The French recorded music market recorded an eighth consecutive year of growth in 2024.
According to trade revenue figures from labels body SNEP, the market surpassed the €1 billion revenue milestone (€1.031 billion) for the first time since 2005.
The 7% year-on-year revenue increase continues the positive trend that started in 2016.
There was even better news for physical music – the first increase in 11 years (excluding the Covid period) with an uplift of 1.3% year-on-year.
Vinyl revenue reached €98 million, surpassing CD revenue (€91m) for the first time since the 1980s. However, CDs remain more popular in terms of volume, with 10 million units sold, two thirds more than vinyl.
Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard And Soft was the biggest seller on vinyl in France last year.
Streaming maintains steady growth
As with the UK trade figures, streaming continued to register stable growth in France. Streaming revenue reached €664m, reflecting a 9.5% year-on-year increase, largely driven by double-digit growth in subscription revenues (11.4%). Ad-supported streaming revenue also rose by 6%.
In 2024, streaming recorded 138 billion plays from 27 million users, with 80% of these coming from paid subscriptions.
Despite this strong performance, the penetration of music subscription services in France lags behind other major music markets. With a 25.9% penetration rate and 17.7 million users (up 7.3% year-on-year), growth remains slower than the global average.
SNEP noted that the “transition from free streaming to paid subscriptions remains a major challenge”.
At a time when UK charts have been dominated by US stars (although that is changing), France can remain proud of its domestic success. French music production accounted for over three-quarters of the Top 200 album sales, with 18 albums in the Top 20.
The biggest album of the year was Pyramide (Believe) by French rapper Werenoi.
There was cut-through for emerging artists, too, with 18 debut albums in the Top 200.
The presence of female artists is growing, although there were only four in the Top 20 (compared to one in 2023).
Other market segments are also on the rise in France – there was a 2% increase for neighboring rights collections and 19% for sync revenues.
SNEP has also added its voice to the campaign for AI regulation, with its calls to respect ‘ART’ – Authorisation, Remuneration and Transparency.
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