NEUILLY-SUR-SEINE, FRANCE (CelebrityAccess) – Global royalty collections for song rightsholders hit a new high of 11.75 billion euros ($10.9 billion) in 2023, marking a 7.6% increase, according to the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC), the international collective rights management organization. The growth was largely driven by digital collections, which rose 9.6% to 4.52 billion euros ($4.18 billion), and live and background music royalties, which jumped 21.8% — a resurgence fueled by the return of the live concert business, surpassing pre-pandemic levels from 2019.
Digital royalties, now making up 38.5% of total collections, more than doubled in the last five years, with revenues jumping from 2.06 billion euros ($1.9 billion) in 2019 to 4.52 billion euros in 2023. However, last year’s growth rate of 9.6% was lower than in previous years. Meanwhile, broadcast royalties, which cover TV and radio, dropped by 5.3% to 3.37 billion euros ($3.11 billion), following a significant uptick the year before, and have remained relatively stable over the past five years.
Royalties from live and background music, which include performances in public spaces like restaurants and bars, grew to 3.06 billion euros ($2.82 billion), representing a 12.7% increase from 2019. This recovery highlights the return of live music after pandemic disruptions, though, in some regions, revenue still lags behind live event resumption.
CISAC’s report also breaks down regional performance. Europe remains the largest contributor to global collections, with Western Europe accounting for more than half of total revenue, and the U.S. and Canada contributing 27.1%. Collections in Western Europe rose by 8.2%, while the U.S. and Canada saw a 7.8% increase. Latin America experienced the fastest growth at 26.2%, and a staggering 108.2% over the last two years, though it still makes up just 5.9% of the market. Asia-Pacific saw a slight decline of 0.3%, primarily due to currency fluctuations in Japan, while Africa, despite its potential, grew at a modest 3.2%, contributing only 0.6% of the global market.
Overall, CISAC’s general collections, which include royalties for other media like writing and visual arts, reached 13.09 billion euros ($12.1 billion), with digital revenues rising 9.6% to 4.62 billion euros ($4.3 billion).
