Published: 11/4/2026
Source: CISAC — Global Creator Royalties Reach €15.5 Billion
CISAC says creator royalty collections reached a record €15.5 billion in 2025, while warning that future growth depends on ensuring AI does not bypass licensing and payment.
Music collections reached €14.06 billion, up 11.9%. Digital music royalties increased 27.9% to €6.41 billion and represented 45.6% of music collections.
The headline increase includes The Mechanical Licensing Collective for the first time; CISAC says the MLC accounts for about 52% of the annual rise. That means the total should not be read as purely organic year-over-year growth.
Why it matters: CISAC’s position is that AI can support creativity, but human works must remain recognized, protected and remunerated. The report supplies collecting societies with an economic baseline for future AI licensing and creator-compensation negotiations.