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.
January 10, 2017 – Nielsen 2016 Report: Streaming Smashes From Adele, Drake & More Offset Sinking Music Sales
As streaming rapidly becomes music’s leading format, the business is growing with it. In 2016, the industry tallied 561 million album-consumption units, according to Nielsen Music, a 3 percent increase over 2015’s 543.8 million units — the first time during the millennium that the industry has posted gains in two consecutive years. For more stats from Nielsen, click here.... Read More
January 9, 2017 – Music Subscriptions Passed 100 Million In December. Has The World Changed?
In streaming’s earlier years, when doubts prevailed across the artist, songwriter and label communities, one of the arguments put forward by enthusiasts was that when streaming reached scale everything would make sense. When asked what ‘scale’ meant, the common reply was ‘100 million subscribers’. In December, the streaming market finally hit and passed that milestone, notching up 100.4 million subscribers by the stroke of midnight on the 31st December. Read more here.... Read More
January 6, 2017 – British Retail Group Points to Music as Entertainment’s Fastest-Growing Sector
Music revenues in the U.K. grew by 4.6 percent in 2016 — driving music, video and games sales to an all-time high of £6.3 billion ($7.8 billion), according to annual figures from the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA). In line with figures released earlier this week by labels trade body BPI, increased take-up of streaming subscription services was a key factor in boosting revenues, with streaming sales totaling £418 million ($514 million) in 2016, up 65 percent on last year when streaming generated just over £250 million ($307 million).... Read More
January 6, 2017 – Music Consumption Rises; President James Donio Releases Statement
Music Biz President James Donio released the following statement on the 2016 end-of-year sales and consumption reports released by BuzzAngle Music and Nielsen (published in Billboard): “For the second straight year, overall music consumption was notably up, strengthening hopes for a new era of music industry growth driven largely by on-demand streaming. Nielsen reported that overall music consumption grew 2% to 440.8 million equivalent album units in 2016 (3.1% to 560.7 million units when on-demand video streams are included).... Read More
January 5, 2017 – Drake’s ‘Views’ Is Nielsen Music’s Top Album of 2016 in the U.S.
Drake caps a banner year, as his smash album Views finishes 2016 as the most popular release of the year in the U.S., according to Nielsen Music. The data tracking company reports that the title earned 4.14 million equivalent album units during the year — with 1.61 million of that sum coming from traditional album sales. Overall for 2016, Nielsen reports that total music consumption rose 3.1 percent to 560.7 million units. That figure adds together traditional album sales,... Read More
January 4, 2017 – Still a Fad? Vinyl Records Return to 1991 Sales Levels
It’s been a storied resurgence for vinyl records, which now include LP, EPs, and even 45s. Once considered a short-lived fad, this comeback has been going for ten strong years. And, counting. According to the latest data, sales of vinyl records are now back to early-1990s volumes. According to data shared by British industry group BPI, vinyl record sales gained 53% in the UK alone last year. That brings the total to 3.2 million, exactly the same volumes recorded in 1991.... Read More
January 3, 2017 – BuzzAngle Music 2016 U.S. Report
Music Biz member BuzzAngle Music is proud to release its first-ever yearly report, on 2016 U.S. music consumption. 2016 was another successful year in music, with overall consumption rising 4.2% over 2015, marking the second year in a row with solid growth. The continued explosion of audio stream consumption, which increased 82.6% to 250B streams, fueled this increase. Both album sales and song sales continued to decline but the transition to these new access methods has shown to provide overall growth and a sustainable business model for the future.... Read More
December 27, 2016 – The Most Wonderful Time of the Year — for Shopping!
Winter is here, and for many Americans, that means the holiday hunt for gifts (and deals) has officially begun. Holiday shopping begins earlier and earlier each passing year. In 2015, half of Americans had started their holiday shopping by Nov. 2. This year, consumers have maintained pace, where 51% had started their holiday shopping by Oct. 28, and 55% had started by Nov. 11. Thirty-nine percent of consumers planned to shop for the holidays on Thanksgiving evening,... Read More
December 22, 2016 – Traditions (Yearly & Quadrennial) Shapes the Radio Landscape in December
The year-end holidays are just around the corner and everywhere you look (and listen), annual traditions are taking shape as Americans get ready to close the book on another year. Holiday music now fills the airwaves across many stations from coast to coast, while the forthcoming start of a new presidential administration remains the lead news story across News/Talk stations. Read more here.... Read More
December 19, 2016 – Music Drives Top 3 Most Wanted Tech Gifts Of 2016 [CHART]
According to a study by the Consumer Technology Association, music driven products are among the most wanted tech gifts of 2016. Headphones and a portable Bluetooth speaker are #1 and #3 respectively, and since #2 (smartphones) are increasingly how consumers access music, the industry could claim all of the top three. Read more here.... Read More
