Music Industry Analysis
Music Biz curates a feed of music industry news articles, business statistics and trend analysis from a variety of media outlets, filtering out the noise to deliver you the actionable insights you need to succeed. Starting in 2024, these articles will be accessible exclusively from Music Biz’s social media feeds.
January 6, 2022 – In The Realm Of Podcasting, The US Is The Global Leader In All Respects
The US is the undisputed front-runner within the global podcasting ecosystem, in terms of both content production and listener adoption. In 2021, 40.0% of US internet users will listen to a podcast at least once per month. No other country comes close to matching this figure (Sweden, home of Spotify, will be in second place with 34.6%). The US will also have the most monthly podcast listeners, at 117.8 million—over 40 million more than our aggregate figure for Europe.... Read More
November 10, 2021 – Six Reasons Why Regionality Still Matters For The Global Music Streaming Business
You’d be forgiven for thinking that music streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music have rendered local listening habits and cultures less relevant. After all, music streaming is now available in most parts of the world and allows users to listen to artists from across the globe. In many ways, music has never been more accessible. Yet the importance of regionality persists, even with increased global connectivity. From local scenes to national laws,... Read More
October 13, 2021 – RIAA Releases 2021 Mid-Year Latin Music Revenues Report
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has published its latest mid-year Latin music revenues report, showcasing a 37% growth for U.S. revenues to $407 million during the first half of 2021 (1H 2021). Streaming format revenues for Latin music also grew 37% year over year. Overall, Latin music’s growth in the U.S. outpaced that of overall U.S. revenues, growing in share to 5.8%. Click here to read more and access the report in full.... Read More
September 13, 2021 – RIAA Releases Mid-Year 2021 U.S. Music Revenues Report
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) today released their comprehensive mid-year music revenues report, showcasing a 27% increase for the first half of 2021 for a total retail value of $7.1 billion. Paid music subscriptions accounted for nearly two-thirds of total revenue in this time, with the number of subscriptions surpassing 80 million. Vinyl record revenues continue to grow despite the challenges in production, shipment and retail sales caused to the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing 94% to reach $467 million in H1 2021.... Read More
September 2, 2021 – The Music Industry’s Gaming Experience Is Growing Beyond Traditional Sync and Licensing
The pandemic didn’t give rise to live streaming concerts. However, it played a key role in their rapid adoption over the last 18 months. Virtual events were kickstarted with 327 million streams of online concerts in 2020 with 9% of those viewers regularly viewing live concerts. To begin with, music fans and many artists thought that virtual/digital events were a temporary placeholder before IRL returns. Recent in-game events, however, demonstrate the enormous additional value that an interactive experience can provide to both the Games and Music industries.... Read More
August 4, 2021 – Headphones Were The Most Purchased Tech Product During Lockdown
Although true wireless stereo (TWS) and wired in-ear headphones both had the highest ownership, consumers favor TWS over other form factors for regular use. Looking to the territories, markets such as the USA and China witnessed high levels of ownership of TWS headsets. When purchasing headphones, audio quality was the primary consideration for consumers, taking precedence over price. Other key purchase triggers included brand, connectivity, reviews and design. “TWS is rising to the top, proving itself as the go-to form factor for a whole range of activities,” says Saranraj Mathivanan,... Read More
August 3, 2021 – This Virtual Artist Just Inked A Major Record Deal In China. One-Off Gimmick — Or A Sign Of The Future?
Ha Jiang is what’s known locally as a “virtual idol” – a huge deal in Asia, particularly in China and Japan, where they’ve amassed significant fan bases. “Virtual idols” talk about their lives, their relationships, what they get up to, the things that interest them. And some have started to build careers as influencers and fashion models. Ha Jiang is the first to bag a record deal with a major label. So is signing her, alongside five human artists,... Read More
July 29, 2021 – Record Store Day Set to Deliver Another Summer Boost For Vinyl Sales
Record Store Day returned to independent record shops Saturday, July 17 as hundreds of releases from the second – and final – 2021 vinyl drop were put on sale. Vinyl has been enjoying a sales boom in 2021, while the first drop on June 12 resulted in physical sales increasing 12.93% week-on-week to 384,982 (a 20.66% market share and new post-Christmas high). The first vinyl drop last month also resulted in RSD chart entries for Linkin Park’s 2003 release Meteora (No.... Read More
July 28, 2021 – Music Biz Member Chartmetric Launches 6MO Report, Providing Metrics for H1 2021
Music analytics company, Chartmetric has launched an interactive web-based version of its biannual 6MO report, examining fan consumption & breakthrough music metrics for January 1 through June 30, 2021. This edition is framed by the examination of gender equality in the music industry through the lens of artist pronoun usage.From the report:“Using our newly developed database (a work in progress) of approximately 450K artists whose pronouns are listed in their streaming platform biographies — the first of its kind in the world,... Read More
July 20, 2021 – Are We Witnessing the Death of the Streaming Megahit?
For decades, the record industry has turned its attention and investment to one thing above any other: the hit record. Yet new figures out of the US this week suggest that hits – as in blockbuster, industry-dominant megahits – are increasingly becoming a lesser-spotted beast. Despite millions more people playing music on streaming services each year, the industry’s biggest streaming hit at the mid-year point of 2021 is significantly smaller than its biggest streaming hit at the mid-year point of 2020,... Read More
