Global Music Merch Biz Grew to $3.1 Billion in 2016: Study

For example, beyond the regular music merch inventory regularly represented in stores, retailers have experimented with in-and-out programs, whereby a certain artist merchandise might get a high profile locations and big buy-ins for certain limited period. This happened last year with merchandise from artist that included Justin Bieber, Metallica and Lady Gaga, according to Brochstein.

Overall, entertainment/character licensing remains the largest category, accounting for $118.3 billion, while corporate/brand trademarks generated $54.6 billion; fashion, $31.1 billion; and sports at $25.3 billion.

“The 2017 Survey reinforces the positive momentum of licensed products worldwide and across all categories, especially the large and growing entertainment/character sector,” LIMA president Charles Riotto said in a statement. “This year’s results also speak to the impressive reach and strength of licensing initiatives in growth markets around the world, contributing to the continued vitality of the industry.”

LIMA conducts its survey by reaching out to retailers, licensing companies as well as scrutinizing import and export data.

While music merch is relatively small compared to the other categories in the survey, most of its revenues—which are not represented in the survey—comes from merch sales at concerts, music industry executives say.