It would have been difficult to miss out on the price increase at Spotify this week, but they’re not the only major platform looking to make some changes in the industry. Let’s see what Vevo, Apple Music or BMI are up to this week.
#1. The latest forecasts of 2023 for music
We’ve officially landed on the second part of the year by now and it’s time for some numbers. Which as you know is MIDiA Research’s favorite game. So they’ve just released their Global Music Market forecast for 2023. It’s always good to have a view as clear as possible of the market we’re working on.
Even though you can get your hands on very detailed data curated by the analysts, what’s interesting is that we’re starting to see a steady growth, even though our market remains volatile after a pandemic. In this study, MIDiA takes all factors into account, including the economic landscape, the trend of spending less than before… They are now expecting a bit more than a 50% growth in revenue for the global music market for 2030 (which isn’t a super optimistic forecast, although it remains honorable). Without any surprises, the markets that are expected to drive the majority of that growth are Asia-Pacific and Latin America.
#2. What does Spotify’s price increase mean for the industry?
Speaking of numbers, Spotify made headlines this week with their price rise. This has been unrolled in 52 markets around the world, but what does it mean for the company and the rights-holders who are getting paid by the platform?
Music Business Worldwide ran the numbers and made it clear that the company is going to see a serious rise in their yearly revenue (even only in the US, this will be a game-changer). But interestingly enough, when the price increase happened for the other platforms, the number of subscribers increased as well. This didn’t stop growth at all, meaning that revenue went even higher than expected. Which would be good news for the music industry as a whole.
#3. Why is Vevo speaking about Smart TV?
Does Vevo ring a bell? These videoclips available on YouTube have been around for almost 15 years and yet, they are still pushing for the evolution of video in music. The next target: Smart TVs. These are offering new possibilities for artists to get creative with their video content.
Vevo now accounts for 800 000 tracks in their catalog, for 25 billion views a month. Their trademark brings artists' work at the forefront of any video platform. Even though YouTube is the main platform these views are coming from, connected TVs opened a whole new array of possibilities on monetization, sponsorships and partnerships for music.
You can learn more about Vevo’s strategy and vision in Music Week!
#4. Sale or no sale? BMI is changing their model
Switching to public representation rights, BMI has made some movements this week as well. If you remember, last year they tried to sell themselves for about $2 billion. This didn’t go as planned since no one was interested in buying the company at this price.
What we have to keep in mind is that BMI has always been a non-profit organization, generating about $145 million a year with more than $1.5 billion to rights-holders. They took the decision to change that; BMI is now a for-profit organization, looking to expand and grow revenue sources. This means that they might not go for a sale, at least not now.
Mike O’Neill, President and CEO of BMI, explained their decision: “Simply put, growth for BMI means growth for our affiliates. And most importantly, our goal is to continue to increase our royalty distributions at an even greater rate than we have before.”
#5. Apple Music hits the unreleased Country tracks
Apple Music is now focusing on country music. Their new program Lost & Found highlights some of tracks that never saw the light of day by selecting among all the propositions they’ve received by composers and recording them to be released exclusively on Apple Music. With this program, the streaming platform is looking to gain traction for a specific audience, but also to create serious bonds with artists, mainly based in Nashville.
