Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand’s peak music rights body APRA AMCOS has called for urgent collaboration with global streaming services after new research confirmed a rapid decline in Australian music consumption on digital platforms.

A report released by the Australia Institute, Reversing the Decline of Australian Music, supports findings from APRA AMCOS’s own Year in Review, which recorded a 31 percent drop in local content streamed between 2021 and 2025. Using IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry) data, the report shows Australian artists’ share of streaming consumption fell from 12 percent to 8 percent between 2021 and 2024, with the number of Australian acts in the top 10,000 most-streamed shrinking from 932 to 773.

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

The report warns of a “one-way valve dilemma” in which Australians increasingly consume international music while local artists struggle for visibility – an opposite trend to non-English speaking markets, where streaming has bolstered domestic industries.

Lime Cordiale at Great Southern Nights 2025. Photo © Josh Hickie.

Ormston said the slump does not reflect the quality of Australian music, noting overseas revenue for Australian and New Zealand songwriters hit a record $98.8 million last year, rising nearly 15 percent, while international live performance earnings more than doubled.

Creative Australia’s Listening In report similarly found that just 8 percent of the top 10,000 streamed artists in 2024 were Australian, compared with 56 percent from the US. It estimated Australian artists would have earned an additional US$40 million over three years if the former 12 percent market share had held.

The Australia Institute report cites algorithmic recommendations as a key factor, with systems that recognise language but not nationality disadvantaging English-language artists outside the US.

APRA AMCOS data also shows local content on user-generated and short-form video platforms fell from 6.7 percent to 5 percent between 2023 and 2025.

Ormston said platforms and industry must work together to ensure Australians can discover local talent. “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.”

Need more Australian music in your system? Discover the 25 tracks that make up our playlist of Australia’s favourite art music here and our Beyond the 25 playlist here.