The digital media landscape is growing rapidly, with more people than ever using digital content and services for entertainment. Last year alone, over 2.8 billion worldwide played video games, listened to music on streaming platforms, or used video-on-demand services. With roughly 200 million new users in 2024, the digital media market is expected to make more revenue than ever.
According to data presented by OnlyAccounts.io, the digital media industry is expected to gross $560.7 billion in 2024, or 12% more than last year.
Video Games to Make Half the Revenue, but Video on Demand is the Fastest-Growing Segment
The global digital media industry has swelled over the years despite many challenges and headwinds. Taxed by inflation and facing the uncertainties of the gloomy economic outlook, consumers have cut their spending on digital content despite using digital platforms more than ever. As a result, market growth has significantly decreased compared to previous years.
In 2021, global digital media revenues, including video games, digital music, e-publishing, and video-on-demand, jumped by almost 25% year over year and hit $426.8 billion. After a modest 3% growth in 2022, the market recovered last year, but the growth rate slowed to 13.4%, resulting in almost $500 billion in revenue. Although market revenue is forecasted to jump to over $560 billion this year, the annual growth rate will continue slipping to 12.5%.
More than half of the total digital media revenue in 2024 will come from video games, the market`s largest and highest-grossing segment. Statista expects video games to bring in $282.3 billion this year, or 13% more than in 2023. Although far below this figure, the video-on-demand segment will grow even more, with revenue rising by 14.1% to $182.4 billion in 2024. E-publishing and digital music follow with $54.8 billion and $41 billion in revenue and 4% and 13.2% annual growth.
More than Three Billion Users in 2024
With more and more people flocking to video games and streaming services and platforms, the digital media industry is expected to reach over three billion users in 2024. This represents a huge 200 million increase compared to the 2.8 billion users reported last year.
According to Statista, all users in the digital media market will use some form of video-on-demand service. Half of them will listen to music on streaming platforms and use e-publishing services, and around 1.3 billion people will play video games. By 2028, the entire market is expected to reach more than 3.4 billion users.
