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 6, 2019 – ERA Study: Paid-For Streaming on Course to Overtake Free Services for the First Time
Subscription streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, Deezer and YouTube Music are winning the battle to persuade more people to pay to stream music than stream it for free, according to new figures from the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA). Already more males pay to stream (24.3%) rather than stream for free (23.9%), and more 25-34 year-olds also choose paid-for (34.9%) than free (27.9%). Overall more people stream for free (21.5%) rather than pay (20.6%),... Read More
February 5, 2019 – Report: Smart Speaker Adoption in the U.S. Reaches 66 Million Units
Smart speakers had a good holiday in 2018. Amazon already said its Echo Dot outsold all other items on its site this holiday season, which hinted toward the sizable growth for the voice-powered speaker market. And a new report from research firm CIRP shows that the U.S. installed base for speakers grew to 66 million units in December 2018, up from 53 million in the September 2018 quarter and just 37 million in December 2017. Amazon Echo devices still lead the U.S.... Read More
February 1, 2019 – CDs Are Still Top of the Pops for Classical Music Fans
A new study, led by Dr. Victoria Williamson from the University of Sheffield’s Department of Music and Dr. Elena Alessandri from the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Switzerland, has revealed a series of new insights about the listening habits of the modern classical music listener. Findings from the research, which was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation, show that CDs are twice as popular as Spotify or iTunes among classical music fans.... Read More
January 31, 2019 – 71 Percent of U.S. Broadband Households Own a Connected Entertainment Device
In a new white paper, Changing Dynamics of the Smart Home: Opportunities for Service Providers, Parks Associates reveals that 71 percent of U.S. broadband households own a connected entertainment device. The white paper examines strategies for service providers to deliver a successful smart home experience that incorporates support, security, privacy protection, and a variety of personalized value propositions. “The average U.S. broadband household owns more than ten IoT devices, crossing entertainment, smart home, and health use cases,” said Parks Associates Vice President Denise Ernst.... Read More
January 28, 2019 – Five Things Retailers Should Know About Millennial Shoppers
Millennials have been credited with upending entire industries, and retail is no exception. Here’s what retailers need to know about attracting and retaining consumers from a maturing generation of digital shoppers. No. 1: Retailers Must Be Digital and Corporeal The concept of omnichannel is simple—be where your customers are, whether that’s online or at a brick-and-mortar location. But bridging the gap between digital and physical is easier said than done. Retailers that figure it out will be rewarded,... Read More
January 28, 2019 – Four Ways The Business Of Music Videos Will Transform In 2019
During its heyday in the ’90s, MTV provided a valuable channel for major labels to shape the visual appeal of its biggest stars, from Michael Jackson to Madonna, but nailing that video placement was always secondary to driving record sales. Overall, during the “golden age” of recorded music in the last two decades of the 20th century, videos and live tours were often treated as advertisements for albums—prioritizing the commercial performance of the audio over that of the visual.... Read More
January 18, 2019 – The Future of Voice Assistants like Alexa and Siri Isn’t Just in Homes — It’s in Cars
As smart speakers take off in the home, it’s important to note that cars are an even bigger market for voice assistants. Some 77 million US adults use voice assistants in their cars at least monthly, compared with 45.7 million using them on smart speakers, according to a new survey from voice tech publication Voicebot.ai. Smartphones, with their near universal adoption, are the biggest source of regular voice assistant usage — think Siri on iPhones and Google Assistant on Android phones — with 90.1 million smartphone owners using them at least once a month,... Read More
January 18, 2019 – How Streaming Powered Christmas Music’s Record-Breaking 2018 Season
The 2018 holiday season is over, and the dust has finally settled on the huge impact of Christmas music on the charts. Christmas songs occupied 23 slots on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the first week of January, only to fall off simultaneously and catapult a host of newcomers onto the charts. Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas is You,” which rose to an all-time high of No. 3, smashed XXXTentacion’s single-day streaming record on Spotify,... Read More
January 17, 2019 – 5G Is Coming: So What Does This Mean for Music?
5G was the hot topic at CES 2019, with numerous companies sharing their ambitious plans. 5G has the potential to make loading websites, streaming music, and downloading up to 10 times faster than 4G. The United States isn’t expected to see the first 5G-compatible networks until 2020, but that hasn’t stopped telcos from openly bragging. For now, it’s unclear just how much the protocol upgrade will impact music-specific properties. One quick possibility is that higher-fidelity streams can be consumed more readily,... Read More
January 15, 2019 – Latin Music Is Now More Popular Than Country & EDM In America
2018 represented another year of the Latin-music scene growing in significant and mainstream ways, and a new year-end report puts into perspective just how competitive it is among other top music genres. When it comes to album consumption, Latin took a 9.4% share of 2018 market as the fifth-biggest genre examined. Hip-hop led the way (with 21.7% of all LP consumption) and was followed by pop, rock and R&B music. But Latin music now ranks ahead of country,... Read More
