SpotifyFrench-language rapper GIMS topped both the album chart and the singles streaming charts in France in 2025
France’s recorded music revenues rose 3.9% YoY in 2025, according to figures published by local industry body SNEP.
Total revenues — across digital, physical, sync and neighboring rights — came in at EUR €1.071 billion, or USD $1.21 billion at the average annual exchange rate for 2025.
The figures, published on Wednesday (March 18), mark a tenth consecutive year of growth for the world’s sixth-largest recorded music market, though the rate of expansion has slowed — the overall market grew 7% YoY in 2024 and 5.1% YoY in 2023.
Streaming
Streaming revenues (paid and ad-supported combined) in France surpassed €700 million for the first time in 2025, reaching €702 million ($794 million), up 5.7% YoY.
Paid subscription streaming, the market’s biggest revenue driver, grew 5.9%YoY to €553 million ($625 million).
SNEP described the result as “a slight dip compared to the increases of previous years,” attributing part of the deceleration to a tough comparison with 2024, which was boosted by the Paris Olympics.
France now has 12.6 million streaming subscriptions, up from 12 million in 2024, and 18.7 million total streaming users, up from 17.7 million in 2024. SNEP said the country’s paid streaming penetration rate stands at 27.1% up 1.2 percentage points YoY, but still significantly below other major markets such as the UK, Germany and the US. (France has a population of nearly 68 million.)
Ad-supported audio streaming revenues in France, meanwhile, grew 12%YoY to €84 million ($95 million) in 2025.
Streaming video revenues fell 2.9% YoYto €65 million ($73 million).
SNEP has long argued that France’s subscription market underperforms relative to the country’s size, and in previous annual reports pointed directly to short-form video platforms — particularly TikTok — as a factor diverting young music fans from paid streaming.
As recently as September, in its H1 2025 report, SNEP’s managing director Alexandre Lasch said the challenge was to “retain younger generations, who favour short, fragmented formats,” while the trade body attributed a 6.8% YoY drop in streaming video revenues to consumers migrating from traditional music videos to short-form content on social networks.
Notably, this year’s full-year report, which can be read here, makes no mention of TikTok or short-form video. Instead, SNEP’s lobbying focus appears to have shifted towards AI regulation and the establishment of a voluntary licensing market.
On the physical music side, vinyl was the standout format, with revenues surging 14.8% YoY to €113 million, crossing the €100 million mark for the first time.
CD revenues fell 2.4% YoY to €89 million in 2025, though SNEP noted the CD format still leads on volume with over 8 million units sold versus nearly 6 million units for vinyl.
Under-35s remain the biggest buyers of both physical formats in France according to SNEP, accounting for 41% of vinyl purchasers and 36% of CD buyers in the market, citing a Kantar Media consumer study.
SNEP reported that e-commerce now accounts for 32% of physical revenues at €66 million, with artist online stores specifically generating €13.5 million — up 29% YoY and representing 20% of all physical e-commerce revenue.
Elsewhere in the market, neighboring rights and sync revenues both declined, falling 3.2% YoY to €121 million and 5.8% YoY to €34 million respectively, which SNEP attributed to a normalisation after an exceptionally strong 2024.
Revenues generated from the export of local music fell 8.6% YoY to €148 million ($167 million), down from a Paris Olympics-boosted €162 million in 2024 but still up 11% over two years. SNEP said the results confirmed “the growing place of French musical creation on international markets.”
Locally-produced artists continued to dominate domestically, taking three-quarters of the Top 200 album chart and 16 of the Top 20.
SNEP noted that five debut albums by local artists reached the Top 20 — a figure it said was unmatched in any other major European market, where the UK, Germany and Spain each placed only one, and Italy none.
Pop and rap each accounted for roughly a third of total streaming consumption for the first time, SNEP reported.
Rapper GIMS was the year’s dominant force, heading both the album chart and the singles streaming chart — where he held the top three positions — according to the official French charts compiled by SNEP and the Official Charts Company.
“ONE OF THE MAIN SOURCES OF PRIDE IS THE PROMINENT POSITION HELD BY ARTISTS PRODUCED IN FRANCE, AND PARTICULARLY EMERGING ARTISTS.”
ALEXANDRE LASCH, SNEP
Lasch said: “This year we celebrate a decade of positive results for the French recorded music market. Among these good news stories, one of the main sources of pride is the prominent position held by artists produced in France, and particularly emerging artists. This success is thanks to our labels, whose remarkable expertise is supported by an environment conducive to risk-taking.
“For our artists to continue along this path, we now need public authorities to encourage the emergence of a voluntary licensing market with AI players.”Music Business Worldwide
