Digital Rights Management Market

Market Overview

The global digital rights management market size was valued at USD 4.59 billion in 2023. It is estimated to reach USD 16.39 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 15.12% during the forecast period (2024–2032). In recent years, the rising proliferation of the internet has led to a surge in the creation of digital content, thereby driving the demand for DRM solutions, as these solutions can protect their content and protect them from illicit activities. In addition, the soaring need for intellectual property (IP) protection further boosts market expansion. Furthermore, leading market participants are launching novel DRM technologies to augment their offerings, thereby creating opportunities for market growth.

Digital Rights Management (DRM) is a technological system in which content creators, including publishers, movie studios, and software developers, regulate the utilization, distribution, and access to digital data and devices. Its primary function is to prevent unauthorized duplication, distribution, and use of copyrighted material.

DRM commonly employs encryption and access control technologies to guarantee that solely authorized users may access and utilize the content. These can encompass techniques such as encryption keys, access codes, digital watermarks, and authentication procedures. DRM facilitates the ability of content consumers to legally and securely enjoy digital content.

Highlights 

• North America is the highest shareholder in the global market

Market Dynamics

Global Digital Rights Management Market Drivers:

Increasing Digital Content Consumption 

The growing implementation of digital content distribution in industries including media and entertainment, education, gaming, e-commerce, and healthcare is fueling the need for DRM solutions. Digital content distribution allows content owners to expand their reach to a larger audience, decrease operational expenses, and improve the overall customer experience. However, it also subjects them to piracy, plagiarism, and unauthorized access risks. DRM solutions aid content owners in safeguarding their digital assets from such risks, thereby ensuring the generation of revenue as well as maintaining brand reputation.

Moreover, as per Straits Research, the global market for digital content creation was valued at USD 25.61 billion in 2022. It is projected to rise at a CAGR of 13.5% from 2023 to 2030, primarily due to the widespread adoption of the internet. Datareportal reported that as of the beginning of 2024, the global internet user count reached 5.35 billion individuals, which accounts for around 66.2 percent of the world's entire population. The number of internet users has continued to increase, as the newest data shows that the globally connected population expanded by 97 million users between January 2023 and January 2024. Therefore, the significant increase in internet usage worldwide is expected to promote the use of digital content further, leading to the expansion of the global market.

Rising Need for IP Protection 

The increasing demand for safeguarding intellectual property (IP) in the age of digitalization is a key driver for the expansion of the DRM market. IP, or intellectual property, is a precious resource for any firm creating or utilizing digital content. Intellectual property infringement can lead to substantial financial losses for content owners regarding income, market dominance, consumer allegiance, and competitive edge. DRM systems aid content owners in protecting their intellectual property rights by using a range of measures, including encryption, authentication, watermarking, licensing, and expiration, to prevent violations.

Global Digital Rights Management Market Restraint:

Digital Illiteracy and Limited Digital Infrastructure

The expected increase in digital illiteracy is likely to limit the expansion of digital content, negatively impacting the DRM business. The limited ability to use digital technology, known as digital illiteracy, constrains internet usage and impedes the sales of smartphones. Thus, this has a negative impact on the growth of the DRM industry. According to government experts, 6.7 million people in France are perpetually disconnected from the internet due to insufficient digital literacy.

A significant obstacle to the expansion of the DRM business is the need for adequate digital infrastructure to support internet connectivity. Moreover, the absence of computer and internet availability, especially in educational institutions such as schools and colleges, leads to increased digital illiteracy, impeding the industry's growth. As per the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) in 2018, just 21.3% of students in 596 government schools throughout 619 districts had the opportunity to use computers. All of these variables have a detrimental effect on the total market growth.

Global Digital Rights Management Market Opportunities:

Launch of New DRM Solutions

The key players in the global DRM market are introducing new DRM solutions to enhance their portfolio. For instance, in August 2023, Digital rights management (DRM) provider EZDRM released its DRM-as-a-service (DRMaaS) solution to Microsoft Azure customers worldwide via Azure Marketplace. Azure customers can now access the tools necessary to protect their live and on-demand video content. They will also benefit from Azure's scalability, reliability, and agility to improve video service delivery.

Similarly, castLabs, a Digital Rights Management (DRM) company based in Amsterdam, unveiled a new technique called "single-frame forensic watermarking" as the latest advancement in content protection during the same time. The DRM system utilizes the company's cloud-based "Video Toolkit solution" to process and safeguard uploaded content, including video, images, and documents. This is achieved by incorporating "tunable watermarks" into the content, which are subsequently distributed alongside the monitored and watermarked content. These factors present an opportunity for market expansion.

Regional Analysis

North America Dominates the Global Market

Based on region, the global digital rights management market is bifurcated into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa.

North America is the most significant global digital rights management market shareholder and is expected to expand substantially over the forecast period. The regional market dominance can be attributed to the widespread use of digital media and cloud computing, the presence of key industry players, and the strict regulations to protect intellectual property. The U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has formulated revised guidelines in December 2022 to aid the country in addressing fraud and cybercrime while promoting equality and safeguarding essential human rights. The guidelines advocate for the risk-informed management of individuals' online personas, also known as their "digital identities," frequently necessary for everyday digital activities such as banking and ordering groceries. These regulations are expected to enhance the growth of the regional market.

Furthermore, prominent market players are introducing innovative DRM solutions to augment their market dominance. For instance, in June 2023, Google introduced a new web protocol incorporating digital rights management (DRM) into the operating system. The term used to refer to it is Web Environment Integrity (WEI): An extremely secure and comprehensive service for websites that verifies the integrity of the operating system, ensuring it has not been tampered with. While the AdTech industry has legitimate applications for it, this technology also has the potential to be utilized for malicious purposes. Therefore, the abovementioned factors are expected to enhance the market's expansion.

The Asia-Pacific region is projected to experience the most rapid digital rights management market growth. This is primarily attributed to the fast-paced increase in digital content consumption, the emergence of local companies, and the increasing investments in cloud infrastructure. Moreover, the prominent participants in the market are engaged in strategic endeavors to bolster their position. For instance, in June 2023, CDNetworks, a leading network in the Asia-Pacific region that offers edge services, announced its partnership with Irdeto to integrate CDNetworks' media delivery technology, which includes built-in DRM capabilities. This all-encompassing solution provides content creators and distributors with a centralized platform to protect their digital content within the framework of video streaming enterprises. These factors contribute to the growth of the regional market.

Segmental Analysis

The global digital rights management market is segmented by deployment type, application, and industry vertical.

Based on deployment type, the global digital rights management market is divided into cloud and on-premise.

Cloud-based DRM involves the management and execution of protection mechanisms through remote cloud servers. Consequently, the DRM functionality is accessed and regulated through the internet rather than depending on local software or encryption keys. In addition, cloud-based DRM systems frequently incorporate functionalities for monitoring how the content is accessed and utilized. These measures may involve monitoring the frequency of content views, restricting the number of devices accessing it, or establishing expiration dates for access.

Moreover, cloud-based DRM provides numerous benefits compared to conventional DRM systems. These advantages include the ability to easily scale up or down, increased flexibility, and seamless integration with existing cloud-based workflows and services. However, it also elicits apprehensions regarding the confidentiality and protection of data and reliance on external service providers.

Based on application, the global digital rights management market is divided into mobile content, video on demand, mobile gaming, and e-books.

An e-book, or electronic book, is a digital copy of a physical book that can be browsed on a computer, tablet, e-reader, or any other electronic apparatus. E-books are commonly formatted to facilitate easy reading on electronic devices, offering features such as customizable font sizes, bookmarking, highlighting, and occasionally interactive elements like embedded multimedia or hyperlinks. DRM grants publishers the authority to regulate the accessibility and utilization of e-books. For instance, they can limit the number of devices accessing an e-book or restrict the capability to duplicate and transfer text.

Moreover, publishers and authors depend on the sales of electronic books as a primary source of income. DRM serves the purpose of mitigating piracy and unauthorized dissemination, thereby safeguarding sales and revenue streams. Hence, these factors contribute to the implementation of DRM in this particular segment.

Based on industry verticals, the global digital rights management market is bifurcated into BFSI, healthcare, printing and publication, education, music, television and film, and others.

Digital Rights Management (DRM) in music encompasses copyright owners' technological methods and strategies to regulate the accessibility, usage, distribution, and modification of digital content, particularly music. DRM serves as a mechanism to hinder users from producing unauthorized copies of digital music files. This measure serves to protect against piracy and unauthorized distribution. DRM systems can limit the accessibility of music files, considering factors such as the user's purchase or subscription status, geographical location, or the specific devices they are employing.

Moreover, music streaming services often employ DRM to guarantee that only individuals who have paid for a subscription can access their content. DRM enables the secure distribution of music files to authorized users, safeguarding them from interception or unauthorized access during transmission.

Recent Developments

• January 2024- Elastos unveiled Elacity DRM, an innovative digital rights management (DRM) solution designed for Web3, with a primary emphasis on video content creators.
• February 2024- Verimatrix partnered with Amazon Web Services to enhance the scalability, availability, and user-friendliness of its Streamkeeper Multi-DRM cloud-based OTT content security technology. Streamkeeper Multi-DRM is a platform that can be used by several users and is hosted on the AWS cloud. It is designed to be compatible with AWS SPEKE, allowing it to integrate smoothly with AWS Media Services.