Live continues to power the electronic music business to new heights, as revenues settle at more than double pre-pandemic levels.

The EDM industry was valued at $12.9 billion (€11.3bn) – up 6% year-on-year – according to the IMS Business Report 2025, which was presented today on the opening morning of IMS (International Music Summit) Ibiza.

Authored by MIDiA Research’s Mark Mulligan, the report noted that the growth rate was lower than the 9% achieved in the previous 12 months – a slowdown attributed mainly to live music “settling into organic, post-Covid boom rates of growth”.

“Global music industry revenue grew again in 2024, though at a slower rate than in 2023 due to maturing streaming revenues and the post-Covid live resurgence lessening,” says Mulligan. “Electronic music however, continued to increase its share of both revenues and culture.

“Driven by the rise of new genres like Afro House, a renaissance for genres like Drum & Bass, and the rise of a new generation of fans, creators and scenes remaking electronic music in their own image, electronic music finds itself at the start of a brave new era of culture resonance.”

Live was still the biggest earner, however, with festivals and clubs remaining the largest revenue source. Ibiza club ticketing revenue rose to €150 million in 2024 – up 6% on the previous year’s €141m. That figure does not include VIP, meaning the total value created for the local economy was even higher.

Higher ticket prices were responsible for the increase, since the average number of events per venue dipped slightly from 147 to 144. Electronic acts made up 18% of the line-ups of the top 100 festivals – up from 16% in 2023. Nine of the top 100 were electronic music festivals.

“The post-Covid recalibration is done, and live music has come out on top”

“The post-Covid recalibration is done, and live music has come out on top,” reads the report. “Revenue growth normalised in 2024, but with revenues more than double what they were pre-Covid. Growth was boosted by pre-sales for 2025 tours. However, higher ticket prices were the main driver of growth rather than volume of tickets sold.

“The higher end did best, with big tours at big venues and high-priced tickets boosting revenues, while the lower end of the market faces venue closures and lower willingness and ability to spend by many consumers.”

However, DSPs were the fastest growing segment for the first time, ascending 18%.

“While live still leads revenues, streaming has more growth potential and is growing faster,” adds the report.

IMS 2025 runs at the Mondrian Ibiza and Hyde Ibiza hotels in Cala Llonga from 23-25 April,” says IMS co-founder Ben Turner. “The IMS Business Report continues to evolve each year, with more robust data and the benefit of over a decade of compilation — allowing us to truly compare and contrast the state of the electronic music industry.

“Our annual health check this year reflects continued growth and major developments: the Superstruct acquisition reshaping live, rising momentum in key genres like Afro House and Drum & Bass, ongoing catalogue acquisitions, and unprecedented engagement with the genre on cultural platforms such as TikTok.”

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The resurgence of the live sector has helped power the global dance music to new heights, according to a new report.

Presented during today’s opening day of the International Music Summit (IMS) in Ibiza, the IMS Business Report 2023 is authored by MIDiA Research’s Mark Mulligan and puts the valuation of the electronic business at $11.3 billion (€10.2bn) – 16% higher than pre-pandemic and 34% growth year-on-year.

Festivals and clubs represented nearly half of all dance industry revenue in 2022, while Ibiza club ticketing revenue reached €124 million, up from the €80m generated in 2019, as ticket sales rose 25% to 2.5 million. However, live revenues of $4.1bn still fell short of the $4.4bn garnered in the last pre-Covid year.

“The pandemic shone a harsh light on the industry’s heavy reliance on live,” notes the report. “Now, that reliance is even higher because of live’s huge growth.”

The publication describes 2022 as “a big year overall” for the live industry, as the top 100 global tours reported a 276% increase in revenue, while Live Nation revenues soared 166%. Elsewhere, bookings for the top 100 DJs increased by 314%, according to Viberate.

“After a couple of pandemic-impacted years, the global dance music industry is back in top gear”

Electronic music artists made up 39% of all festival bookings, up from 33% the previous year, although female DJs saw their share of the top 100 DJ bookings fall from 21% to 15% in the same period.

“MIDiA Research is proud to have compiled the 2023 edition of the IMS Business Report, building on the great work of its previous authors,” says Mulligan. “After a couple of pandemic-impacted years, the global dance music industry is back in top gear and this report reflects how growth has returned across all the various aspects of its thriving business.”

The dance sector’s increase in value has also been attributed to a resurgent creator tools sector, plus music publishing, which grew more than two times faster than recordings in the previous year “underpinned by steady improvements in rates paid to publishers and songwriters”.

“Overall the indicators are positive and the future is bright, with more recovery in live still to come as well as future growth in the publishing sectors,” it states. “In addition, the long term growth of creator culture is set to make dance music even more influential on wider music culture in the immediate future.”

“We’ve always been very transparent about the business report – every year it needs to get better and better, more robust and more bulletproof”

Discussing the report with IQ ahead of publication, IMS co-founder Ben Turner predicted it would highlight a “strong bounceback” for the scene, adding that what began as a “bit of fun” had “turned into something very serious”.

“The value has become quite a talking point in the industry and the business world, with so many eyes on electronic music and so many big companies invested into it,” he said. “We’ve always admired the work that MIDiA do around music and data, and Mark’s come at it with a fresh approach.

“There are two elements to the report. One, last year’s report was a return but was based on 2021 numbers, so I expect a big uplift in terms of the actual valuation. But MIDiA have also integrated some new metrics in there based around creative economy and even music publishing, which was [previously] very lightly looked at in our business report.

“We’ve always been very transparent about the business report – every year it needs to get better and better, more robust and more bulletproof.”

Around 1,500 delegates are expected at this year’s IMS, which runs until Friday (28 April).

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