The music industry has been in an interesting position in regards to the rise of audio market and the change of attention to online content.
#1. Podcast & music, is the bond being created?
We’ve seen on numerous occasions that podcasts are the major trend for music streaming platforms to diversify their content (although, are they really just “music” streaming platforms then?). Even though podcast has had its own audience and been raising its own subscriptions, its link to music is being sorted out.
Indeed, we’ve seen opportunities for music in podcasts. Whether podcasts are being used to promote platforms, artists or exclusive releases, it’s a new discoverability mean that could be an interesting one to watch develop. Moreover, since podcasts aren’t exactly regulated when it comes to licensing tracks that are included in the content, a market is developing for music publishing.
The audio market seems to be polarizing, opening up new options and making them available to a larger audience.
#2. The creator economy is only working for a happy few
A report published by Linktree (the webpage that you reach usually through an Instagram profile to access several redirects) showed that only 12% of full-time creators earn more than $50 000 a year. 46% are earning less than $1 000 a year.
Sure it’s not only relative to music, but diversifying revenues through content creation and audience monetization is a clear trend for artists. And it may just give us an idea of how much it could bring up, additionally to royalties.
Interesting fact: the main source of revenue is the monetization of audiences, memberships and merch. Partnerships with brands aren’t a reliable long-term revenue source.
#3. Another week, another catalog sale
This week, it’s Primary Wave getting to buy David Malloy’s publishing catalog and get various producer royalties along the way. In return, the marketing and sync team from Primary Wave will be able to work on the valorization of the tracks.
David Malloy is one of the most influential Country artists, and his tracks have been nominated several times at the Grammys and a BMI Burton Award.
#4. Has the attention recession reached the music industry?
You may have seen the well shared article by MIDiA Research on the attention recession. In a word, since we are a bit more free to go outside and not stay in as much as the last two years, some main entertainment platforms are now losing the interest of their audience. The main one being Netflix, losing subscribers.
And it seems like music could go down the same road. Luckily, Spotify’s Q1 numbers are out, and we can get an idea of how the biggest music (or audio) company is doing. Spotify grew by 2 million quarter-on-quarter in Q1 2022, increasing to 182 million subscribers globally. It’s more than last year at the same period (and let’s keep in mind that the company cut out 1,5 million subscriptions from Russia). It’s good news for the company (and the music field as it seems that the attention is still there).
#5. Managing music in our current environment
An interesting series on music management has been launched for a while on Music Business Worldwide, and this edition’s tagline caught our eye: “if your management plan is to try and get a record to blow up on TikTok… you don’t have a plan”. We couldn't agree more.
We will let you dive into the vision of Jonathan Daniel, founder of Crush Management through the article, but on Reprtoir’s side, working on strategy is an interesting aspect. We’ve been creating a workspace to manage all music business related tasks, and it seems only normal to support our users through the strategies they put in place.
