Australian Music Consumption Hits Historic Low on Streaming Platforms

A new report by the Australia Institute has confirmed the rapid decline in Australian music consumption on streaming platforms, and APRA AMCOS has called for urgent collaborative action from global platforms to fix this.

The report, Reversing the Decline of Australian Music, examines IFPI data, showing a 30% decline in local artists' share of streaming consumption between 2021 and 2024. Australian artists' stream share fell from 12% to 8%, with the number of Australian artists in the top 10,000 most-streamed dropping from 932 to just 773.

It corroborates findings from APRA AMCOS's recently released Year in Review, which identified a 31% reduction in local content consumption on streaming services between 2021 and 2025.

"This isn't just an Australian problem, it's a failure affecting English-speaking markets globally, but we're experiencing the worst of it," said Dean Ormston, CEO of APRA AMCOS. "While European markets see local artists dominating their charts, and even small countries like Denmark enjoy 80% domestic content, Australia is going backwards."

The report highlights what it calls a "one-way valve dilemma": Australian consumers increasingly stream international content while domestic artists struggle to break through. This stands in stark contrast to non-English speaking markets, where streaming has strengthened local music ecosystems.

"This isn't about the quality of Australian music. It’s quite the opposite," Ormston continued. "Our recent annual report shows overseas revenue for Australian and New Zealand songwriters hit an all-time high of $98.8 million, up nearly 15% from last year. International live performance revenue more than doubled its share. Local artists are making their mark on the world stage, but Australians are finding it hard to discover this world-class talent in their own backyard."

Similarly, Creative Australia's recent Listening In report documented how Australian artists are making waves globally but experience historic lows locally, finding that only 8% of the top 10,000 artists streamed in 2024 were Australian, while 56% were from the US. Crucially, if the 12% market share had held constant over the period, an additional US$40m would have flowed to Australian artists over just three years.

A critical issue is identified in the Australian Institute report - the shift from human curation to algorithmic recommendation systems that recognise language but not nationality. While this benefits artists singing in languages other than English, it works against Australian, Canadian and UK artists who must compete against an avalanche of US superstars.

And according to APRA AMCOS, the trend extends far beyond traditional streaming. On UGC and short-form video platforms, local content also decreased from 6.7% to 5.0% between 2023 and 2025.

Ormston said there are "two clear opportunities here": Firstly, algorithms should recognise geography to ensure local audiences are exposed to local music, and secondly, there needs to be better synergy between streaming, commercial, and community radio.

"...There's the heavy lifting of connecting with local audiences through local curation, that's celebrating the great talent in local markets, whether it's Sydney, Broome or Mt Isa," he said of the important role community radio plays.

"The data is undeniable. What we need is for global streaming platforms and industry to come together and find real ways to turn the tide so that local audiences get exposed to the amazing talent we have to offer.

"Without genuine collaboration and action, we risk losing an entire generation of Australian artists to this one-way valve. The time to act is now."