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.
December 18, 2018 – Artists Direct and Streaming The Big Winners In 2018
MIDiA’s year-end revenue estimate signals that Artists Direct were the biggest winners in 2018, with a 35 percent increase in revenue over 2017 totaling an estimated $643 million. Streaming revenue jumped 29 percent in 2018 to an estimated $9.6 billion, which helped drive the 8.2 percent increase in overall recorded music revenue at $18.9 billion. To create their end-of-year estimates, MIDiA collected data from record labels, national trade associations and also confidential data from the leading Artist Direct/DIY platforms.... Read More
December 14, 2018 – Music Streaming and Podcast Listening in Cars Doubles in Five Years – Study
Increasing connectivity between cars and smartphones is changing what drivers listen to behind the wheel, according to a new study. As wireless links between cars and mobile devices using streaming services have become more common, the number of drivers listening to downloaded or streamed audio has doubled in the last five years, the research by Nissan suggests. The study claims one in six drivers now chooses to listen to a podcast, audiobook or downloaded or streamed music playlist while behind the wheel,... Read More
December 14, 2018 – 2018 Holiday Gift Guide: Music Execs Share Their Picks For Gadgets & Goodies
The holiday season always hits amidst a wind-down period for the industry, as Q4’s releases trickle out and the OOO messages start piling up, leaving time for a bit of reflection, R&R and a lot more of the “play” in the work-play dynamic. To fete the end of the year and the 2018 holiday season, Billboard reached out to a number of the industry’s top executives across sectors — including labels, publishing, live, management, social media,... Read More
December 10, 2018 – Vinyl Record Production Has Finally Joined The Modern Age
When you think of manufacturing in the US, vinyl records probably isn’t the first thing that springs to mind, but the industry has been chugging along as best it can. For decades, pressing plants have been using aging machines that require a complex infrastructure of piping for the steam-based heating (and cooling) mechanisms — not to mention an engineering support team to keep them in working order. New vinyl presses just weren’t being made, at least until a few years ago.... Read More
December 6, 2018 – Oldies But Goodies: Streaming Makes Catalog Records New Again
Since 2014, digital music streaming buoyed the recorded music business into its third year of rising global revenue. As if that weren’t good enough news already, fans found out that their old music- or what industry executives call “catalog”- mattered again. In the recorded music business, “frontline” has traditionally been considered any track less than 18 months old. “Catalog” was any music older than that 18 month period. This distinction- while mostly arbitrary to everyday fans- meant a lot to how money was allocated to a recording artist’s career.... Read More
December 5, 2018 – Independent Record Labels Earned $6.9BN in 2017, Says Report
Global revenues generated by independent record labels reached $6.9 billion in 2017 according to WINTEL 2018, the third report produced for the Worldwide Independent Network (WIN). That figure was up 10.9% year-on-year compared to 2016, when indie labels generated $6.2bn. The research also shows that independents increased their global market share from 39.6% in 2016 to 39.9% in 2017. The WINTEL report maps the global market share of the independent sector at copyright, rather than distribution,... Read More
November 29, 2018 – Will Video Shopping Be the Next Big Thing? All Signs Point to Yes
There’s a lot of chatter around voice — digital personal assistants like Alexa and Siri — and for good reason. Voice’s potential is huge and already impacting how consumers interact with, if not buy from brands. But perhaps one of the more immediate trends in commerce recently got a boost when Google introduced two new image-focused ad formats earlier this fall. One is a new video version of the Showcase Shopping ads that began testing with 500 advertisers in September.... Read More
November 27, 2018 – Holiday Shopping With Your Amazon Echo? You’re A Trendsetter
Several researchers predict a breakthrough is coming for voice shopping, despite its many shortcomings, like the difficulty in explaining complicated items. They say the technology appears to be following the same path as mobile shopping, which started off slow and is now a major channel for buying goods. If voice becomes the next big thing in retail, it would help Amazon strengthen its lead in online shopping and allow Google to become a stronger e-commerce competitor.... Read More
November 27, 2018 – Holiday Shoppers Used Their Phones To Spend $1 Billion This Thanksgiving
Shoppers weren’t afraid to pull out their smartphones to shop on Thanksgiving, to the tune of $1 billion. Sales online Thanksgiving Day totaled $3.7 billion, up 28 percent from a year ago, Adobe Analytics said in a report Friday. That makes Thursday the fastest-growing day for e-commerce sales in history, added the firm, which tracks transactions from 80 of the top 100 internet retailers. Thursday was also the first day in 2018 to see $1 billion in sales from smartphones,... Read More
November 25, 2018 – Consumer Audio Poised for Rapid Growth: Futuresource Consulting Key Trends Roundup
Consumer audio hardware is making a comeback and poised for a period of rapid growth. That was the central theme in a key trends presentation at Futuresource Consulting’s Audio Collaborative event earlier this month. “When it comes to consumer audio, we’re back in boom time,” said Jack Wetherill, Principal Consultant at Futuresource Consulting. “Just a decade ago the market was being swallowed up by mobile phones, resulting in a worldwide decline in trade value of 25% over the four years to 2012.... Read More
