independent labels blog by MIDiA Research

Blog: independent labels

Independent labels and distributors: take our survey!

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

13 Feb 2023

Measuring the actual contribution of the independent sector to the global recorded music market is an important but difficult task. The traditional way of thinking about independent market share is to...

What comes next in the music streaming model makeover

Blog post by Tatiana Cirisano

17 Jan 2023

music streaming

Major labels

independent artists

The independent music community has been rallying for change to the streaming payment model for years. Now, major labels are joining the chorus. Why? The pro-rata model has long benefited bigger record...

Beatport’s LabelRadar acquisition is the latest sign of the platforms era

Blog post by Tatiana Cirisano

22 Jul 2022

Beatport

record labels

music industry

This week, online music marketplace Beatport acquired LabelRadar, a service that streamlines the demo submission process for artists and labels. Following previous strategic acquisitions, the deal represents...

Recorded music market shares 2021 – Red letter year

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

18 Mar 2022

Record music market

global music revenues

label trade revenues 2021

We suggested back in 2020, that 2021 was going to be a strong year for the recorded music market. As it turns out, 2021 was the fastest growing year in living memory, with growth across most formats, contrasting...

Music market shares: independent labels and artists are even bigger than you thought

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

3 Dec 2021

independent labels

record label market shares

Major labels

It has been a long time since the music industry has been in such good shape. So long, in fact, that there are not too many executives left who worked through the pre-crash days. 2021 was the year in which...

Women making music: The COVID impact

Blog post by Hanna Kahlert

8 Mar 2021

Music

women in music

international womens day

The last 12 months have been marked mostly by the coronavirus pandemic, which has pushed much of life to the digital world. 70% of independent artists overall spent much of the time over lockdowns creating...

Smaller independents and artists direct grew fastest in 2020

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

1 Mar 2021

Spotify

streaming music

independent labels

Last year we identified a small but crucial metric from Spotify’s annual report: the share of all streams accounted for by majors and independent licensing body Merlin. It was crucial because it enabled...

Last call for the global independent label survey

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

18 Feb 2021

Independent label survey

label survey

independent labels

With 2020 now comfortably behind us and public companies in their earnings cycle, a clear picture is starting to emerge of how the global recorded music market performed. MIDiA is midway through fielding...

Taylor Swift and the changing tide of artist power

Blog post by Hanna Kahlert

16 Feb 2021

Music

Media and Marketing

Cultural Trends

In the latest episode of a long-running feud between Taylor Swift and Big Machine Records, the western princess turned pop icon is releasing the first of her original re-recorded albums under her own ownership....

The IFPI Confirms 2019 was the Independents' Year for Streaming

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

4 May 2020

independent labels

majors

record labels

UPDATE: this post has been updated to correct an erroneous data point. Previously it stated that independent market share was 41%. It has been corrected to 29% Recently I wrote about how a little-known...

Independents Grew Fastest on Spotify in 2019, But There’s a Twist

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

28 Apr 2020

independent artists

independent labels

Major labels

Tomorrow (Wednesday 29 th April) Spotify announces its Q1 2020 results, at which point we will find out whether it had a COVID-bounce like Netflix did ( adding 15.8 million subscribers in Q1 ) or whether...

What Sony Music's Purchase Of Essential Music Says About The Future Of The Music Industry

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

2 Mar 2016

AWAL

Blockchain

consolidation

Independent label services company Essential Music & Marketing is no longer independent, having just been acquired by Sony Musi c and merged with Sony’s label services division Red to create a new...