Music rightsholders have been worrying about stalled growth for ad-supported streaming. Wider wobbles in the global advertising market are one of the key factors, but this week industry body the IAB made a positive prediction for the US. Its ‘2026 Outlook Study’ forecasts that advertising spend there will grow by 9.5% year-on-year, with CEO David Cohen suggesting that “in this growth cycle, innovation and experimentation are firmly taking priority as the market is being structurally reimagined”. Growth would be welcome for streaming services and rightsholders alike. Spotify’s revenues from its ad-supported tier in the first nine months of 2025 were up just 0.08% year-on-year (to €1.32bn) for example.