can the merch-buying population and their spend realistically grow? This report examines the demand side of the equation — who is buying merch, what they are buying, and where — and models the revenue outlook for physical merchandise, digital merchandise, and physical music through 2030, suggesting future growth angles.

Key data and insights in this report:

  • Merchandise purchase penetration and age distribution
  • Music and games behaviours related to physical and digital merchandise
  • Physical music, physical merchandise, and digital merchandise revenue forecasts to 2030
  • Music merchandise vendor behavioural market shares, and analysis of the split between official and unofficial sales
  • Music merchandise market size and music merchandise market forecast to 2030 (global)
  • Forecasted music merchandise market revenue by category

This report contains data from:

  • MIDiA Research Consumer Survey Q1 2024, fielded in US, UK, Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Poland, Turkey, South Africa, n = 9,000
  • MIDiA Research Consumer Survey Q1 2024, fielded in China, n = 1,000
  • MIDiA Research Consumer Survey Q2 2024, data from US, UK, Australia, Canada, n = 4,000.
  • MIDiA Research Music Forecasts 5/24
  • MIDiA Research Fan Spending Model 2024
  • MIDiA Research Merch Buyer Model 2024

Table of contents:

Words: 5132

Pages: 19

Infographics: 4

Key insights

Figure 1: The big merchandise picture

Figure 2: The merchandise vendor marketplace

Figure 3: Merchandise market revenue, 2019-2030

Figure 4: An analysis of merchandise market growth, 2019-2030

Implications

Companies and brands mentioned: Amazon, Amazon For Artists, Amazon Prime, Asos, Bandcamp, Bob Marley, Bonfire, Bravado, Cactus Jack, Ceremony of Roses, Charli XCX, eBay, elasticStage, EMP, Etsy, Fanbace, Fave, Fenty, Fortnite, Frank Ocean, Fred Again, Full Kit, Hot Topic, Japanese Breakfast, Lady Gaga, Lana Del Rey, Mainfactor, Merchbar, Minecraft, The National, Peggy Goods, Pressly, Primary Wave Music, Printful, Rihanna, Roblox, Sabrina Carpenter, Savage, Shopify, Softside, SoundCloud, Spotify, Taylor Swift, Terrible, Tower Records, Travis Scott, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and Whitney Houston