It has become a perennial story in the music industry: The combined global market share of the three major labels and Merlin on Spotify is declining.
Well, no more.
In 2025, according to Spotify, this long-standing trend has actually reversed. In any case, in a small part.
Before getting into the numbers, a few important clarifications:
- This crucial market share statistic, confirmed by Spotify in its annual financial report, reveals the platform’s annual “stream share” for all recorded music represented by Universal, Sony, Warner – including their “independent” distribution branches – more Merlin.
- In this context, “flow share” means the market share of the combined entities in the total global volume of musique broadcast on Spotify (that is, not counting audiobooks and podcasts).
- Entities not covered by the statistic include any label or distributor that licenses Spotify outside of agreements signed by UMG/Sony/Warner/Virgin/Le Verger/EARLY/ADA/Merlin.
- This non-major/Merlin cohort includes DistroKid, Empire, et Believe/TuneCoreplus BMGwhich began distributing its catalog directly to Spotify in 2023. It also includes large Merlin limbs who choose to license Spotify directly, rather than through Merlin’s opt-in collective agreements.
- To reiterate: this is a streaming metric volume market share ; so it is not affected by any changes to Spotify’s royalty models (including so-called “artist-centric” royalty frameworks).
This being understood, let’s dig.
From 2017 to 2024the majors plus Merlin cohort saw its combined annual market share in volume of music streamed on Spotify consistently decline, of 87% in 2017 until 71% in 2024 – a 1,600 basis points decline.
During the same period (2017-2024), recorded music companies not represented by the majors or Merlin on Spotify saw their combined market share increase significantly, from 13% in 2017 has 29% in 2024.
In 2025, according to Spotify’s new 20-F annual report, the majors-plus-Merlin cohort won one point of market share. His repertoire taken into account 72% of all global music broadcasts, while non-major companies or Merlin accounted for 28%.
It was the first time in The History of Spotify as a public company which majors-plus-Merlin increased their market share year over year.
Factors to consider in this story include high-streaming customers represented by Merlin and/or independent branches of major music companies. Notably The Orchard, who distributed the biggest album on Spotify worldwide last year – Bad Bunny’s I SHOULD TAKE MORE PHOTOS.
Meanwhile, major music companies accounted for the ten biggest albums on Spotify last year, including the Demon Hunters K-pop original tape (via Republic Records of UMG) at #2, Hit me hard and soft par Billie Eilish (via Interscope d’UMG) au n°3, SZA’s SOS LANA Edition (via Sony’s RCA) at No. 4, and that of Sabrina Carpenter Short and sweet (via Island/UMG) season n°5.
The majors also accounted for all global Top 10 songs on Spotify in 2025 – unlike 2024, where number 4 (Gata only) was distributed by UnitedMasters.
The global domination of the majors on the market superstar markethowever, it is something we have been accustomed to for a long time.
Turn this story around, and there is perhaps a larger narrative at play.
One of the factors in the decline of the majors Spotify market share Over the past decade, it’s the collective growth of streaming driven by so-called volume “middle class” of artists – that is, commercially significant acts operating well below each year’s global Top 10 (and even Top 100) lists.
Much of this growth of “middle class” artists occurred outside the walls of UMG, Sony and Warner. Thus, the “big three”, particularly via their independent branches, have now started to do more significant progress in this part of the market?
Another potential factor in the 2025 numbers could be Merlin expanding its membership base in all regions of the world.
We must obviously also consider the power of mergers and acquisitions: for example, UMG has just finalized its 100% acquisition of the independent pillar [PIAS] in October 2024, meaning the change in market share from this move won’t fully show up in Spotify’s annual figures until 2025.
UMG Of course, the biggest acquisition in the independent sector in recent years has yet to happen: its impending nine-figure acquisition of Downtown Music Fund.
Save for likely royalty platform exclusion Curvethe Universal/Downtown the agreement should finally be approved by European regulators shortly.
date: 2026-02-12 22:52:00
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