The data, shared by the International Federation of the Record Industry (IFPI), show that, in a year of the covid-19 pandemic, that increase in revenues resulted from an 18.5 percent growth in the number of subscriptions on streaming platforms, such as Spotify and Apple Music.
Of the 18.1 billion euros of global revenue that the record industry obtained in 2020, 11.2 billion euros resulted from streaming.
According to the federation, at the end of 2020, there were 443 million users with a paid subscription to music streaming platforms.
The IFPI recalls that 2020 was the sixth consecutive year of revenue growth for the record industry.
Revenues from music sales increased by 3.5 percent in Europe and 7.4 percent in the United States and Canada.
At the top of the artists that most sold and profited, globally, in 2020, are the South Koreans BTS, the phenomenon of pop music - called K-Pop - with the album "Maps of the soul", followed by the Canadian musician The Weeknd ("After hours") and American singer Billie Eilish ("When we all fall asleep, where do we go?").
The leader of streaming auditions is The Weeknd, with the theme "Blinding lights".