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.
April 24, 2020 – Fans Will Continue to Watch Live Streams After Crisis, Says Bandsintown Survey
A new survey conducted by live event discovery platform Bandsintown shows that fans would be willing to continue watching live-streamed events after large gathering bans are lifted. According to the survey, 74% of fans say they will watch live streams on a regular basis after live shows return. The survey, completed by nearly 7,000 Bandsintown users in early April, also concluded that more than 40% of users of had never seen a live-streamed event, either before or after the COVID-19 crisis closed down live concerts around the globe.... Read More
April 24, 2020 – Classic Songs Are Providing Comfort to Fans (and Opportunity for Labels) During Pandemic
Labels are experiencing a boost in niche genres, as well as classic artists’ catalogs. As much of the world shelters in place during the coronavirus pandemic, people are turning to music for comfort — specifically older music. That’s good news for catalog divisions at record companies. “Familiarity and comfort are what people are seeking now and there’s a sense of safety in what you know and were raised on,” says Bruce Resnikoff, President/CEO of Universal Music Enterprises.... Read More
April 22, 2020 – Why The Recorded Music Landscape Might Look Different By Year’s End
There are so many unknowns in the world brought about by COVID-19, and unsurprisingly, how the recorded music industry will come out the other side is one of them. Luckily we live in a world of data these days, but sometimes it’s not easy to tell what we’re looking at until we gain some distance from situation and it appears we have a ways to go before that happens. That said, it’s somewhat certain that the recorded music side of the music business will undergo some big changes and will probably look different by the end of the year.... Read More
April 21, 2020 – Country Music Streams Hit Record High in U.S.
Country music streaming hit a historic new high in the U.S., with a record 1.244 billion on-demand audio streams of songs in the genre in the week ending April 9, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. That blows past the previous single-week high-water mark, set just earlier this year, when 1.201 billion audio clicks occurred in the week ending March 5. Further, overall country song streams (combining on-demand audio and video streams) jumped to 1.389 billion in the week ending April 9.... Read More
April 17, 2020 – To Bump or Not to Bump? Music Industry Split on Waiting Out Pandemic for Album Releases
As recording artists face tough calls about whether to stick with their imminent album release dates or postpone them indefinitely, the two top dance-pop divas of the moment provided divergent examples of which way to go. On March 23, Dua Lipa tearfully took to Instagram Live to tell fans how conflicted she felt about releasing new music during the coronavirus crisis, but said she finally decided to bump her Future Nostalgia release ahead by a week,... Read More
April 15, 2020 – Consumers Willing to Pay More for Streaming During Pandemic, Nielsen Music/MRC Data Finds
How many streaming subscriptions does one person need? According to a new study by Nielsen Music/MRC Data, about a quarter of respondents believe they could use one more. In its new report “COVID-19: Tracking the impact on the Entertainment Landscape,” MRC Data and Nielsen Music — recently acquired by Billboard‘s parent company Valence Media — finds that 60% of the U.S. population are engaging with more entertainment now that so many people are working from home.... Read More
April 9, 2020 – Headphones and earphones likely to experience initial sales spike with work at home, home schooling, and entertainment-in-place
Parks Associates research from Smart Product Market Assessment – Audio Devices finds that 44% of US broadband households own speakers, 37% own headphones bought separately from a phone or music player, and 33% own a separate set of earbuds. Purchase intentions were flat prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, due in large part to the emergence of smart speakers, but demand for headphones and earbuds will likely experience an initial spike with work-at-home and entertainment-in-place now the standard for many households.... Read More
April 8, 2020 – Creative Sectors Assess the impact of COVID-19 and Their Needs to Get Through the Global Crisis
The creative sector has entered a new phase in the coronavirus global crisis by starting to measure the impact of the pandemic on its global streams of revenues for all businesses and individuals affected, following a first wave of urgent relief packages put together by governments in most countries and regions. In the short-term, the businesses most impacted are those who depend on performances and whose live shows have been canceled, in particular in the music sector.... Read More
April 7, 2020 – Top Music Biz Managers Share Tips For Weathering The Pandemic
After years of a bull market, the music industry — particularly the touring business — is looking at an unpredictable and possibly bleak year ahead, if not longer. While shelter-in-place rules could boost music streaming numbers, public gatherings are not expected to resume for months, and some medical experts predict additional cycles of widespread infection before the coronavirus is contained. In light of such great uncertainty, Billboard turned to four of its 2020 Top Business Managers to discuss ways in which they are helping clients make the most of their financials during this time.... Read More
April 3, 2020 – Why Are Music Streams Down If Everyone’s Stuck at Home? Experts Weigh in
While it might seem counterintuitive that music streams would decline at a time when so many Americans were ordered to stay home, data-savvy label executives were neither startled nor concerned by the 7.6% drop in plays that happened in the March 13-19 tracking week. Simply put, they say it’s down to focus on news and other televised options; the loss of daily commutes, where many people stream music; and multiple people at home together streaming the same things.... Read More
