Music production spans recorded-music trade, streaming, studio businesses, home-studio use and technical careers. The figures below separate those populations and show global 2024 market data, England’s 2021 studio assessment and U.S. occupational measures from May 2025.
Key Music Production Statistics
The most useful headline figures are:
- In 2024, global recorded-music trade revenue reached $29.6 billion.
- In 2024, streaming generated $20.4 billion globally in recorded-music revenue.
- At the end of 2024, 752 million paid subscription accounts were estimated worldwide.
- In 2024, streaming represented 69.0% of global recorded-music revenue.
- In 2024, Europe represented 29.5% of global recorded-music revenue.
- In 2024, Middle East and North Africa recorded-music revenue grew 22.8% year over year.
- In 2024, physical recorded-music revenue was $4.8 billion globally.
- In England’s 2021 mapping, 715 studio assets were identified in London.
- In England’s 2021 mapping, 694 studios offered combined recording and production.
- In a 2021 England survey, 86% of surveyed studios offered recording services.
- In a 2021 England survey, 36% of surveyed studio clients wanted more recording and production skills.
- In 2021, 57.1% of surveyed home-studio users also used traditional studios.
- In a 2021 England survey, rent and business rates represented 34% of surveyed studios’ operating costs.
- In 2020, 69% of England studio businesses relied on government support.
- In May 2025, 15,000 sound engineering technicians were employed in the United States.
- In May 2025, the U.S. median annual wage for sound engineering technicians was $73,130.
- From 2025 to 2035, BLS projects U.S. sound engineering technician employment to decline 3%.
Contents
- Global music production and recorded-music market statistics
- Music streaming, formats and revenue trends
- Music studio infrastructure and production services
- Home studios, production access and client behavior
- Music studio costs, finance and pandemic effects
- Sound engineering jobs, wages and production careers
Global Music Production and Recorded-Music Market Statistics
The IFPI figures describe recorded-music trade revenue, not the entire music-production economy. They therefore capture the commercial market for recorded music while excluding a complete measure of equipment spending, independent producer income and every production activity.
The IFPI Global Music Report 2025 reports these global and regional measures for 2024:
| Market or region | 2024 result | Measure |
|---|---|---|
| Global recorded music | $29.6 billion | Trade revenue |
| USA and Canada | 40.3% | Share of global revenue |
| Europe | 29.5% | Share of global revenue |
| Performance rights | $2.9 billion | Revenue |
Global recorded-music revenue increased 4.8% in 2024. USA and Canada revenue grew 2.1%, while European revenue grew 8.3%.
The Middle East and North Africa was the fastest-growing IFPI region in 2024, with recorded-music revenue growth of 22.8%. Performance-rights revenue reached $2.9 billion and grew 5.9%, although that segment is not a complete measure of songwriter or publishing income.
IFPI notes that historical local-currency values can be restated as exchange rates change. Regional shares and growth rates here refer to recorded-music trade revenue rather than studio or producer income.
Music Streaming, Formats and Revenue Trends
Streaming was the dominant recorded-music format in the global 2024 figures. Its $20.4 billion revenue represented 69.0% of global recorded-music revenue, and streaming revenue grew 7.3% year over year.
The IFPI Global Music Report 2025 separates the main format measures as follows:
| Format or account measure | 2024 result | Period or scope |
|---|---|---|
| Streaming revenue | $20.4 billion | Global, 2024 |
| Streaming share | 69.0% | Global recorded-music revenue, 2024 |
| Subscription streaming growth | 9.5% | Year over year, 2024 |
| Paid subscription accounts | 752 million | Global estimate at end of 2024 |
| Ad-supported streaming growth | 1.2% | Year over year, 2024 |
| Physical revenue | $4.8 billion | Global, 2024 |
Paid subscription accounts grew 10.6% in 2024, reaching an estimated 752 million by year-end. Accounts are not necessarily unique people or households, and account growth is not the same as listening hours or producer income.
Subscription streaming revenue increased 9.5%, while ad-supported streaming revenue grew 1.2%. Physical recorded-music revenue declined 3.1% in 2024, following 14.5% physical-format growth in 2023 as reported by IFPI.
Music Studio Infrastructure and Production Services
The Music Studio Market Assessment provides an England-focused 2021 mapping and survey. Its counts are a snapshot of mapped assets and businesses, not a current census of all operating production companies.
London’s mapping identified 715 studio assets, including 528 open and 187 closed studios. The North West had 195 open and 78 closed studios, while Yorkshire and the Humber had 143 open and 74 closed studios.
Across England, combined recording and production was the most common mapped studio type, offered by 694 studios. A total of 221 mapped open studios offered recording, rehearsal and production together, while only 7 mapped studios combined rehearsal and production without the other listed service combination.
Service availability differed by denominator. Recording services were offered by 86% of surveyed studios, rehearsal by 44% of surveyed studios, and rehearsal services appeared at 42% of all open studios in the mapping.
The mapping found 120 open businesses combining studio services with a live-music venue, equal to 6.5% of open studios. London had 50 businesses with that studio-and-venue combination.
Home Studios, Production Access and Client Behavior
The England assessment also measured how clients viewed home and commercial production. These are survey responses from England studio users in 2021, not measures of total production volume.
Home production did not eliminate commercial-studio use. 57.1% of home-studio users continued to use traditional studios alongside home studios, while 36% of surveyed studio clients said they wanted to gain more skills in recording and music production.
Perception ratings show a clear difference between user groups:
| Respondent group and measure | Mean rating out of 5 | Survey period and geography |
|---|---|---|
| Home-studio users: commercial studios overall | 2.5 | 2021, England |
| Commercial-studio users: commercial studios overall | 3.8 | 2021, England |
| Commercial-studio users: digital equipment and software | 4.1 | 2021, England |
| Commercial-studio users: acoustic facilities | 3.8 | 2021, England |
| Home-studio users: reputation of commercial studios | 1.8 | 2021, England |
| Home-studio users: analogue equipment quality | 2.0 | 2021, England |
| Home-studio users: digital equipment and software quality | 2.3 | 2021, England |
Price-to-quality ratio was the preferred commercial-studio characteristic for 63% of surveyed clients. Skills of studio workers, analogue-equipment quality and digital-equipment/software quality were each selected by 38%; multiple responses were possible, so these percentages are preferences rather than market shares.
Music Studio Costs, Finance and Pandemic Effects
The England survey’s finance results describe pandemic-era business conditions reported in 2021. They should not be treated as universal current cost shares or as a complete account of studio profitability.
Rent and business rates represented 34% of surveyed studios’ operating costs. Reported space-rental shares varied by studio type:
| Studio type | Space rental share of overall costs | Reference period |
|---|---|---|
| Rehearsal studios | 47% | Since COVID-19 onset, reported 2021 |
| Recording studios | 26% | Since COVID-19 onset, reported 2021 |
| Production rooms | 23% | Since COVID-19 onset, reported 2021 |
| Combined studio types | 40% | Since COVID-19 onset, reported 2021 |
After COVID-19 began, 68% of surveyed studios applied for or received government support. In 2020, 69% of studio businesses relied on government support, including instruments such as cultural recovery funding or bounce-back loans.
Reliance varied by business type in 2020: 94% of rehearsal studios, 84% of combined-service studios, 56% of recording studios and 44% of production rooms listed government support as a main revenue source. This describes the share of businesses selecting support as a main source, not the share of total revenue supplied by government.
Other reported financing sources included own means such as savings or inheritance for 25% of studio businesses and credits or loans for 19%.
Sound Engineering Jobs, Wages and Production Careers
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) provides an occupational proxy for production careers rather than a music-only workforce count. Its sound-engineering technician occupation includes theater, film, television, podcasts, sports and other productions.
According to the Broadcast, Sound, and Video Technicians: Occupational Outlook Handbook, the United States had 15,000 sound engineering technicians in May 2025. The occupation’s median annual wage was $73,130, equivalent to a median hourly wage of $35.16.
| U.S. sound engineering technician measure | May 2025 result |
|---|---|
| Employment | 15,000 workers |
| Median annual wage | $73,130 |
| Median hourly wage | $35.16 |
| Lowest-paid 10% threshold | Below $37,130 annually |
| Highest-paid 10% threshold | Above $108,440 annually |
The lowest-paid 10% earned below $37,130 annually, while the highest-paid 10% earned above $108,440. These are wage-and-salary occupational measures and exclude unpaid or informal production work.
BLS projects sound engineering technician employment to decline 3% from 2025 to 2035, or about 500 fewer jobs over that period. The projection is a forecast for the full occupation, not an observed outcome and not a prediction limited to music producers.
For broader context within the same U.S. labor-market source, broadcast, sound and video technicians had a $60,150 median annual wage in May 2025, while audio and video technicians had a $58,100 median annual wage. Those related occupation measures are not identical to music-producer revenue.