Global Dance Music Industry Valued at $11.8 Billion, Per 2024 IMS Business Report
Mark Mulligan, Managing Director & Analyst, MIDiA Research, presented the findings at IMS Ibiza’s opening day on April 24.
The global dance music industry’s growth in 2022 was no fluke, according to data from the 2024 IMS Business Report.
Findings from the annual study of the dance music industry, compiled by MIDiA Research for IMS Ibiza, position the industry “firmly in its post-pandemic growth phase.” In 2023, revenue was up by 17%, translating to a total industry valuation of $11.8 billion. This 17% jump builds on the industry’s outsize 34% growth in 2022.
“2022 was an unusual year in that it reflected the post-pandemic bounce back effect for live,” observed Mark Mulligan, Managing Director & Analyst, MIDiA Research. “There was a risk that 2023 would struggle to live up to those inflated expectations, but instead, the electronic music industry grew strongly once again, with impressive growth across virtually all of its constituent parts.”
Live represented the industry’s largest growth sector in 2023, with festivals and clubs dominating revenues to account for nearly half of the industry total. Though live maintained a strong presence as a growth sector, its performance was notably not as pronounced as it was the previous year. Its superheated growth in 2022, however, was the direct result of the live sector’s rebound from COVID-19 pandemic’s pause on live music programming.
Music hardware and software trailed live, comprising approximately a quarter of the $11.8 billion sum. Recorded music; music publishing; and “merch, sponsorship, agency fees, etc.” made up the industry’s remaining growth sectors.
Dance’s global recorded music sector, valued at $31.9 billion in 2022, enjoyed considerable growth last year, increasing by 10% for a valuation of $35.1 billion. Streaming also grew 10% but was outpaced by licensing and expanded rights. And while independent labels increased their market share for the fourth consecutive quarter, reaching 31%, self-releasing artists lost share. The indie label activity unsurprisingly portends non-major labels’ continued influence and prominence in the years to come.
Meanwhile, global music publishing, which arched from $9.3 billion in 2021 to $10.9 billion in 2022, steadied. Revenues in this sector were also up by 10%, raising its valuation to $11.9 billion, per the report, now in its tenth edition.
This year’s IMS Ibiza summit runs from April 24-26 at Mondrian Ibiza and Hyde Ibiza. It is the second edition produced in partnership with Beatport, following The Beatport Group’s acquisition of a 51% majority stake in IMS in January of 2023.
