Record companies: digital and physical market share worldwide 2012-2023

Trusted with the task of providing the world with new music, record labels have a massive influence on the music market. But which record companies play an important role? In 2023, Universal Music Group held the largest share of the market when it came to both physical and digital, with a market share of 31.8 percent. Independents' share amounted to 30.6 percent that year, less than two percent lower than that of Universal Music Group, which remained the biggest record label in the world in 2023 with almost double the market share held by WMG.  The Big Three are dominating the market Overall, the music market is dominated by three companies: Sony Music Group, Universal Music Group, as well as Warner Music Group. Sony Music Group is made up of Sony Music and Sony Music Publishing. Founded in 1929 as the American Record Corporation, the New York based company is currently the largest music publisher in the world. The music segment alone generated a revenue of over ten billion U.S. dollars in 2023. In terms of revenue, the company comes second with a market share of over 22 percent. The only company with a higher market share was the Universal Music Group. As one of the three major music publishers, UMG consists of four sectors: recorded music, music publishing as well as artist services and merchandise. The reason for the company’s success is undeniable when looking at the current charts: UMG has contracts with some of the most successful artists of our generation such as Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, or Eminem. Even though Warner Music has the smallest market share of the three, it is still a major player in the record music industry. The U.S. company has artists such as Ed Sheeran, Robin Schulz or the Red Hot Chilli Peppers under contract. The music market is evolvingIn 2023, the total revenue of the recorded music industry amounted to 28.6 billion U.S. dollars. Global streaming revenues reached nearly 20 billion U.S. dollars in the same year. Overall, recorded music increased by 10 percent. Streaming and subscriptions especially contribute to the high digital music revenue, reaching 13.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2022. The number of downloads on the other hand has been decreasing steadily over the last 15 years- a development that is likely to continue.

肩负向世界提供新音乐的重任，唱片公司对音乐市场的影响力巨大。然而，哪些唱片公司扮演着举足轻重的角色？在2023年，环球音乐集团（Universal Music Group）在实体与数字市场占有率上均位居首位，市场占有率为31.8%。独立唱片公司的市场份额为30.6%，略低于环球音乐集团的两个百分点，但环球音乐集团依旧在2023年稳居世界最大唱片公司之位，其市场份额几乎是华纳音乐集团（WMG）的两倍。三大巨头垄断市场总体而言，音乐市场由三大公司主导：索尼音乐集团（Sony Music Group）、环球音乐集团以及华纳音乐集团。索尼音乐集团由索尼音乐和索尼音乐出版组成。成立于1929年的美国唱片公司（American Record Corporation）总部位于纽约，目前已成为世界上最大的音乐出版商。仅音乐部门在2023年的收入就超过100亿美元。就收入而言，该公司的市场占有率为22%以上，仅次于环球音乐集团。作为三大主要音乐出版商之一，UMG由四个部门组成：录音音乐、音乐出版以及艺人服务与商品。从当前榜单来看，UMG与一些我们这一代最成功的艺术家如比莉·艾利什（Billie Eilish）、杜娃·黎波（Dua Lipa）或埃米纳姆（Eminem）签订合约，其成功之因昭然若揭。尽管华纳音乐的市场份额在三者中是最小的，但其在唱片音乐产业中仍是一股不容小觑的力量。这家美国公司拥有签约艺术家如艾德·希兰（Ed Sheeran）、罗宾·舒尔茨（Robin Schulz）或红辣椒乐队（Red Hot Chilli Peppers）。音乐市场正不断演变。在2023年，录音音乐行业的总收入达到286亿美元。同年，全球流媒体收入接近200亿美元。总体而言，录音音乐增长了10%。特别是流媒体和订阅服务对数字音乐高收入的贡献尤为显著，2022年这一数字达到138亿美元。另一方面，下载量在过去15年中稳步下降——这一趋势预计将继续。