A Guide to the“2024 Cultural and Creative Industries Annual Report”

In 2024, Taiwan’s pop music and cultural content industry delivered record revenue while further evolving its export structure, driven by the strong recovery of the live performance market, the premiumization of physical records, and the dual momentum of AI technology and the fan economy.

This article guides readers through the “2024 Taiwan Cultural and Creative Industries Development Annual Report”. Drawing on the report’s key figures, it provides an overview of the industry and examines trends in live-event box office revenue and record sales, the reshaping of industry practices by AI and the fan economy, and Taiwan’s strengths and challenges in the global market. Our aim is to give international partners a quick snapshot of the current state of Taiwan’s pop music industry and highlight potential entry points for collaboration.

More Businesses and Record-High Revenue in the Pop Music and Cultural Content Industry

In 2024, Taiwan’s pop music and cultural content industry comprised 4,081 businesses, up 2.38% from 2023. This growth was driven primarily by the continued strength of the domestic live performance market over the past two years, which led to an increase of “Organizing, Supervising and Brokering of Popular Music Performance Events”; “Operation of Popular Music Performance Spaces”; and “Popular Music Performances”.

▴Growth in the number of businesses in the pop music and cultural content industry, 2019–2024.

In 2024, the industry generated NT$43.665 billion in revenue, up 9.73% year on year, supported by a buoyant live performance market and steady growth in record sales. Both the total number of businesses and total industry revenue reached their highest levels since 2019.

▴Revenue of businesses in the pop music and cultural content industry, 2019–2024.

Structurally, small and medium-sized enterprises continue to dominate the market. In the “creation” segment—which encompasses Popular Music Performances, Songwriting, Agency and Authorization of Music Copyrights, Recording Project, and Agents and Managers for Popular Music Singers, among other activities—large companies with annual revenue exceeding NT$100 million accounted for less than 2.03% of all businesses. Nearly 80% (79.90%) generated no more than NT$5 million, and more than half earned less than NT$1 million. In “distribution and ancillary services”—including Retail Sale of Recorded Music and Video Compact Discs in Specialized Stores, Karaoke (KTV), Renting and Leasing of Stage Lighting, Audio Equipment and Restaurants with Entertainment—the largest group had annual revenue between NT$100,000 and NT$1 million, accounting for 46.40% of the segment.

More than 30% of businesses also reported lower revenue than in 2023. Although businesses that achieved revenue growth represented only 27.75% of the total, they contributed 65.75% of the industry’s overall revenue growth. This suggests that the industry’s growth momentum is becoming concentrated among a relatively small group of businesses.

What these figures show: The live performance boom has translated into tangible growth in both the number of businesses and overall revenue, indicating a meaningful level of market demand. At the same time, the market presents a dual structure: it is highly fragmented and dominated by small and medium-sized businesses, yet its growth momentum is concentrated among a minority of companies, with 27.75% of businesses contributing 65.75% of revenue growth.

For international companies, this means company size alone may not reliably indicate a potential Taiwanese partner’s capabilities. Rather than focusing exclusively on larger firms, it may be more important to identify actively growing businesses. They may still be modest in scale, but they account for much of the industry’s current growth and may therefore be among the most promising potential partners.

Strong Live-Event Box Office Results and the Premiumization of Physical Records

According to Goldman Sachs’ “Music In The Air” report, live music will be a primary driver of growth in the global music industry. Taiwan’s live performance market is moving in the same direction, with strong momentum as large venues open, public- and private-sector initiatives continue to develop the market, and programming becomes more diverse.

Among the growth indicators in the annual report, live-event box office revenue rose the most, up 35.24%. This shows that live performance was the principal driver of overall market growth in 2024.

Taiwan hosted 2,128 pop music live events in 2024, including concerts, fan meetings, and music festivals, up 13.68% from 2023. A total of 3.046 million tickets were sold, up 20.54%, while gross ticket sales reached NT$9.085 billion, up 35.24%. Revenue grew much faster than both the number of events and tickets sold, reflecting the recent rise in ticket prices.

▴Taiwan’s Live Music Market Performance, 2022–2024.

Northern Taiwan remained the country’s primary market. It accounted for 71.57% of all events in 2024, with 1,523 events, and 65.31% of total ticket revenue, or NT$5.933 billion. Gross ticket sales in the north rose sharply by 51.01% from 2023. One major factor was the official opening of the Taipei Dome toward the end of the year, and the series of large-scale concerts held there, which helped drive annual ticket-revenue growth in the region above 50%.

Meanwhile, Southern Taiwan benefited from local government incentives that attracted prominent domestic and international singers and bands. The number of events rose by 11.57%, from 268 to 299, while gross ticket sales reached NT$2.661 billion.

What these figures show: box office revenue is growing considerably faster than either the number of events or the number of tickets sold. The market is therefore not merely expanding in volume; it is also moving upmarket, with a growing share of higher-priced shows staged in large venues. For international companies, this trend matters: Taiwan’s large venues and promoters are becoming increasingly capable of taking on touring productions and co-branded projects. The concentration and economies of scale found in the northern market may also serve as useful benchmarks when assessing the appropriate scale of a potential partnership.

According to the Recording Industry Foundation in Taiwan (RIT), record sales in Taiwan totaled NT$2.984 billion in 2024, up 9.46% year on year. Digital music accounted for NT$2.455 billion, up 10.43%, and represented 82.3% of total sales, remaining the market’s primary source of revenue.

Notably, revenue in the “Online Music Streaming Services” category declined by 6.28% from the previous year. This was largely because Taiwanese listeners primarily use overseas platforms such as YouTube Music and Spotify, which do not operate locally as Taiwan-registered entities, while some domestic streaming platforms have merged or discontinued their services. As a result, the figures recorded for this business category do not fully reflect actual consumer listening behavior. Nevertheless, digital music remains firmly dominant in Taiwan.

Sales of physical music products—including CDs, vinyl records, music videos, singles, and other recorded products—reached NT$529 million, up 5.17%. CDs accounted for the largest share and have grown annually since 2021. CD sales reached NT$335 million in 2024, up 11.30%.

This growth was driven primarily by prominent artists such as Sodagreen (蘇打綠), David Tao (陶喆), and Mayday (五月天) releasing reissued albums and vinyl editions, as well as Taiwanese and Korean idols adopting multi-version release strategies featuring deluxe and standard editions. Marketing approaches such as randomized collectible cards and album-signing events have transformed CDs from everyday listening media into premium collectibles, helping increase physical album sales. Even as digital music continues to dominate the overall market, physical records have not simply declined; instead, they have developed their own path toward premiumization.

▴Record Sales in Taiwan’s Pop Music Market, 2019–2024.

What these figures show: the parallel growth of digital music and the transformation of physical releases into collectibles show that Taiwan’s recorded-music market is not following a single, linear path of decline. Instead, it is becoming increasingly segmented: digital listening meets demand for volume and convenience, while physical albums offer emotional and collectible value. For international record companies and artist teams planning limited or collectible releases in Taiwan, a clear market base remains. Digital release strategies, meanwhile, must account for the significant share of listening that takes place on overseas platforms and should carefully consider platform availability and licensing arrangements.

Key Drivers of Future Revenue: AI and the Fan Economy

In 2024, two forces—AI and the fan economy—began redefining the competitive rules of the pop music industry.

AI has moved beyond being merely a tool to assist the creative process and now touches nearly every stage of content production. Generative AI can support melody and lyric writing while also producing vocals, album artwork, and other visual content. Within Taiwan’s pop music sector, AI applications now encompass AI-assisted music creation, AI-generated music videos, and synthetic singing voices. Streaming platforms have also begun experimenting with smart recommendations and AI-assisted curation to deepen user engagement with music content.

The growing importance of the fan economy has likewise become a major focus across the global music industry. Musicians, record companies, and streaming services in Taiwan and overseas increasingly regard fans as a key driver of future revenue. Domestic music service platforms help artists operate fan-membership programs and develop personalized merchandise, while streaming platforms offer fans exclusive listening missions, limited-edition collectible cards, and in-person activities. These interactions turn short-term traffic into fan relationships with long-term commercial value, echoing the trend toward the premiumization of physical records discussed above.

What these figures show: rapid advances in AI may reshape both the barriers to music production and the industry’s cost structure. At the same time, the fan economy’s shift from one-off purchases to long-term relationship-building is expanding the possibilities for collaboration between musicians and brands. Membership programs, limited-edition merchandise, and exclusive experiences may all become important components of new business models. For international companies working with Taiwanese musicians or platforms, opportunities may therefore extend beyond conventional models such as copyright licensing and performance bookings to include the co-development of fan communities and membership services.

Rapid Export Growth in “Agents and Managers for Popular Music Singers” Deserves Attention

An examination of Taiwan’s domestic and export revenue reveals a clear mix of global strengths and areas still needing development.

Domestic revenue reached approximately NT$40.083 billion in 2024. Revenue from Operation of Popular Music Performance Spaces grew the fastest, at 245.4%, reflecting continued growth in live events and the official opening of venues including the Taipei Dome, Legacy TERA, and SUB LIVE.

The industry’s export revenue reached NT$3.583 billion in 2024, accounting for 8.20% of total revenue and down 1.88% from 2023. This was mainly because relatively few internationally influential Taiwanese artists released new work during the year, which affected overseas sales of both physical and digital music. The short-term decline in exports indicates that Taiwan’s music exports remain highly dependent on the release cycles of a small number of artists with international reach. Consequently, overall export performance remains vulnerable to year-to-year fluctuations and has yet to develop a stable, sustained export pattern.

A closer look at export ratios by subsector, however, reveals clear momentum in several areas. Exports accounted for 26.96% of revenue in Popular Music Publishing, 14.41% in Online Music Streaming Services, 11.43% in Agents and Managers for Popular Music Singers, and 10.27% in Agency and Authorization of Music Copyrights. These figures indicate that Taiwan has developed meaningful export capabilities and international connections in intermediary and licensing services, particularly music distribution, artist management, and copyright licensing. Popular Music Publishing generated the most export revenue, at approximately NT$2.646 billion, making it the industry’s largest source of export income.

By contrast, subsectors more closely associated with content production ranked near the bottom. Exports accounted for only 1.41% of revenue in Songwriting and just 0.25% in Recording Project. This gap deserves attention: Taiwan’s export strength is more established in bringing existing content to international markets than in having its original creative content adopted overseas on a large scale.

▴Export revenue by subsector in the pop music and cultural content industry, 2024.

One notable development is the contrast between domestic and export performance in Agents and Managers for Popular Music Singers. In 2024, export revenue in this segment exceeded NT$48 million, up 207.9%, while domestic revenue fell the most sharply among all subsectors, down 25.4%. Export momentum has accelerated rapidly for two consecutive years, rising from just NT$3,000 in 2022 to more than NT$48 million in 2024. Although the absolute scale remains relatively small, the direction is unmistakable: some Taiwanese artist-management companies are accelerating their shift in resources and strategic focus toward overseas markets. For international companies seeking artist-management partnerships, this is a signal worth monitoring closely.

What these figures show: Taiwan’s clearest advantages within the global music supply chain lie in intermediary and licensing services, including distribution, copyright licensing, and artist management. At the same time, its export scale remains highly dependent on a small number of artists in any given year, and it still needs greater stability.

For international companies, this has two implications. First, potential partnerships may be most promising in areas that have already demonstrated export strength, including distribution, copyright licensing, and artist management. Second, since Taiwan’s industry is composed primarily of small and medium-sized businesses, accessing its broader industry resources may require sustained contact with multiple studios and teams of different sizes, rather than relying on a small number of major corporate groups.

▴TAICCA previously organized the “Music Management Program.”(Photo: TAICCA)

Overall, Taiwan’s pop music and cultural content industry in 2024 was shaped by three converging trends: a strong recovery in the live performance market, premiumization in the recorded-music market, and a transformation of industry practices through AI and the fan economy. Amid parallel global trends of digitalization and renewed demand for live entertainment, Taiwan has followed a steady, distinctive growth path. The Taiwanese government and the Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA) also continue to help international companies connect more efficiently with Taiwan’s content-production capabilities and talent networks through resource matchmaking, market connections, investment, and financing support.

Looking ahead, Taiwan continues to strengthen its international reach in music distribution, copyright licensing, and artist management, making these areas some of the most promising entry points for international partners seeking collaboration. We hope this overview gives international partners a clearer understanding of how Taiwan’s pop music industry has developed and helps open up more opportunities for mutually beneficial collaboration in the future.

Compiled by Yuki Liu