CISAC Reports Record Global Creator Royalties, Warns of ‘Largest Test’ From AI
Categoria: Musica
Digital is now the largest generator of publishing royalties, accounting for 45.6% of the total.
Por Billboard | 04/11/2026
Global music publishing collections grew to nearly 14.6 billion euros ($15.89 billion) in 2025, up 11.9% from the prior year’s total of 12.6 billion euros ($13.62 billion), according to data published in CISAC’s latest Global Collections Report. CISAC director general Gadi Oron noted that the growth demonstrates “both the resilience of collective management and the enduring demand for creative works around the world.” However, more than half of the increase, or 6.6 percentage points was due to the first time inclusion of revenue from the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC), the U.S. collection agency, while only only about 5.3 percentage points came from organic growth. On the other hand, the 5.3% organic growth from publishing outpaced the 4.8% increase for 2025, as counted by IFPI, that the record label side of the music business experienced. While the industry is still growing, a counterbalance worry is how the double-edged sword of artificial intelligence will impact the economic model. “Our confederation now faces its largest test with artificial intelligence, new business models and changing patterns of consumption,” Oron writes in the forward to the CISAC annual report. “This technological change also means that the future can bring real opportunities for creators…The issue is no longer whether AI will transform our industries, but whether the systems that protect creators’ rights are evolving quickly enough to keep pace.” Fortunately, CISAC and its member societies are at the center of the debate around new laws, and is “contributing to numerous consultations, policy debates and legislative processes around the world, so as to ensure that creators’ rights remain at the heart of AI policy making,” Oron wrote. Adds CISAC president and ABBA co-founder Björn Ulvaeus , “Human creativity is not something to be replaced or bypassed. It is something to be valued, protected and celebrated. And I hope that if we get it right, artificial intelligence will not diminish human creativity but will help inspire its next chapter.” Getting back to the numbers, digital is now the largest generator of publishing royalties comprising 45.6% of music publishing royalties. In 2025, digital royalties totaled 6.41 billion euros ($7.25 billion) or a 28% increase over the 5.01 billion euros ($5.42 billion) collected in 2024. But it is here where the additional of the MLC is having its biggest impact. Otherwise, background music and concerts was second largest at 25.8% of music publishing revenue with a total of 3.624 billion euros ($4.1 billion), or a 7.2% increase over the prior year when that category total 3.38 billion euros ($3.66 billion). All other categories of publishing royalties produced declines in 2025 when compared to 2024. For instance, television and radio brought in another 23.6% of total publishing revenue in 2025 with 3.315 billion euros ($3.75 billion), but that was down 3.1% from the prior year total of 3.42 billion euros ($3.67 billion.) Simil