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.
August 18, 2020 – Coronavirus Won’t Kill Independent Record Stores
A week after Grimey’s New and Preloved Music, a longstanding Nashville record store, closed its doors in late March due to Mayor John Cooper’s Safer at Home orders, co-owner Doyle Davis received a call from Taylor Swift’s publicist. The pop superstar and Tennessee native offered to cover three months of his employees’ health insurance cost and give each staff member a check for $1000 to weather the lockdowns. “Psychologically, it was unbelievable to have her help,”... Read More
August 17, 2020 – The Pandemic Has Driven Boomers to Increase Their Digital Shopping
As the pandemic caused widespread shutdowns, consumers who traditionally preferred brick-and-mortar retail shifted at least some of their spending to digital channels. When transacting purchases, many boomers have adopted ecommerce—though it’s yet another area where they lag behind younger adults. We estimate that 62.1% of boomers in the US will be digital buyers this year, well short of the percentages of Gen Xers and millennials. The pandemic quickly upended many shopping habits. Polling by First Insight found a steep rise between late February and mid-March in the proportion of boomers saying they had shifted buying to online,... Read More
August 13, 2020 – Streaming Service In-Home Usage Shifts During Summer 2020
Last month, Comscore presented its annual State of OTT webinar, which highlighted a massive surge with in-home device usage since the coronavirus pandemic took hold. Comscore also showcased in a recent blog how the actual volume of data consumed in consumer households has increased in 2020 vs. 2019. In May 2020, we were still seeing a 30 percent increase in data consumption vs. May 2019, but the gap to 2019 had declined from 36 percent in April 2020.... Read More
August 12, 2020 – 30% of US Broadband Households Intend to Avoid Large Gatherings of People into 2021
New Parks Associates research finds 30% of US broadband households intend to avoid public events and large gatherings of people into 2021, due to concerns of exposure to COVID-19. The research firm is tracking the impact of the pandemic on consumer behaviors, attitudes, and intentions in the consumer and home technology markets through multiple research projects, including the series COVID-19: Impact on Consumer Behavior and Spending. This research reports consumers have cut discretionary spending by 50%,... Read More
August 11, 2020 – In Coronavirus Quarantine, Musicians Give Neighbors a Treat
It may be a long while before music fans can again attend a concert in an established club or venue, but music has still managed to flourish during quarantine. Musicians, longing to connect with friends and neighbors, and eager to practice their art, have taken to their porches, patios, driveways, yards and even vehicles to play for passersby. The unexpected melodies have brought joy to listeners and a sense of emotional togetherness during a time of physical distance.... Read More
August 10, 2020 – US Podcast Ad Spending to Surpass $1 Billion Next Year
Podcast listenership in the US has been soaring in recent years and advertising dollars are following. Podcast ad spending is a bright spot amid lackluster digital radio spending. According to eMarketer’s latest forecast, US podcast ad spending will surpass 20% of digital radio ad spending this year and cross the $1 billion mark next year. By the end of 2020, podcast ad spending in the US will reach $782.0 million, up 10.4% from last year, giving it a 21.0% share of the US digital radio ad market.... Read More
August 6, 2020 – Better Concert Livestreams Are Coming. But You’ll Have to Pay for Them.
Adam Weiner has just finished doing pushups in his underwear while singing Canadian punk band SNFU’s “Time to Buy a Futon” for 165 paying fans. “Whoo! I’m really schvitzing now,” Weiner, the frontman and songwriter for Philadelphia rock revivalist band Low Cut Connie, tells the camera, as he puts on a velvety red robe and settles back onto the bench facing his living room piano. He’d started his weekly “Tough Cookies” livestream series early on in the pandemic — but Thursday’s show was his second paid stream.... Read More
August 5, 2020 – Radio’s Roadmap to Gen Z Listenership
Gen Z Listeners in the U.S. are Heavy Users of Streaming, but 55% listen to AM/FM Radio Every Day Audio consumers in “Gen Z” — those between the ages of 13 and 24 — prefer listening on their smartphones, which should be no surprise because they have grown up with the devices, but AM/FM radio’s reach among Gen Z is high (55%), according to Share of Ear® information from Edison Research. Megan Vartan, Director of Research at Edison Research and Jayne Charneski,... Read More
August 4, 2020 – Global E-commerce Sales Will Decelerate This Year
Ecommerce has been a bright spot among retail channels during the coronavirus, as consumers became reliant on digital transactions amid physical store closures and fear of infection. However, the impact on ecommerce retail spending has not been felt evenly across the world. Asia-Pacific and North America have led the regional totals for both brick-and-mortar and ecommerce sales, followed by Western Europe. Due in part to China’s dominance, Asia-Pacific has gained a significant lead in ecommerce with 62.6% share,... Read More
July 28, 2020 – 4 Ways Gen Z Is Changing The Music Industry’s Listening Habits
The streaming era creates its own superstars and music genres, such as bedroom pop. This particular style focuses on pop music that is written and produced by independent musicians largely in their bedrooms. Interestingly, bedroom pop has been attracting millions of listeners around the world, largely by listeners under the age of 25. In fact, we have a name for this group of audiences under the age of 25: Generation Z, or Gen Z for short.... Read More
