Music in the Air, Ten Years On: The Business Moves From Adoption to Monetization

Podcast: Exponential Learning · The Team

Opublikowano: 2026-10-20

Ten years after streaming rebuilt the music business, the debate has shifted from adoption to monetization. A new long-term industry model — the first upward revision since 2022 — sees global music revenue growing from roughly $112B to about $198B by 2035. Alex and Jordan work through the three debates that will decide who captures it: subscription pricing (paid streaming revenue roughly doubles to about $33B, with pricing the un-modeled lever), the under-monetized free tier (better segmentation and a possible ad-light middle tier), and generative AI (scaled platforms look like relative beneficiaries; labels and rights holders face a more balanced risk/reward). Plus the emer...