APRA AMCOS has unveiled its annual Year In Review report, with news of record revenues being paired with a startling drop in the amount of local content being consumed by Australians.
The annual report, which looks at figures from the 2025-2026 financial year, has revealed that it's been a banner year for the organisation when it comes to its gross revenue – bringing in an 8.8% increase on last year's figures to a record high group revenue of $857.4m.
The increase in figures has had a flow-on effect to members and rightsholders, too, with payments of Net Distributable Revenue (NDR) growing 10.6% year-on-year to $755.7m, outpacing Gross Revenue growth.
The figures serve as a fitting celebration for APRA's 100th birthday, with the revenue for the 2026 financial year reaching $557.2m while APRA international revenue also experiences a record high of $103.2m.
When it comes to what's driving this international growth, APRA cites the explosion of artists like Ninajirachi and Tame Impala on the world stage, and TV programs like Bluey, which has gained a massive following, especially in the US where it was last year named the most streamed program of 2025.
The report also points out that International Group revenue has continued to grow, having gone from $47.3m in the 2019 financial year to $107.3m in 2026, exhibiting growth of 126.8% across that period.
Other positives include the likes of digital serving as the largest Group revenue source and biggest category increase, thanks to a 53% overall share – an increase of 12.5% from the last financial year.
Meanwhile, Public Performance revenue for OneMusic has grown by 10.9%, largely thanks to a growth in concerts and events, fitness, and restaurants, with the latter having seen a 75% increase year-on-year.
However, it's not all good news.
Last year, the annual report noted the percentage of local content on music streaming platforms had fallen 31% to 9.5% in the span of the prior five years, while User Generated Content (UGC) had decreased by 25.4% in three years.
It's a similar story this time around, too.
This year's Annual Report has noted that a whopping 91% of the music streamed by Australians in the 2026 financial year was imported. It's an even worse story in New Zealand, where international content sits at 96%.
This time around, local content has seen a massive decline of 37.5% across five years to just 8.5%, while UGC has dropped to 3.6% in Australia, representing a drop of roughly 28% in actual streams since the previous financial year.
"This has been another year of strong results for our members, with more money out the door to them than ever before," said APRA AMCOS CEO, Dean Ormston. "As we celebrate APRA’s centenary year, we’ve also reflected on how far we’ve come while remaining firmly focused on the challenges ahead.
“Australian and New Zealand music continues to achieve extraordinary success around the world, but at home, the opportunities for our members to reach local audiences are shrinking. Music made here is winning over global audiences and generating record international revenue, yet it is becoming harder to discover on the platforms we use every day."
He continued:
If the current trend continues, Australian members’ share of streaming is on track to fall to close to 5% within the next five years. It’s a devastating statistic. If audiences cannot discover local music on the platforms they use every day, we break the chain that takes an artist from their first listener to community radio, the live stage and an international career.
Music creators are squeezed on the platforms where fans first find them, and then on the stages where that support grows. We raised it in last year’s report and have been advocating hard for a federal live music tax incentive and minimum Australian music requirements for every platform.
Without decisive action, a whole generation of music fans will miss out on hearing their own sounds – both online, broadcast and on live stages – which would be the ultimate tragedy.
This tragedy is one of the few that APRA AMCOS have been sounding the alarm in regard to, with the organisation having also recently warned about the relaxation of Australia's copyright law to appease international AI companies.
It's the security of the rights of local creatives in the face of looming AI tech that Ormston and APRA AMCOS have been fighting for.
"We continue to work closely with governments, platforms and international partners to ensure members are asked permission and receive payment when their works are used to train or generate AI content," Ormston added.
“In June, we took that message to the CISAC General Assembly in Paris, where we joined international partners in setting out the Paris Commitment to protect, recognise and fairly remunerate human creators. We then took the same case to Canberra, urging the Australian Government to hold firm on the Copyright Act. We will continue making that case, clearly and consistently, for as long as it takes.
“As AI technology advances, so too does the need to defend the simple principle at the heart of copyright: creators must retain the right to control the use of their work and be paid when that work is used. Our position remains clear and simple: permission and payment."
The full APRA AMCOS Year In Review report is available to view via the organisation’s website.
