Global Music Publishing Revenue Grew 9.6% in 2025: MIDiA

Revenue from the global music publishing industry grew by nearly 10% in 2025 to $12.2 billion in 2925, with major publishers growing at a faster rate than independent publishers, according to a new report released by MIDiA Research on Monday (Sept. 28).

The market share of major publishers grew by 1.3% to 54.7% in 2025, with Sony Music Publishing being the fastest-growing major for the second year running, adding nearly a percentage point to its market share.

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Music streaming again drove the largest share of publishing revenues in 2025, and the report found that the portion of revenue coming from streaming will continue to grow through 2033. But opportunities presented by AI and other new technologies present new opportunities for publishers to secure better licensing agreements than those they have with current digital streaming partners. Catalog funds are also proving to be significant revenue sources, the report added, with music catalog fund publishing growing by nearly 15% year-over-year to $1.6 billion.

MIDiA says the publishing business looks set for healthy growth because of its diversified mix of revenue sources, including from performance, synchronization and mechanical rights and streaming.

“While everyone talks about streaming, publishing’s real strength is how broadly diversified its revenue base actually is,” Leon Farrell, senior music analyst at MIDiA, said in a statement. “Looking ahead, simply collecting standard royalties won’t be enough. The winners will be the publishers actively fighting for stronger value shares in emerging tech like AI.”

In the near term, streaming revenue will continue to drive a growing share of publishing revenue thanks to global adoption, price increases and more favorable terms for rights-holders — but in the long term, that growth will ebb and mechanical and performance revenues will decline, the report notes. Publishers who adapt in the evolving landscape and actively pursue opportunities presented by AI and other emerging platforms will win, said MIDiA senior music analyst Mark Mulligan.

“The publishing market’s growth outlook remains strong — the next phase will reward active value creation,” Mulligan said in a statement. “Publishers will need to compete for share of new use cases, capture more of the value already being generated and position themselves for growth that is increasingly global, fragmented and complex.”

The report draws on financial data from large public and independent music companies, as well as MIDiA’S internal global and country-specific forecast models. It can be read in full here.