The worldwide music industry has reported its first growth in revenue for fifteen years and they are thanking subscription services such as Spotify for the sudden growth.

Music companies have taken a battering in recent years thanks to illegal pirating of music and a decrease in sales of physical CDs both working to decrease their income.

The sudden growth has been attributed to the rise in subscription services whereby consumers can pay a flat fee to access the music they want legally. The number of people using services such as YouTube and Spotify has increased by 44% and is now also responsible for 10% of overall revenue for digital media.

It’s good news for the business as well as consumers because it means that in theory, there will be more money for music bosses to put into sourcing new talent.

Chief executive of The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), Frances Moore commented on the growth saying: "The industry is on the road to recovery."

He did also stress however: "This growth is still fragile. Google needs to priorities legal sites in its searches. Far from copyright ‘smothering innovation’, music, based on copyright, is driving the digital economy.

"Music is driving social network sites. The highest number of searches on Facebook and Twitter are for music artists."

The report from the IFPI also revealed that even though the industry is growing, a third of internet users globally still regularly use illegal file-sharing sites.

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