Italian music abroad hadn't done this well since 2010

To inaugurate the Milano Music Week 2024, the city's festival dedicated to music and its protagonists, which will run until November 24, the opening conference was held yesterday at the Triennale Milano Theater. Some of the main representatives of the Italian music sector, including Federica Tremolada, General Manager Europe Spotify, Paolo Franchini, SIAE Management Advisor, and Nur Al Habash, Artistic Director of Milano Music Week and music export expert, shared remarkable data on the performance of Italian music abroad throughout 2023. According to Spotify analyses, since 2019, there has been an overall growth in streams of 160%, while SIAE (Società Italiana degli Autori ed Editori) announced that royalties from Italian music abroad recorded the highest earnings since 2010. FIMI (Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana) also confirmed Spotify and SIAE's data: in 2023, revenues from music exports alone reached over €26 million, 20% more than in 2022, marking an overall growth of €15 million in just four years. 

The data reported by Spotify and SIAE go beyond the growth of exports and offer an in-depth view of the category's performance worldwide. According to the revenue report on royalties, the countries that listen to Italian music the most are the United States, France, and Switzerland (but the top 10 also include Japan, the Netherlands, and Brazil), while Spotify stated that the main listeners on its streaming platform are in Germany and the United States. Overall, 60% of the streams of Italian music on Spotify come from abroad, and only a quarter of international listeners are aged between 18 and 24. With such significant performance by the sector (The economic value of music in Italy in 2023 recorded a total amount of over €4.3 billion, according to all parties involved in yesterday's conference), all promoters of Milano Music Week emphasized the need for greater support to expand the business of Italian music beyond national borders, ensuring continued growth in 2025.