IFPI

IFPI, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, is the trade body that represents the global recorded-music business. Founded in 1933, the organisation works across policy, market intelligence, anti-piracy, and global chart infrastructure, giving labels a common body for industry advocacy and standards-setting.

Its biggest public role in the streaming era is data. IFPI produces the annual Global Music Report and runs the only worldwide charts designed to combine streaming, downloads, and physical sales into one international performance view. That makes IFPI a major reference point for how global success is measured across acts from Taylor Swift to Stray Kids, SEVENTEEN, and BTS.

The organisation's own 2026 materials underline how central that role has become. IFPI reported 11 straight years of global recorded-music growth and continued to position its charts as the most complete cross-market picture of artist, album, and track performance. In K-pop terms, that matters because IFPI remains one of the clearest external scoreboards for how Korean acts translate domestic intensity into sustained global commercial weight.