​More music released in a single day in 2024 than the entirety of 1989, study shows

A new report by Music Radar has found that more music is currently released every single day than was released in the entire calendar year of 1989.

In an extensive report on music streaming services, Music Radar looked into the state of the “music creation economy” and subscription models, with added commentary from Spotify’s former Chief Economist, Will Page.

“More music is being released today (in a single day) than was released in the calendar year of 1989,” Page revealed. “And more of that music is being done by artists themselves, meaning there’s even more demand for music production software.”

Read this next: 120,000 new tracks released on streaming services every day, report finds

In the same report, Music Radar quotes a study by business analyst MiDIA, revealing that there was a 12% increase in the number of music creators between 2021 and 2022, rising to 75.9 million.

MiDIA also predicts that the number of music creators around the globe will increase to 198.2 million people by 2030 – more than double that of 2022.

“Not only will casual music creation become mainstream, it will trigger an unprecedented widening of the music creator economy funnel,” the study reads.

Read this next: Spotify CEO claims cost of creating "content" is "close to zero"

A past study by music data analysis company Luminate found that 120,000 new tracks are uploaded to streaming services every day (as of 2023).

According to Luminate, that stat was up from 93,400 added per day the year prior. Luminate also predicted that, by the end of 2023, over 43 million tracks would be added to Spotify and other streaming sites.

CEO of Universal Music Group Lucian Grainge called that growth in music creation a “content oversupply”, pinpointing AI as a “major contributor” to the rapid rise in music creation.

[Via Music Radar]

Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Assistant Editor, follow her on Twitter