Scene
The International Music Summit (IMS) has released its 2025 Business Report, revealing that the global electronic music industry is now valued at $12.9 billion. The report highlights Spotify’s dominant lead over other streaming platforms, the resurgence of Drum & Bass, and the growing popularity of electronic music in Mexico.
This annual study was conducted by Mark Mulligan and MiDIA Research for IMS IBIZA. The data reflects the state of the global electronic music industry over the past 12 months. Compared to last year’s industry valuation of $10.7 billion, this marks a 9% increase, bringing the total value to $12.2 billion in 2025.
Commenting on the report, Mulligan said: “The global music industry continued to grow in 2024, though at a slower pace than in 2023, due to plateauing streaming revenues and a decline in the post-Covid boom in live music. However, electronic music continued to increase its share of both revenue and cultural relevance. This growth has been driven by emerging genres like Afro House, a revival of Drum & Bass, and a new wave of fans, creators, and local scenes reshaping electronic music in their own image. Electronic music stands at the beginning of a bold new era of cultural influence.”
The report also notes a growing gap between non-major labels and self-releasing artists. While non-major labels have increased their market share to 30%, self-releasing artists have seen a decline, largely due to new “streaming royalty thresholds” introduced by platforms like Spotify, which reduce revenue potential for smaller artists.
Although the growth of streaming revenue has slowed, subscriber numbers continue to climb rapidly — up 12% this year, with 818 million total streaming platform subscribers. Of those, 32% are Spotify users.
In the live music market, there has been a recovery from the post-Covid slump. However, the increase in revenue is more due to higher ticket prices than an increase in the number of tickets sold.
The report also analyzed countries where Spotify is the most-streamed platform. Germany leads in total electronic music streams, while Mexico has seen the largest growth since 2023 — a 60% increase. Australia and the Netherlands top the charts in terms of per capita streams, with stream counts nearly ten times their populations.
Among fans of electronic music, the most valued aspects of being part of the scene are in-person connection, shared experiences, and being around like-minded individuals.
On Beatport, Tech House remains the leading genre, but Afro House and Drum & Bass are gaining significant traction. Techno (specifically the peak/driving style) has seen a slight decline. Drum & Bass, notably, ranked second for new Beatport releases, produced five #1 Beatport hits in 2024, and saw a 40% increase in streaming revenue in the UK. TikTok has played a significant role in boosting the popularity of electronic music, with a 45% increase in views — reaching a total of 13.4 billion views on electronic music-related videos, 82% of which featured House music.
Number one best-selling D&B tune of 2023 on Beatport:
