The report finds that the global music copyright business generated $47.2 billion in 2024, representing a 5.2% growth from the previous year, though this growth is slowing compared to the post-pandemic boom. For the first time in years, publishers and songwriters are growing faster (combined ~6%) than record labels (~5%). Publishers usually own the composition (melody, lyrics) and pay the composers, whereas the labels own the master recording and pay the musicians. The money is split roughly 62:38 in favor of record labels over songwriters/publishers. Historically, the split was closer to 50:50. However, the explosion of streaming (where labels negotiate better rates than publishers) shifted the balance toward labels.
The "Big Three" (Universal, Sony, Warner) are vertically integrated giants that own both the record label and the publisher. From a corporate perspective, the money just moves from one pocket to another within the same conglomerate. The article's statistics report on the gross revenue collected by the industry, not the net income paid to creators, which is much smaller (of the ~$29 billion collected by labels, widely cited estimates suggest that roughly $5–6 billion, i.e. ~17%, likely reaches the actual performers).
