Spanish Recorded Music Industry Bucks the Global Trend with 10.4% H1 Growth

In the first half of 2025, the Spanish recorded music industry saw new growth, bucking the emerging global trend with a 10.4% increase over last year.

Spain saw double-digit growth in its recorded music industry in H1 2025—proving that the music industry in major European markets still has teeth. The country’s recorded music industry maintained robust growth during the first half of the year, with revenues hitting €162.6 ($178 million)—up 10.4% year-over-year.

The news comes via new data published by Promusicae, the trade party that represents 95% of the Spanish recorded market. Notably, Spain’s figures are reported in wholesale “trade value” terms for the first time, which represents actual revenue rather than consumer spending. Promusicae previously released data in retail value. Spain’s H1 2025 revenues at retail value would clock in at €288.8 million ($316 million).

That growth stands in stark contrast to other major markets, especially in Europe and the U.S., where year-over-year revenue growth has stayed in the single digits this year overall. In the United States, recorded music revenue increased by just 0.9% in H1, per the RIAA, while Germany saw 1.4% growth. France saw higher growth than most, with a 3.4% year-over-year increase.

Overall, Spain’s wholesale music streaming revenue hit €144.2 million ($158 million) during the first half of the year, a growth of 10.2% year-over-year—but those numbers reveal a mixed bag in terms of subscription and ad-based streaming platforms. Paid subscription streaming saw €103.7 million ($113 million) in wholesale revenue, up 18.9% year-over-year.

It’s worth mentioning that Spotify did not raise prices in Spain during the period in question, which makes those figures even more impressive. However, sources say Spain will see a €1 per month increase in the price of standard Spotify Premium accounts this month.

Ad-supported audio streaming revenue during the same period declined by 15.4% to just €18.6 million ($20 million). Ad-supported video streaming revenues stayed relatively flat, showing just 1.3% growth to €21.8 million ($24 million). But the decline in ad-supported revenues likely reflects deteriorating per-stream advertising rates across the industry, rather than reflecting strong user migration.

According to Promusicae’s data, total streaming revenues now make up 88.6% of Spain’s total recorded music market.

Meanwhile, the country’s physical market also showed surprising growth in H1, with a 14.8% year-over-year increase to €17.4 million ($19 million). That growth was driven almost exclusively by vinyl sales, which soared by 25.6% to €12 million ($13 million), representing 68.8% of all physical sales revenue. Spain’s physical market sits at just 10.7% of total market sales and streaming revenues.