The State of the Music Industry 2025

Like other entertainment fields in 2025, the music industry finds itself in uncharted territory.

Business is booming, but the days of riding post-pandemic demand to record revenues are ending. Streaming usership in major markets is approaching critical mass, live music’s prices are exceeding audiences’ budgets, music publishing’s revenue streams are endangered by the rise of AI, and musicians’ ability to live off of music is more tenuous than ever. The last time music’s leaders got too comfortable, the MP3 and Napster caught them off-guard and the industry cratered. To this day, the value of music hasn’t recovered.

This year presents an inflection point: To keep the industry growing, the industry needs to regain the value music lost and protect music from losing further value in the future.

This Luminate special report, “Key Changes in the Music Industry,” lays out the solutions being implemented across the industry to keep the margins moving upward: More price tiers, more “superfan” experiences, more venues, more AI protections, more acquisitions, and so on. These initiatives will mostly benefit the companies at the top of the ladder implementing them. Others will have a profound impact — good and bad — on the smaller, independent corners of the industry.
Either way, the industry is on the cusp of change. This report offers a comprehensive overview of where it currently is, and will hopefully inform those who will determine where it’s going.