From Music Business Worldwide · · 1m 20s
CISAC Report Hits $15.9B Songwriter Royalties Record
Global songwriter royalties reach $15.9 billion in 2025, with AI and The MLC driving growth.
In brief
Global songwriter royalties reach $15.9 billion in 2025, with AI and The MLC driving growth. Songwriter royalty collections hit a record $15.9 billion in 2025, driven by The MLC and AI. Originally reported by Music Business Worldwide.
Record Royalties in 2025
Global songwriter royalties hit a record $15.9 billion in 2025, up 11.9% from 2024.
“Every royalty in the report, writes the abba co-founder and cisac president, "began with a human idea."”
The MLC Drives Growth
The MLC’s first-time inclusion accounted for more than half of global growth in 2025.
Digital Services Lead
Digital music collections rose 27.9% to $7.24 billion, accounting for 45.6% of total collections.
Live & Background Surpass TV & Radio
Live & background music collections overtook tv & radio to become the second-largest category.
TV & Radio Declines
TV & radio collections fell 3.0% to $3.74 billion, the lowest since 2021.
Physical Royalties Slow Decline
Music collections from cds and video fell 0.9% to $368 million in 2025.
AI and The MLC Focus
Cisac president björn ulvaeus emphasized human creativity as the reason ai exists, not the enemy.
“Björn ulvaeus has used his foreword to cisac’s 2026 global collections report to argue that "human creativity is not the enemy of artificial intelligence. It is the reason artificial intelligence exists."”
Regional Growth Patterns
Canada/usa led growth at 26.6%, while africa declined 2.3% in 2025.
Key Market Shifts
France and the uk remained the second- and third-largest markets with collections of $1.79 billion and $1.45 billion.
In short
Songwriter royalty collections hit a record $15.9 billion in 2025, driven by The MLC and AI.
