The global music industry is holding its breath for Taylor Swift’s next big wave. Her new album, The Life of a Showgirl, released on Oct. 3, already sold 2.7 million copies on its first day, and experts expect it to reshape the year-end charts.
But even before Swift’s latest release, Republic Records — her label home — remains firmly at No. 1 for the year so far. According to new data covering Dec. 31, 2024, to Oct. 2, 2025, Republic led the music market with a 13.6% share, powered by strong albums from Morgan Wallen, Sabrina Carpenter, and The Weeknd.
That number is up from 12.69% midyear but slightly lower than the 15.21% Republic posted at the same time in 2024 when Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department dominated charts.
Interscope Geffen A&M (IGA) secured second place with a 10.43% share, lifted by new music from Lady Gaga and Playboi Carti, along with continued success from Billie Eilish and Kendrick Lamar. Lamar’s collaboration with SZA, “Luther,” remains the biggest song of 2025 so far.
Atlantic Music Group showed the strongest growth, climbing to 7.83% after adding 10K Projects to its roster and enjoying chart-topping runs from Twenty One Pilots, Cardi B, and Alex Warren. Warner Records followed with 6.13%, holding steady compared to last year.
At the company level, Universal Music Group (UMG) — home to Republic and Interscope — continued to lead globally with a 35.96% market share, followed by Sony Music Entertainment at 26.65% and Warner Music Group at 16.83%.
Indie labels together accounted for 20.55% of the market by distribution and 39.43% by ownership, showing steady growth despite the dominance of major players.
Among individual labels, Republic also topped the overall market share list at 10.08%, narrowly ahead of Interscope (10.00%). Atlantic (8.50%), Warner (7.04%), and Capitol (5.88%) completed the top five.
In catalog music — titles older than 18 months — Interscope led with 9.86%, followed by Republic (8.98%) and Atlantic (8.71%).
With The Life of a Showgirl already breaking records, analysts expect Taylor Swift’s return to push Republic and UMG’s numbers even higher in the final quarter of 2025 — marking yet another major shift in the industry’s balance of power.
