Recorded music market 2021 Red letter year

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MIDiA suggested in 2020 that 2021 was going to be a strong year for the recorded music market. Indeed, 2021 turned out to be the fastest-growing year in living memory, with growth across most formats – compared to in 2020, when streaming was the only growth segment. Streaming was the growth engine once more, also registering record growth in 2021.

Methodological notes: 

  1. All revenue values referenced in this report are in USD with all conversions from local currencies calculated taking the average quarterly exchange rate for each quarter of the year. No constant currency values are used in this report.
  2. Independent revenue is measured on a distribution basis, not an ownership basis. Therefore, independent revenue that is distributed via a major record label or a wholly owned major label distributor will appear in the revenue of the respective major record label.

Companies and brands mentioned in this report : Amazon Music, Apple Music, AWAL, Believe, CD Baby, DistroKid, Epidemic Sound, Kobalt, Meta, Peloton, Snap, Sony Music Group (SMG), Splice, Spotify, The Orchard, TikTok, TuneCore, Twitch, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and YouTube Music.

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