Local Artist Streaming Drops 30% To Just 9.5%: APRA AMCOS Year In Review

APRA AMCOS has used its annual Year In Review report to share news of record revenues for the organisation, pairing the celebratory news with some worrying figures regarding local content on streaming services.

The annual report, which looks at figures from the 2024-2025 financial year, has this year announced that APRA AMCOS has achieved its highest group revenue to date, with $787.9 million serving as a 6.5% increase from the previous financial year’s figures of $740 million.

Meanwhile, the organisation’s net distributable revenue (that is, the amount of royalties paid out to rights holders) has grown by 7.8% to a total of $683.4 million. Ultimately, this means that alongside the recent implementation of technology to facilitate faster payments, members and rights holders are getting paid more and faster than ever before.

The report also pointed out other factors, including how digital streaming has continued to dominate (doubling in value since the 2020 financial year to a 51.3% share of overall revenue), and how local songwriters and composers have continued to reach huge global heights thanks to the likes of AC/DC’s Power Up tour, series like Bluey, and films such as Moana 2.

However, it’s this last point which is something of a double-edged sword. While data from APRA AMCOS notes that the consumption of music in Australia on both music streaming and User Generated Content (UGC) services has grown 50% since the 2021 financial year, it’s correlated with a fall in local content.

In fact, the Year In Review report notes that the percentage of local content on music streaming platforms continues to decline year-on-year, falling from 31% to just 9.5% on music streaming over the past five years, and a 25.4% decrease in UGC over the past three years.

“These strong results reflect our focus on service – growing revenue across every channel, sharpening operational efficiency, deploying smart technology that works for our business and members, delivering meaningful creative programs and celebrating our members' incredible success,” APRA AMCOS CEO Dean Ormston said in a statement.

“They also confirm what we already know: Australians and New Zealanders are world-leading music fans. We consume more music per capita than almost anywhere else on the planet, yet the ability for our members to be seen and heard is becoming more difficult every year.”

However, Ormston’s response wasn’t entirely hopeful, turning his attention to the negative findings which arrived just weeks after Ormston and the rest of APRA AMCOS made a stand for artists’ rights in a Canberra Senate inquiry.

“We've seen a 31% collapse in local content on streaming platforms over five years,” Ormston notes. “This isn't happening because our music isn't good enough, and our surging export revenues prove our artists are among the best in the world.

“They're writing hits, filling venues internationally and competing at the highest level. The talent is undeniable. Our platforms are borderless, but algorithms favour scale and international repertoire dominate by default. 

“We must continue to bang the drum as loud as we can for our members and advocate for their rights,” he continued. “From campaigning for live music tax offsets and the importance of being seen and heard to being crystal clear with policymakers: we will not accept any weakening of the Copyright Act when it comes to AI, and we will fight relentlessly for transparency, consent and fair remuneration when our members' intellectual property is used.”

The full APRA AMCOS Year In Review report is available to view via the organisation’s website.