Europe’s music listeners have become huge fans of domestic artists, with local acts dominating their respective countries’ Top 10 lists.
However, the continent is falling behind other parts of the world, both in terms of exporting music and in terms of recorded music revenue growth.
So says the inaugural Music in the EU report, released Tuesday (September 10) by global recorded music industry group IFPI.
The report contained some eye-opening statistics on the popularity of domestic acts in European Union countries, reflecting a growing preference in many countries – but especially European ones – for local music.
MBW has reported previously on the growth of local music acts in many European countries, but the data for 2023 in IFPI’s report shows the trend has reached almost extreme levels, with non-EU acts entirely shut out, or almost entirely shut out, of the Top 10 lists in many EU countries.
In 2023, nine of the singles in the Top 10 tracks in Denmark, Finland and Sweden were domestic, with only one US artists – Miley Cyrus – breaking into each country’s Top 10.
Croatia and Italy’s top 10 lists also featured nine local acts, while in Greece and Hungary, all of the top 10 tracks were domestic.
Local acts also dominated in Poland (eight out of 10) and France and Germany (seven out of 10).
In fact, overall, in the 22 EU markets tracked yearly by IFPI, 60% of the Top 10 tracks were by domestic artists, compared to 47% in non-EU markets.
Growth in recorded music revenues varied widely from country to country in 2023, with less-developed Eastern European countries, along with Italy, showing the strongest growth, while larger, more established music markets in Western Europe lagged.
The fastest growth in recorded music was clocked in Bulgaria, up an incredible 44% YoY, followed by the Baltic states (up 21.2% YoY), Italy (up 18.8% YoY), and Poland (up 18.3% YoY).
The slowest growth was recorded in Finland (up 3.7% YoY), France (up 4.4% YoY), and the Czech Republic (up 4.5% YoY).
For the EU as a whole, recorded music grew 8.7% YoY in 2023.
That’s a strong showing, given that the EU’s economy as a whole grew by just 0.4% YoY in 2023, according to Eurostat, and indicates the music industry’s increasing importance to the EU economy.
However, it’s less impressive when looked at in a global context: Recorded music in the EU grew far more slowly than in China (up 25.9% YoY), Sub-Saharan Africa (up 24.7% YoY), Mexico (up 18.2% YoY) and the Middle East/North Africa (up 14.4% YoY).
Still, it’s a slightly better performance than in other comparable developed markets such as the US (up 7.2% YoY), Japan (up 7.6% YoY) and the UK (up 8.1% YoY).
Where the EU truly falls behind is on exporting its music outside the continent. In 2023, the European Union exported 25 songs that made Top 10 lists.
That falls far behind the US, with 113 songs, including 28 by Miley Cyrus alone – more than all of the EU combined. It also falls behind second-place Colombia (48 songs), Puerto Rico (45 songs), the UK (29 songs), South Korea (16 songs), and Nigeria (15 songs).
The export strength of those countries is a testament to the popularity of Latin music worldwide, and to a lesser extent, the popularity of K-pop and Afrobeats.
And while it’s true that Latin music has come to dominate Latin American music markets as much as domestic music has in Europe – according to Spotify, Latin music is 94% of all streams in Argentina, and 88% of all streams in Mexico – European music hasn’t succeeded outside of its own markets the way Latin music has.
In fact, of the 25 EU tracks that made Top 10 lists outside their home countries, 24 were Top 10 hits… in other EU countries. Only one artist – France’s David Guetta – made an appearance in a Top 10 list outside the EU (in Canada) in 2023.
“The data in this report shows us that other parts of the world are developing and growing rapidly and the EU risks falling behind,” IFPI CEO Victoria Oakley said.
“Policymakers have an opportunity to help us to rectify this, by ensuring there is a well-functioning internal market, providing legal certainty and protection for music rightsholders, supporting the development of responsible and ethical AI and creating a competitive playing field on which today’s dynamic music sector can evolve.”
“Today, European music faces great risk but also great opportunity. How policymakers address these issues will help determine its future.”
Victoria Oakley, IFPI
The IFPI’s report stressed the economic impact of recorded music in the EU economy, citing data from a 2020 report from Oxford Economics showing that every euro directly invested or generated by record companies in the EU resulted in an additional E1.80 of GDP in other parts of the music sector’s value chain.
“Today, European music faces great risk but also great opportunity. How policymakers address these issues will help determine its future.” Oakley said.
