Irish acts driving success in the domestic music market

Irish artists were a key driver of success in the domestic recorded music market last year, the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) have stated today.

The singles market grew by 7% and albums by 12%. Irish artists accounted for 21.5% of the top 100 sales, tripling the share from 2024. Audio streaming reached 13.2 billion streams, up 6% year-on-year and 60% since 2020.

Kingfishr recorded the most-streamed song of the year, as well as the most-streamed song in any single year this decade with 'Killeagh' at nearly 27m streams. The band placed a total of seven songs in the top 100 among other Irish artists such as Amble, Hozier, Fontaines DC, Jazzy, and Kneecap.

Amble's debut album Reverie was the most-streamed album by an Irish act with over 38, 938 album equivalent sales, making it the biggest Irish album since Dermot Kennedy’s Without Fear in 2020.

Taylor Swift's The Life Of a Showgirl was the biggest album overall, with the most physical albums sold, while Fontaines DC's Romance marked the best-selling album by an Irish act, second year running.

2025 saw a vinyl sales increase by 20%, with with 478,000 sold, as well as CDs and cassettes by 4.5% and 64%.

"2025 marks a particularly exciting year for Irish music. In an ever-changing landscape, Irish acts are making their mark on a global stage, with Fontaines DC, Hozier and CMAT emerging as world beaters." said IRMA Chairman Willie Kavanagh.

"As Ireland takes up the Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2026, the vibrancy of Irish music serves as a reminder of our responsibility to support and nurture human creativity. With discussions on the digital single market and artificial intelligence, we hope that the Irish Presidency will lead the way in ensuring the full implementation and retention of copyright protections."

See all charts here.