Global electronic dance music’s post-pandemic boom continues three years after the worldwide shutdown, as the latest IMS Business Report shows that total industry revenues grew by 17 percent in 2023.
Presented today at the International Music Summit‘s Ibiza conference and authored by Mark Mulligan of MiDIA Research, IMS’ annual business roundup values the electronic music industry at $11.8 billion—up from $10.1 billion in 2022 and $7.5 billion in 2021.
With dance music “now firmly in its post-pandemic growth phase,” according to the report, festivals and clubs again claimed the majority of revenues in 2023—nearly half the industry total. Music hardware and software claimed the second-biggest share—roughly 25 percent.
The world’s top 15 leading labels, publishers, digital service providers (DSPs) and live event companies averaged 18 percent growth in 2023. Live events experienced the most growth at 35 percent, followed by DSPs, like Spotify and Apple Music, at 16 percent.
The growing sentiment that electronic dance music is going mainstream is well-confounded. Though the genre still has the smallest fanbase compared to rock, Latin and hip-hop, electronic music was the fastest-growing genre on streaming and social media platforms in 2023.
Global views for TikTok videos with the #ElectronicMusic hashtag reached 10.5 billion in 2023, up more than 100 percent from a year ago. One in every three tracks uploaded to SoundCloud in 2023 was electronic.
The IMS report also points to the rising influence of independent labels. Major labels still occupied more market share but lost some share to “the newer generation of future-focused labels,” according to the report. Independents grew faster than majors, increasing market share each quarter at an average of 31 percent.
Expectedly, the strongest concentrations of electronic music listeners on Spotify are in Germany, the U.S., Australia and the UK. However, the report indicates an electronic music explosion in South Africa, which reflects “the degree to which South Africa has built its own electronic scenes and culture.”
On Spotify, South Africa’s cumulative monthly electronic music listeners are nearly double the country’s population. Afro house is also on the rise in terms of Beatport sales, jumping from No. 18 in the music marketplace’s rankings in 2022 to No. 9 by the end of 2023. House and techno still reign supreme at respective No. 1 and No. 2.
It’s also worth noting that today’s $11.8 billion industry valuation is 40 percent higher than its $6.9 billion valuation during EDM’s oft-romanticized golden era, generally timelined by the genre’s U.S. explosion around 2014.
Download and read the complete 2024 IMS Business Report here.
Featured image from Unsplash.com.
