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.
February 19, 2020 – Why Indie Artists Are Releasing Music at a Much Faster Rate in 2020
Since the advent of the genre in the ‘80s and early ‘90s, the standard trajectory for signed Indie Rock bands has been to release an album, tour on it for roughly two years, release another album, repeat. In the industry, this is known as the two-year album cycle, a model that’s ostensibly designed to maximize the impact (and profits) of a sole record by having an artist promote it for the time it takes them to exhaustively gig throughout their markets.... Read More
February 19, 2020 – High-Definition Music: Bringing Quality Back to Convenience
Most people, particularly millennials and Generation Z, wouldn’t stand for watching videos on a boxy, grainy television set. Yet, that’s essentially the equivalent of the poor-quality sound they get when they download or stream music from services that don’t support high resolution. These platforms and services compress large music files to give customers an important trade-off: convenience. So, you get to listen to your favorite Pink Floyd album (plus millions of other songs) in every room of your house and while you walk to the subway,... Read More
February 14, 2020 – Influencers More Likely to Inspire Gen Zer and Millennial Purchases
Younger generations are more likely to buy products based on influencer recommendations, as well as consider them reliable. However, these demographics still see influencers as less trustworthy than other sources. An August 2019 survey from GlobalWebIndex shows that roughly one in five of Gen Z and millennial respondents from the US and UK made a purchase inspired by an influencer or celebrity post on social media. GlobalWebIndex defines Gen Zers as those ages 16 to 22 and millennials as those ages 23 to 36.... Read More
February 13, 2020 – Podcasts Are The New Black
It’s been widely acknowledged that podcasts have hit a tipping point. Usage is growing across all demographics, even older ones initially more resistant to the medium. And media companies are responding with content galore. As of December 2019, it was reported there are over 800,000 shows and over 30 million podcast episodes available — up more than 60% from just 18 months earlier. It would seem that all one needs to do is launch a podcast and start reaping the benefits.... Read More
February 12, 2020 – How the Music Industry Is Fighting the Mental-Health Crisis
In a 2018 study from the Music Industry Research Association, 50 percent of musicians reported battling symptoms of depression, compared with less than 25 percent of the general adult population. Nearly 12 percent reported having suicidal thoughts — nearly four times the general population. According to a 2019 study published by Swedish digital-distribution platform Record Union, the numbers are even starker: It found that 73 percent of independent musicians have battled stress, anxiety, and depression. “We’ve hit a tipping point where the people who work in our industry — artists as well as crew — are commodities,” says Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman,... Read More
February 11, 2020 – Content Ownership Is King: That’s Why Movie, TV and Music Libraries Are In Such High Demand
It’s Oscar season, a time when eyes all around the world focus on Hollywood and the stories – the content – that win the most golden statues. And, going in to Oscar night, Silicon Valley-born new media giant, Netflix, was the lead storyteller. Netflix boasted more Oscar nominations (24) than any other studio, a fact that perfectly encapsulates the state of our streaming-led, multi-platform world of media and entertainment (M&E). Content, of course, sits in the center of it all –... Read More
February 5, 2020 – Jennifer Lopez and Shakira’s Song Catalog Nets 893% Sales Gain After Super Bowl
Thanks to their Super Bowl LIV halftime show performance, both Jennifer Lopez and Shakira see major sales gains for their entire catalog of songs, according to initial sales reports to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. It’s no surprise that each artist’s biggest selling songs on Feb. 2 were also tunes that were performed during the halftime show. Shakira’s top three biggest sellers were “Whenever, Wherever” (4,000; up 1,264%), “Hips Don’t Lie” (3,000; up 1,201%) and “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)” (2,000;... Read More
February 4, 2020 – BuzzAngle Music and Nielsen Music/MRC Data Share GRAMMY 2020 Music Consumption Data
As in years past, performances at this year’s GRAMMY Awards caused a large spike in sales and streaming activity around performing artists and the songs featured in the GRAMMYs telecast. BuzzAngle Music has launched an online portal that showcase some of the biggest sales splashes made during the telecast and in the following 24 hours. Key takeaways from BuzzAngle’s analysis include: Camila Cabello singing “First Man” caused her song sales to grow by more than 68,000%.... Read More
February 3, 2020 – Why Millennials Refuse to Let Go of Physical Media
Millennials are notorious for killing things: the power lunch, diamond sales, breakfast cereal. But all this obsession over what this generation isn’t buying tends to overshadow the fact that, in an increasingly digital world, they are by and large the ones keeping physical media alive. If you’ve ever had to help a person between the ages of 24 and 40 move, you’re already painfully aware. You’ve seen the boxes and boxes of books, records, CDs and DVDs that get schlepped from apartment to apartment despite the fact that they’re almost all streaming somewhere.... Read More
January 27, 2020 – India is Now the Second Largest Smartphone Market in the World, Surpassing the U.S.
A new report by Counterpoint Research estimates that India surpassed the United States to become the second largest smartphone market with an estimated 158 million devices shipped to the country in 2019. China is still the global leader at number one. Interestingly, India’s surge to second place is largely thanks to Chinese smartphone manufacturers. Phones manufactured by companies like Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo, and Realme made up a whopping 72 percent of devices shipped to India in 2019.... Read More
