Siesta time is over for the Spanish recorded music economy, with the emerging European market posting a big gain in revenue for the first half of 2023. 

Fill me in: According to Productores de Música de España (the national organization responsible for the music charts of Spain), the Spanish music industry generated $229.46 million in H1 of 2023 – up 11.53 percent from the year before. $199.34 million of that came from streaming, which is up 13.26 percent YoY and represents nearly 90 percent of the total. Physical recorded music sales were up, too, pulling in $27.55 million (2.4 percent growth YoY) as vinyl sales jumped 6.32 percent.

In context: While the Spanish music economy is small on its own, the European market as a whole continues to gain importance. Italy’s recorded music market grew 14.2 percent YoY in H1 2023 (to $188.56 million). France generated 9.4 percent growth (to $425.11 million), and Germany rose 6.6 percent for the first half of the year (to $1.14 billion). 

The explosion of popularity in Latin music seems to have had an especially strong impact on Spain, with the nation’s streaming revenue up over 146 percent since 2018.

What they’re saying: Promusicae president Antonio Guisasola called on the on authorities “to decide once and for all to support the Spanish recording industry,” so it can “seize the great momentum experienced by Latin music to consolidate its growth in our country and abroad.”