Streaming was the music industry's fastest growing sector in 2025, IMS report reveals
Findings from the IMS Business Report also revealed that the electronic music industry grew by 7% last year to $15.1 billion
Digital Service Providers (DSPs) were the music industry's fastest growing companies in 2025, the IMS Business Report 2026 has revealed.
Published on April 22 as part of the International Music Summit in Ibiza, the annual report documents the state-of-play within the electronic music industry, including market analysis, consumer trends and more.
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The report found that DSPs grew globally by around US$27 billion in 2025, overtaking live music, publishing and labels to become the fastest growing sector in the industry. Despite this, live music continues to hold a greater market share having grown by US$30 billion last year.
The IMS report claims that the uptake of streaming subscriptions in the Global South has been a major factor in this growth. While the report did not publish exact figures on habits in the Global South, it estimates that the market is growing at over double the rate of Western markets.
85 million people subscribed to streaming services in 2025, with 919 million people now having memberships with platforms; Spotify held the biggest market share in streaming at 32%, followed by Tencent (14%), Apple Music (12%), YouTube Music (10%) and Amazon Music (10%).
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The electronic music industry also saw increased growth in 2025, rising by 7% to US$15.1 billion in 2025, up from 6% and US$14.2 billion in 2024. Germany continues to have the most listeners of electronic music on Spotify at 604 million, followed by the US (402 million) and Australia (328 million).
While Ibiza club revenues steadily increased in 2025 to €160 million (roughly US$187 million) from €150 million (roughly US$175 million) in 2024, the number of events has decreased, with around 140 events per venue in 2025, versus 144 in 2024.
Tech-house extended its run as the most popular electronic genre on Beatport for the fourth consecutive year, with house taking the number two spot, and melodic house taking third position. Data from Beatport shared as part of the IMS Report 2026 reveals that 34% of sales on the platform were from genres not in the top 10 genres, up from 33% in 2024.
Megan Townsend is Mixmag's Deputy Editor, follow her on X
