The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry has released its annual report, detailing what happened in the music industry worldwide in 2017.

Titled “Global Music Report 2018: Annual State of the Industry”, the report says that the worldwide music industry saw revenue grow by 8.1% in 2017. This is the third straight years of growth and one of the largest jumps in growth since the IFPI began tracking the market in 1997. Despite the third straight year of growth, the worldwide music industry took in just 68.4% of what it took in in 1999, the industry’s peak.

Digital now makes up 54% of total global revenue. Streaming (free and paid) is the biggest part of digital, growing by 41.4% in 2017 to now make up 38% of total global revenue. Streaming is now the single largest source of revenue. Paid streaming grew by 45.5% in 2017, adding 64 million new subscribers for a total of 176 million subscribers worldwide.

However, download revenue fell by 20.5% to now comprise 16% total global revenue, while physical revenue fell by 5.4%, making up 30% of revenue. The remaining 20% of revenue is comprised of performance rights (14%) and synchronization rights (2%).

The Japanese market in still the second largest in the world, behind the United States. It saw revenue decline by 3% in 2017, after two consecutive years of growth. This decline is being attributed in part to a slow 8% rise in digital revenue, which didn’t offset the 6.1% decline in physical revenue. That being said, physical made up 72% of Japan’s revenue in 2017.

Overall, the Asia and Australasia region saw revenue grow by 5.4% last year, the third consecutive year of growth. Digital revenue rose by 22.4%, in spite of a 7.5% decline in the download revenue. Streaming revenue grew by 38.2%, increasing rapidly in most markets, such as India (60.8%), South Korea (47.%), and The Philippines (24.3%). China’s revenue rose by 35.3%, mostlydue to a 26.5% rise in streaming revenues. Due to this growth, China is now a top 10 music market, coming in at #10. Besides Japan and China, the only other countries in the region to reach the top 10 are South Korea (#6) and Australia (#8).

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