U.S. government-regulated collection agency SoundExchange distributed $947-million in online performance royalties last year. The money went to labels and independent owners of recorded music in 2020. It’s a 4.3% lift from 2019 distributions. Continue Reading
While listening trends are changeable on the whole, American in-car listening routines are decidedly un-modern. AM/FM radio, owned music files, and CDs are the most-used sources. Online streaming and podcasts are making gains, hampered by an 80% lack of in-dash entertainment systems in the American car fleet.
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In its fiscal-Q1 earnings report (quarter ending December 2020), Warner Music Group reported its highest overall quarterly revenue in its history as a standalone company, and 16% digital revenue growth. Streaming was discussed at length by CEO Steve Cooper and CFO Eric Levin. Click through for quotes, numbers, and analysis. Continue Reading
The IFPI has released its annual global music report, offering a look back at the results for an increasingly international industry over the course of 2019. As we’ve already seen in so many individual markets, streaming is continuing to secure growing shares of the music market. It was responsible for more than half of the global revenue in 2019, according to the IFPI’s results. Continue Reading
Adding to our takeover newsletter coverage yesterday of The Infinite Dial 2020, we will indulge in some pinpoint recognition of interesting results. Listening in the car is a key part of the Infinite Dial package. We noticed that “owned music” enjoyed the greatest growth as the audio source used most often in the car. Um, why? Continue Reading
RAIN published our annual Predictions feature in the first week of January. We challenged participants to predict a key metric in the RIAA 2019 report of streaming music revenue. Alexis van de Wyer and Steve Pratt were both right to a half percentage point. Continue Reading
The Consumer Technology Association has released its annual forecast for 2020. The report projects that the consumer tech industry will see $422 billion in retail revenue this year, which would be a record-high and a 4% increase from the 2019 result. Continue Reading
Metallica music was streamed a billion times in 2019 by 46-million people who listened to 90-million hours of the stuff. Those metrics were shared by the band from its Wrapped for Artists tool. There is a certain irony. Continue Reading
Play it again, Congress. Legislators are making another effort to create performance royalties for radio airplay. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) have introduced the Ask Musicians for Music, or AM-FM, Act. Continue Reading
Since its debut, the iTunes platform has been synonymous with the music industry’s adaptation to a digital world. This week, Apple has rolled out its new operating system for Mac computers, Catalina, and with it, the company marks the end of its iTunes era, reflecting the entertainment business’ shift to streaming models that offer access rather than ownership. Continue Reading
The Consumer Technology Assocation released its latest projections, anticipating that 2019 will see $401 billion in retail revenue for consumer technologies in the United States. The report suggested that growth in streaming services, AI-enabled devices, and in-vehicle technology would be key in driving that 2.2% on-year increase. Continue Reading
A collection of global music industry organizations and businesses have banded together to curb stream manipulation. Their “code of best practice” includes 21 points directed toward stopping efforts to artificially inflate stream counts and influence copyright payouts on audio and audio/visual platforms. Manipulation might include the use of bots, other automated processes, false accounts, and “pay for play” approaches to skewing stream counts. Continue Reading