Major music companies reported average streaming growth of 8.3% in the second quarter of 2026, according to Barclays’ latest sector analysis, narrowing the performance gap with Spotify to 7 percentage points from a peak of 17 points in the same period of 2024.
Warner Music Group led the majors with 11.3% streaming growth, including 11.8% growth in subscription streaming, while Sony Music Group posted 9.7% growth. Universal Music Group, the largest label by market share, reported 5.6% streaming growth, with subscription streaming up 6.7%. The gap between the majors’ average and Spotify’s 14.6% growth remains the widest in six quarters, despite the recent narrowing.
Universal Music Group attributed its 6.7% subscription streaming growth to a 3.5 percentage point tailwind from its Streaming 2.0 pricing strategy, offset by a 1.5 percentage point drag from market share losses and a 1.0 percentage point impact from revenue recognition. Volume growth contributed 6% to the total. Warner Music Group’s 11.8% subscription streaming growth reflected a 3.5 percentage point boost from new pricing deals and over 1 percentage point from favorable market-share trends, with volume growth at 7%.
Barclays projects Universal Music Group’s total streaming growth to accelerate to 8.1% in the third quarter of 2026, driven by 10.0% subscription streaming and 1.5% non-subscription growth. The bank’s outlook follows Spotify’s guidance for third-quarter 2026 revenues of €5.0 billion, including a 200 basis point foreign exchange tailwind, implying 17.0% reported revenue growth and 15.0% growth on a constant currency basis.
The analysis is based on Barclays’ 12th Global Music Results Wrap, published on August 21, 2026.
