Can Price Segmentation Avoid A Music Streaming Malthusian Trap?
The music streaming industry is at a breaking point, with artists facing dwindling payouts in an expanding market. Can price segmentation be the solution to avoid the music streaming Malthusian trap and restore fairness for creators? When you see artists and songwriters getting starved out of the music business while at the same time fighting over scraps from streaming, that’s unusual. When you see more and more labels caring almost as much about acquiring ever more catalogs rather than helping artists in developing long-term careers, that’s unusual. Why is this becoming the norm? Could it be we are in a “Malthusian trap”? When the growth of a service’s sound recording offering outpaces available revenues, the “big pool” method effectively transfers control over wholesale prices from rights holders to services and causes diminishing returns for both labels and publishers. Regardless of the terms of any one artist’s record deal or the convoluted compulsory mechanical royalty for songwriters, these diminishing returns will hit artists, producers and songwriters because returns are diminished to the labels and publishers, particularly on a per-artist basis. Particular deals may make the decline even more pronounced, but the race to the bottom is baked into the model. Basically, to sum it up in simpler terms: More music is being created than the deman. Reason? Does streaming come to mind?
With the US record industry officially in recession can superpremium and superfans really save the major labels from streaming’s slowdown?
It’s stats season, and one of CMU’s favourite summaries of stats and trends - MIDiA’s ‘Recorded Music Market Shares’ - dropped last week. In an extensive interview with MIDiA founder Mark Mulligan, CMU’s Sam Taylor dives into the numbers, looking at the trends that will shape 2025. The music industry’s long-predicted streaming slowdown has officially arrived. The latest global ‘Recorded Music Market Shares’ report from MIDiA Research reveals that record industry growth decelerated from 9.7% year on year in 2023 to 6.5% in 2024. MIDiA pegs global recorded music revenues at $36.2 billion for 2024, up from $34 billion in 2023 and $31 billion in 2022, with $22.2 billion of last year’s revenue coming from streaming. In other words, for every additional dollar of revenue the record industry made in 2023 - $3 billion dollars - nearly two thirds of that, a massive $1.938 billion - came from streaming. In 2024 the record industry found just $2.2 billion of new revenue, and just $1.287 billion came from streaming. The golden era of streaming expansion is slowing, with growth rates nearly halving in just one year. Which means the primary engine driving the music industry’s financial recovery for the past decade is no longer growing at the explosive pace it once was. We’re witnessing the early signs of market saturation, where most people who are likely to pay for music streaming services already have them.
AI-Generated Works Cannot Be Copyrighted in the US, Court of Appeals Rules
A federal appeals court unanimously ruled that AI-generated works without human involvement do not qualify for copyright protection in the US. “The Copyright Act of 1976 requires all eligible work to be authorized in the first instance by a human being,” said Circuit Judge Patricia A. Millett for US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. “Even if the human authorship requirement were at some point to stymie the creation of original work, that would be a policy for Congress to address.”
The Copyright Office has permitted the registration of works made by human authors who have used artificial intelligence. The issue remains over how much AI contributes to a human author’s work.“Photography, sound recordings, video recordings, and computer programs are all technologies that were once novel, but which copyright law now applies,” Judge Millett continued, noting that Congress is key in updating copyright law, not the courts.
“[The Court’s] well-reasoned holding is consistent with decades of copyright law and the holdings of other courts that have considered similar questions and found the same result — that to be copyrightable, an expressive work must be created by a human,” said Alicia Calzada, Deputy General Counsel of the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA). “That is why several years ago, a court held that a selfie taken by a monkey was not copyrightable, and it is why images created solely by AI are not copyrightable.”
Cosynd Partners with BMI for Unprecedented Copyright Protection for Music Creators
Trusted copyright protection platform Cosynd has announced a new partnership with performance rights organization BMI. The partnership will benefit BMI’s new Spark program, designed to support BMI’s global community of music creators at every stage of their career. The innovative partnership marks the first time that Cosynd has offered an American PRO exclusive access to discounted U.S. Copyright Office registrations and vital legal agreements. This will empower BMI’s music creators to safeguard their works easily and affordably, while setting a new standard in copyright protection for the industry. Through Cosynd’s efficient copyright registration service, BMI creators can easily register any of their content with the U.S. Copyright Office. That allows them to secure legal standing to pursue infringement claims, accessing statutory damages of up to $150,000 per infringement, and gaining global protection in over 175 countries.
ASCAP warns US creative economy ‘will be undermined’ if copyright laws loosened for AI developers
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) has added its voice to the growing chorus in the music industry opposing proposals to weaken copyright protections for the development of AI. In a submission to the National Coordination Office of the Networking and Information Research and Technology (NIRTD) Program, ASCAP – a performance rights organization (PRO) with more than 1 million songwriter, composer and publisher members – warned that jobs could be lost and the US’s creative economy undermined if copyright protections are loosened. “Many of ASCAP’s members rely on the public performance royalties paid to them as their main, if not sole, source of income. In the event that AI platforms usurp this revenue stream, untold numbers of US creators stand to lose their ability to earn a living and the foundation of the nation’s thriving creative economy will be undermined.”
Governor Abbott Releases 2025 Texas Music Industry Economic Impact Report
Governor Greg Abbott today released the 2025 Texas Music Industry Economic Impact Report from his Texas Music Office (TMO). The biennial report tracks the growth of the Texas music industry, including music businesses and music education—and for the first time this year, music-related tourism. Economic impact is measured in terms of annual earnings, local job creation, and economic activity statewide.
“Live music lives in Texas,” said Governor Abbott. “A thriving Texas music industry draws visitors from around the globe, attracts a skilled workforce across industries, and supports continuing business recruitment and expansion efforts. With support from the Texas Music Office and employers across the state, the Texas music industry employs hundreds of thousands of Texans and generates more than $31.7 billion in annual revenue throughout the state.
“The Texas Music Office is thrilled to release the newest edition of our biennial economic impact study,” said TMO Director Chip Adams.
As the nation’s first and longest-running state music office since it was established 35 years ago, TMO is proud to assist Texas communities in boosting local job creation and economic expansion. This report provides valuable insight into the resulting economic impact of music businesses, music education, and music-related tourism in Texas and demonstrates the global appeal and strength of Texas music.”
Tips for Building a Loyal Fanbase on YouTube
YouTube is a powerful platform for growing your audience, deepening fan connections, and turning casual viewers into dedicated supporters. However, with different content formats like Shorts, long-form videos, and community posts, knowing how to engage your audience effectively is key. If you want to grow a loyal fanbase, you need to be strategic about how you show up! In this post, we’re breaking down how to use YouTube to develop your audience and strengthen engagement. As you focus on building your loyal fanbase, keep in mind that your growing presence on YouTube doesn’t just get you more listeners. It also opens up new revenue streams to help you continue to grow even more.
U.S. Reaches 100 Million Paid Music-Streaming Subscribers for the First Time, Vinyl Sales Hit $1.4 Billion: RIAA 2024 Year-End Report
For the first time, paid streaming subscriptions hit the 100 million mark in the U.S. last year, while vinyl sales continued their nearly two-decade resurgence with $1.4 billion in sales, according to Recording Industry Association of America’s annual recorded-music revenue report.
Despite that milestone, streaming growth continues to slow — it was up just 4 million for the year, continuing a slowing trend over the past five years. Streaming numbers grew by nearly 9 million between 2020 and 2021.
Elsewhere in the report, streaming remained the biggest driver at $14.9 billion, with paid subscriptions, ad-supported services, digital and customized radio, social media platforms, digital fitness apps, and others collectively accounting for 84% of total revenues for the third year in a row — however, the revenue growth year over year was just 4%. Those 100 million paid streaming subscribers accounted for nearly two-thirds of total revenue at $11.7 billion.
The Story of Indie Musicians Certainly So
Every artist has a story, filled with passion and the moments that shape their journey. In this chapter of Your Story Starts Here, we dive into Certainly So’s beginnings, their love for Nashville, and the inspiration behind their music story.
Every artist has a story… one filled with late-night writing sessions, unexpected detours, and the moments that turned a dream into something real. Your Story Starts Here is a series dedicated to capturing these journeys, exploring the inspirations, challenges, and milestones that shape their paths as artists. In this next series, we’re diving deep into a chapter of their stories. Join us as we sit down with Certainly So to talk about where it all started, their passion for Nashville, and what inspires them to do what they do every day. Here’s how their story
began…(read
more)
Texas Regional Radio Music Awards and Future Faces
The Texas Regional Radio (T3R) Music Awards Show and Radio Summit Group are proud to announce the Annual Texas Regional Radio Music Awards Show to be held on MARCH 23-24, 2025 in Arlington, Texas . This will be the 15th annual event where many honorable industry folk from all over the United States will attend to witness the noted Texas/Red Dirt artists/entertainers and radio receive recognition for their accomplishments and sacrifices in the Texas/Red Dirt Music Scene. The 2025 15th Annual TRRMA and Future Faces show is proud to remain in Arlington, Texas at the esteemed Texas Live! It will be split into two days and events. Cowboy Church will be held in the Arlington Backyard of the Texas Live venue, The Future Faces Show will be held again at the PBR Cowboy Bar with the Awards show held in the Live Arena of Texas Live!
Spotify Paid Over $4.5 Billion to Music Publishers Over the Last Two Years, So Why Are Songwriters Struggling?
Spotify announced earlier this year that it paid out a record $10 billion-plus to the music industry in 2024, bringing its total to nearly $60 billion since its inception in 2006. The company — the world’s largest paid music-subscription service by a wide margin — maintains that it pays out 70% of every dollar it generates to the music industry, a generous percentage for any business. According to a 2024 report from from London-based marketing intelligence and consulting firm MIDIA Research, the approximately $.004 generated per stream is divided thus: the recording side (including the label, distributor and artist) gets 56%; the streaming service gets 30%; and the publishing side (including the publisher, the performing rights organization — such as ASCAP or BMI — and the songwriter) gets just 14%. But those numbers don’t take into account the fact that most hit songs these days have between 3 and 12 writers splitting that 68% of the 14% of that $.004, and that they have managers and possibly other interested parties earning a percentage of their share. The human brain can’t even comprehend the infinitesimal amount the creators of most songs earn per stream.
29 Greatest & Most Famous Country Singers From Texas
Texas has long been a fertile ground for country music, producing some of the genre’s most iconic and influential artists. From the rich traditions of honky-tonk and Western swing to the innovative sounds of outlaw country and modern pop-infused styles, Texas musicians have consistently pushed the boundaries of country music. This article delves into the careers of famous country singers from Texas, highlighting their contributions to the genre and the unique Texan flavor they bring to their music.
Whether known for their storytelling, vocal prowess, or groundbreaking styles, these artists have left an indelible mark on the world of country music. These artists have all contributed significantly to the country music genre, each bringing a unique style and influence.
