While streaming services are lending a big hand to continued growth, IFPI warns that the "value gap" -- or the amount of revenue being paid out to rights holders, labels and artists -- could prove problematic. A key reason for the uneven returns is sites like YouTube that allow users to upload songs for others to listen to free of charge.

Despite YouTube shelling out $3 billion to the music industry, policing its library and launching its own ad-free streaming service, there's still concern that so-called "safe harbor" site where folks can listen for free aren't paying the same royalties as Spotify and others. In fact, IFPI says those sites only account for 4 percent of global music revenue but tout a user base that counts over 900 million. IFPI says that the discrepancy, along with the amount of revenue being returned to rights holders, could be what hinders future growth.