“There is a narrowing of success where there should be a big pool of possibility” President of CD Baby, Molly Neuman
A simplified history of the record business, certainly at the major label level, holds that the lawyers took over in the 1960s and 1970s, marketing took over in the 1980s and 1990s and by the 2000s, external technologists started to run things remotely (except the labels refused to believe or admit this). It is a reductive and simplistic history, of course, but, barring the odd executive appointment here and there, it is fair to say that musicians themselves never took over the top tiers of major music companies. We start by discussing how to bridge the gap between recorded and live music to help emerging artists thrive, but it soon accelerates into deeper, more complex topics such as Marxist attitudes to musical creation and how to retain ideological purity when selling out is a) easy and b) lucrative. The margins from live are, she confirms, “very thin” for most despite the headlines about a booming live business in toto. “When you start to segment it out, it’s still mostly those very successful artists who are making that money.”
To her mind, this begs a multitude of questions. “How do you actually create a more sustainable business that supports the middle class, the aspirational side of the music creation community, which is where I’m living mostly right now? There’s heavy lifting work to do.”
ASCAP, BMI,
GMR, and SESAC have their say in US Copyright Office’s PRO inquiry…
The United States Copyright Office (USCO) has the PRO market in its crosshairs.
In February, the USCO launched a significant inquiry into the Performance Rights sector aimed at exploring “questions related to the increase in the number of PROs and the licensing revenue distribution practices of
PROs”. The modern US business now counts six PROs, including the ‘traditional’ organizations (ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC) alongside three newer entrants: Global Music Rights (founded in 2013), PRO Music Rights (2018), and AllTrack (2019). The launch of the PRO inquiry follows significant activity in the US PRO landscape in recent months, including the news of GMR’s majority acquisition by US-based private equity company Hellman & Friedman, valuing it at USD $3.3 billion.
Blackstone was also reported in January to be exploring a potential $3 billion+ sale of
SESAC. As part of the investigation, the USCO launched a call for written submissions from the public, with a deadline of Friday last week (April 11). ASCAP, BMI, GMR, and SESAC all responded at length.
Tariff-proof, recession-proof music industry will thrive despite global uncertainty, TD Cowen analysts say
Amid the tariff wars and other uncertainties in the global economy, the music industry is proving to be an oasis of stability that holds out the promise of continued earnings growth in the quarters to come.
That’s according to analysts at New York-headquartered investment bank TD Cowen, in their latest music earnings preview. “Digital goods are unaffected by tariffs.”
They noted that the majority of revenue at Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and Spotify comes from subscription streaming, which “are unlikely to see meaningful increases in churn” even if the economy goes into recession. The resilience to a potential recession is thanks to music’s “high value/price proposition, particularly compared to other entertainment options… Music fundamentals should generally remain strong regardless of macro turbulence.”
Should I Hire a Producer?
It’s one of the most familiar credits in the record business, yet if you asked various people what “produced by” actually means, you’re likely to get a range of answers. While the role of producer has certainly evolved over the years, nowadays it can include anything from directing the session to offering songwriting, arranging and even instrumental contributions, not to mention helping with technical detail (i.e., the “producer-engineer”).
Above all, a producer acts as a kind of referee, maintaining a sense of discipline throughout the recording project, and also strives not for perfection but feel (since any minor miscues can usually be tended to after the fact). This can be particularly important when paying for a studio facility—without someone telling you when a guitar solo or lead vocal is good enough, you could easily spend many hours (and dollars) aimlessly overdubbing to no avail.
Here is some brief background on record production, and why enlisting the support of such a third party for your own material can help keep the music flowing.
ASCAP Responds to US Copyright Office Notice of Inquiry and Warns Against Further Regulation of Music Creators’ Income
ASCAP, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, submitted a comprehensive response on Friday, April 11 to the US Copyright Office’s February Notice of Inquiry (NOI) in response to licensees seeking to pay less to songwriters and composers for the public performance of their music. Representing over one million members, ASCAP’s response warns that further regulation of the performance rights marketplace would cause immeasurable harm to music creators. The full text can be viewed
here.
“Licensees are seeking more regulation of PROs because they want to pay songwriters less,” said ASCAP Chief Executive Officer Elizabeth Matthews. “If transparency, efficiency and innovation are the goals, more free market competition among PROs is the answer – not unnecessary government intervention.” ASCAP and its members will continue to engage with the Copyright Office advocating on behalf of music creators.
Songs Are Getting Shorter & The Surprising Reasons Why
Popular songs are getting shorter, with Grammy-winning hits and Spotify chart-toppers all shrinking in length. But is streaming really to blame? The answer is more complex, with history, genre, and evolving songwriting trends all playing a role. It may be tempting to blame shrinking song lengths on the short attention spans of listeners in the streaming age. But music journalist, NYU music professor, and co-host of the podcast Switched on Pop, Charlie Harding, believes there are more factors at play than one might expect. “This trend is multi-variant, with lots of influences,” he told Chartmetric. “It’s not just technology, it’s not just culture.” Can Writing Shorter Songs Actually Make You More Money?
“If you are already a huge star, perhaps one could say that,” says Harding per the above. “If you write 40 songs that are two minutes long, it’s possible [people will listen more frequently] because it takes up less time.”
No Fakes Act Reintroduced in Congress With Support From
Google, RIAA, More
The Recording Academy’s Grammys on the Hill Advocacy Day culminated on Wednesday with a press conference on Capitol Hill with Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Reps. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.) and Maria Salazar (R-Fl.) to announce the reintroduction of the “NO FAKES” Act, standing for “Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe.” The bipartisan, bicameral bill is intended to advance creators’ rights by protecting their voices and likenesses from the unauthorized creation and use of digital replicas. Also at the press conference were stakeholders from the Human Artistry Campaign – where the Academy is a founding member – along with Google, MPA, RIAA, SAG-AFTRA, and
YouTube.
Ad-Supported Audio Gets More Ear Time Than Ad-Free, New Study Reveals
A new study from Edison Research finds ad-supported streaming has more listeners than its paid, ad-free counterparts.
For decades, music on the radio was the most accessible and free way to listen to music. But radio stations have traditionally been supported by ads, so listeners were well accustomed to hearing them between songs. The only way to get an “ad-free” experience was by purchasing an album on vinyl, tape, or CD. These days, thanks to streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube, many listeners are willing to pay a premium price to avoid ads altogether. But newly released data from Edison Research reveals that in the US, most people spend the majority of their daily audio time with ad-supported sources (64%), compared to ad-free premium sources (36%). Ad-supported sources in this study include AM/FM radio, radio streams, music on YouTube with ads, SiriusXM talk channels, free versions of streaming audio sources, and podcasts. This data makes sense, given that younger American spend more time on platforms that make removing advertisements relatively easy and fairly inexpensive, like Spotify and YouTube. Further, older Americans are more likely to have spent time listening to ad-supported audio before the advent of streaming, perhaps making it less of a deterrent to them than younger generations.
Musicians: Do not rely on social media to reach fans
(video)
On social media, a significant portion of your followers typically don’t see each post, with organic reach averaging around 2% to 6% of total followers. The lesson for musicians? Do not rely on social media to reach fans. Which platforms are popular with fans also shift, as do the rules of how to reach them and the algorithms that get in the way. 5 years ago no one talked about TikTok. Now its very existence is in question.
78.4% of new music subscribers now come from outside North America and Europe
Music industry consultancy Midia Research has published its latest estimates of global music subscribers, covering the fourth quarter of 2024.
The most interesting finding is that 78.4% of new subscribers to music-streaming services now come from outside North America and Europe, showing the growing importance of ‘high-potential’ markets to the music industry.
Midia noted that North America and Europe combined now account for 41% of total (not just new) subscribers globally. That’s been falling steadily over the past decade: from 62% in 2015 and 52.3% in 2020. “Although label streaming revenues are slowing, the global music subscriber market continues to grow at pace, adding nearly the same number of subscribers as in 2023,” said Midia Research MD Mark Mulligan in a statement.
“The continued fast rise of the Global South is the market-defining dynamic, pointing to a rebalancing of the global music industry. Revenues still skew heavily to the West but user growth is now consistently coming from elsewhere.”
Music subscriber market shares 2024: Slowdown? What slowdown?
Record label streaming revenue growth slowed to 6% in 2024 but there was no such slowdown in subscriber growth. In our just published ‘Music subscriber market shares Q4 2024’ report, we reveal that the 85 million net* new subscribers added in 2024 was only two million less than in 2023, resulting in 818 million subscribers and growth of 12% i.e., around double label revenue growth.
So, just what is going on? How could subscriber and revenue growth become so de-coupled? Normally, the answer for music industry questions like this is ‘it’s complicated’ –but this time it is not. It can be boiled down to two key things: Global South and incentivised growth.
