Tag: Music Revenue

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RIAA: Recorded music reaches $15 billion milestone; 23% growth in 2021

RIAA Money report

A new report from the RIAA is shedding much-needed light on recorded music’s incredible comeback story.

What a difference a decade can make. Back in 2010, the music industry was in dire straights. A decade-long battle against piracy had eroded album sales and hurt fan relationships, leading to crossroads where many questioned the industry’s future. Then Spotify happened, and as we all know, things slowly began to improve.

Now, there are more reasons than ever to celebrate.

Today, The RIAA released new data showing continued strong growth in virtually every recorded music format – including streaming, vinyl, and even CDs which jumped 21% last year. That strong, broad growth – which includes TikTok music revenue for the first time – pushed overall revenues to a historic $15 billion last year, the highest figure ever reported by our industry (though when adjusted for inflation still nearly 40% off 1999’s peak).  This data shows how artists and labels working together are achieving new heights of creative and commercial success and driving opportunities and income streams for songwriters, publishers, platforms, services, and apps.

RIAA Chairman and CEO Mitch Glazier released the following statement:

“The incredible run of strong, industry-wide growth documented in this and prior reports speaks to the dynamic and vibrant creative and commercial relationships today’s labels have built with their artist partners. Labels haven’t simply reinvented themselves, they have helped transform the entire process of music creation, discovery, and distribution to bolster creative freedom and artistic expression while seamlessly meeting fans everywhere and anywhere they want to be. The result has been an incredibly vibrant period delivering new opportunities, platforms, and experiences – from music-powered fitness apps to gaming platform livestream concerts to must-have vinyl exclusives to global surprise digital album drops. Creative genius unleashed in new ways driving shared commercial success and record payments to artists.”

He continued:

“No industry in history has embraced changing technologies and innovations faster than music over the last ten years – taking streaming from novelty to ubiquitous in the blink of an eye and now working to drive a new generation of social apps, shared immersive experiences, and blockchain/NFT opportunities going forward.”

RIAA’s full 2021 Recorded Music Revenue Report is available here.

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Music Industry Growth Continues Amid Catastrophic Global Pandemic

The novel coronavirus and its devastating widespread economic impact are not enough to stop the music industry’s seemingly endless growth.

March 2020 feels like a lifetime ago. When COVID-19 forced the immediate suspension of live music and placed millions into isolation, music industry analysts feared the worst. A lack of concerts meant a dip in revenue, and a lack of commuting said the same about streaming royalties. Thousands found themselves out of work, and many remain unemployed (at least in music) today. The idea that music would grow this year was far-fetched, to say the least.

A report published by the RIAA this week that was shared by Billboard with an article from author Dan Rys found good news still exists. The U.S. recorded-music business was still in an upswing in the first half of 2020, growing 5.6% at retail to $5.7 billion, up from $5.4 billion, continuing a trend of growth that extends back to the industry’s nadir in 2015.

RIAA graph depicting change in mid-year retail revenues year over year

The less than great news is that industry-wide growth took a pandemic-related hit. The latest numbers end a streak of double-digit gains that bega with a mid-year report in 2017. Such growth is hard for any industry to maintain with or without a global pandemic, but the change is happening much sooner than expected because of COVID-19.

As part of the total $5.7 billion in revenue, streaming accounted for $4.8 billion, or 85%, increasing its share from the 80% it held at the same point in 2019 when it totaled $4.3 billion. And within that, paid subscription revenue accounted for $3.8 billion, an increase of 14% over last year and 67% of the total revenue share overall, and 79% of streaming revenue. Additionally, paid streaming subscriptions was up 24% for the first half of the year, to 72.1 million from 58.2 million at the same point in 2019.

The continuing spread of the novel coronavirus has kept many physical music retailers closed for the majority of 2020. It is no surprise those closures affected physical media’s standing in the overall music ecosystem, where it now accounts for just 7% of all recorded music revenue. Digital claims the remaining 93%, which is 2% gain over 2019.

Something report cannot account for is how much different the data would look if the releases delayed due to COVID-19 were released. While many artists have moved forward with their original plans, countless others are holding their records until a time when touring and more traditional music promotion is possible.

“These are historically difficult times: the live music sector is shut down; studio recording is limited; and millions of Americans are out of work across the broader economy,” RIAA chairman/CEO Mitch Glazier said in a statement accompanying the report. “While we’re pleased that the years of hard work and resources we’ve invested in streaming are driving growth in paid subscriptions, today’s report demonstrates just how much work remains to achieve a sustainably healthy music ecosystem for both music creators and fans. We must continue working to help sustain live music and venues, support gig workers and session musicians, and ensure fair pay for music on all digital platforms. Despite all the challenges from the pandemic, one thing clearly hasn’t changed — fans still love music.”

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Report: Live music sales slip in first-half of 2019

Despite more artists touring than ever before, total ticket sales and revenue for live music is down compared to the same period in 2018.

Are the cost of concerts too high for consumers, or are there not enough megastars touring right now? Are people growing tired of live music, or has the number of tours happening at any moment time overwhelmed audiences? We don’t have any answers, but these questions need to be addressed.

Pollstar released data regarding the top 100 tours of the year so far, and the results show a steep decline in sales compared to the same period in 2018. The stats show that Sir Elton John had the global highest-grossing act in the first-half of 2019, generating $82.6m across 56 shows. The British singer/songwriter, currently on his farewell tour as biopic Rocketman graces movie theaters, brought in more than P!nk (No.2 with $81.8m), Justin Timberlake (No.3 with $75.5m), Metallica (No.4 with $69.7m) and Fleetwood Mac (No.5 with $67.7m). 

Those figures are impressive, and they represent countless sold out shows in large arenas, but they pale in comparison to sales from last year. According to Pollstar’s data from the first-half of 2018, the Top 100 global tours turned over $2.81bn in gross sales. In the same period this year, however, this worldwide figure for the Top 100 tours stood at $2.06bn – falling by 26.8%, or $752m, year-on-year.

That three-quarter of a billion-dollar decline is setting off alarms throughout the industry, and raising a lot of questions about what could explain such a change. 

Not surprising, total ticket sales for 2019 so far are down as well. Data from 2018 reveals 31.29 million tickets sold in the first six months of the year, but in 2019, that number is down to 22.28 million. That’s a 28% change.

The one area of ticketing that increased this year? Ticket prices.

Calculations by Music Business Worldwide suggest that the average ticket price of the world’s Top 100 shows was $92.42 in H1 2019 – up from the $89.85 average price posted in the first half of last year.

MOST EXPENSIVE AVERAGE TICKET PRICES IN H1 2019 AMONGST THE TOP 100 NORTH AMERICAN TOURS, ACCORDING TO POLLSTAR

  1. Bruce Springsteen, Springsteen On Broadway ($506.39 average)
  2. Lady Gaga ($269.94)
  3. Aerosmith ($205.02)
  4. Bruno Mars ($193.76)
  5. Andrea Bocelli ($176.41)
  6. George Strait ($173.74)
  7. Gwen Stefani ($170.24)
  8. Eagles ($157.86)
  9. BTS ($146.62)
  10. Fleetwood Mac ($143.58)

The possible explanations for these changes are numerous. More artists touring could mean less income for top-tier talent, but the number of festivals and tours for talent at all levels that have struggled to fill venues says otherwise. The increasing cost of tickets for good seats, coupled with the continuing reign ticketing bots, may also explain the change, but there is not enough data to support that idea at this time.

With streaming revenue remaining stagnant, artists are depending on tour revenue to keep their careers afloat. That may, in part, explain rising ticket prices, but if the cost of admission alienates consumers then artists will be in more trouble than they are right now.

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Billboard reveals the 12 indie labels with the largest revenue estimates

Major labels continue to dominate the music business, but there are at least a dozen indie labels making a healthy living in the age of streaming.

The music industry is not what is once was, and that is a good thing. There was a time in the not too distant past where the gap between major label dominance and successful indie labels felt unfathomable. Streaming and the internet changed things, however, and a new graphic from the folks at Billboard has revealed just how different the business of music has become.

According to an article first released in the April 27th issue of Billboard, in the first quarter of 2019, independent labels collectively accounted for an estimated 36% of U.S. market share when measured by label ownership. With total revenue of $2.3 billion in 2018, the 12 indies highlighted below had some of the biggest U.S. paydays.

The top earning labels have found success by diversifying their portfolios. Concord Music Group, for example, has acquired numerous smaller labels and catalogs over the last few years. Big Machine Label Group, on the other hand, has been foraying into the world of alcohol and spirits with artist-branded products that are then sold through tours and other live appearances.

Several of the labels featured here, including Concord Music Group, BMG, Entertainment One, use Haulix to promote their new and upcoming releases to tastemakers around the world. You can join them and thousands of other industry professionals in using the service today, for free. Click here to discover the Haulix difference.

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Despite streaming’s growth, the music industry is half the size it was in 1999

The streaming revolution is helping the music industry recover with each passing year, but there is still a long way to go.

Music fans and industry professionals too young to remember the panic that followed the start of the new millennium are lucky. For years, the widely accepted narrative that music piracy made easy by the internet was killing the business of music left many feeling lost and afraid. Labels downsized, if not folded entirely, and many artists on the rise struggled to convince fans that music was worth the same price it previously demanded.

Paid streaming subscriptions were sold to industry as a savior, ushering in a new era of consumption that would counteract the effects of illegal music downloading by making virtually all recorded music accessible from anywhere on Earth for one low price. The return for buying into that promise took years to appear, but there is no denying that streaming services have made a positive impact on music overall. Everyone knows someone who pays for streaming music. In fact, it’s increasingly hard to find someone who doesn’t

According to a new report by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), global recorded music sales grew by 9.7% in 2018, to $19.1 billion, the fourth consecutive year of growth after many years of decline. The results were driven by a surge in paid streaming, which rose by 33% last year.

Adjusted for inflation, however, sales in 2018 were just over half of what they were in 1999.

As we previously highlighted on our blog, there are now 255 million paid music subscribers, accounting for 37% of total industry revenue. When ad-supported services are added, streaming now accounts for 47% of sales of recorded music.

That growth is impressive, but again it’s important to maintain perspective. While streaming continues to gain popularity, its market dominance most offsets losses in the sales of physical media.

Revenue for physical formats in 2018 fell 10% from the year prior, and digital download revenue fell by 21%.

Major labels now celebrate the success their artists experience from streaming services, which is surprising considering the stance many in the industry took against such platforms just a decade ago. It seems many see streaming as the best way to prevent piracy, even if it means a lower return than what physical media sales offer.

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