The global export market for recorded music continues to evolve, with Q1 2025 revealing subtle but meaningful shifts in the international trade landscape.
The latest data from Luminate’s Export Power Score — a metric designed to evaluate a country’s ability to export music globally — showcases the top recorded music exporting nations and the largest importers for each. While many familiar trade relationships remain strong among the top 10, several emerging trends hint at changing dynamics worth watching.
Import Patterns: Old Partners, New Markets
Of special note in Q1 2025’s rankings is Brazil overtaking Sweden in overall export power, making Latin music’s global momentum quite apparent. Brazil’s boost from #10 to #9 is led by artists including Henrique & Juliano (#72 overall global artist; 1.58B Total On-Demand Audio + Video Global Streams), Natanzinho Lima (#188; 834M Total On-Demand Streams) and MC Tuto (#196; 822M Total On-Demand Streams).
For most of the countries listed, the United States continues to play a dominant role — appearing as a top import for five of the 9 ex-U.S. exporting markets. However, the presence of new top importers signals a growing diversification of music consumption worldwide.
Noteworthy changes this quarter:
- The Philippines appears as a new top 3 importer of Australian music, signaling growing cultural and streaming ties in Southeast Asia.
- Argentina enters the picture as a key market for Brazilian music, reflecting stronger regional resonance and perhaps the impact of cultural affinity.
- The United Kingdom becomes a new top 3 importer for both the United States and Sweden, indicating the country’s deepening influence.
What These Shifts Suggest
While legacy trade relationships — including U.S. exports to Canada and the UK or K-pop’s influence in Japan and Taiwan — remain firm, the appearance of countries such as the Philippines, Argentina and Norway on the top 3 importer lists suggests an increasingly global and multidirectional music economy. For artists, labels and DSPs, this means more opportunity but also the need for sharper localized marketing strategies.
As we move deeper into 2025, keeping an eye on emerging markets and unexpected consumer bases will be essential. The international music trade is no longer just about the very top exporters — it’s a vibrant, shifting network of global tastes and regional momentum.
The Luminate Export Power Rankings are designed to evaluate a country’s ability to export music globally. The core metric of the Export Power Score is a combination of four data points: the rank of artists in each country based on Total On-Demand Streaming and Country of Origin; the number of countries importing music from a given export country; the streaming size of importing countries; and the number of artists per export country reaching international audiences.
Sources:
Luminate Music Consumption Data
Luminate Music Export Power Score
