Major labels blog by MIDiA Research

Blog: Major labels

The industry’s narrative is not always the same as the artist's narrative: Redefining success for independent artists

Blog post by Keith Jopling

6 Mar 2023

Last weekend, there was a fascinating quote from Maseo of hip hop legends De La Soul in the UK Guardian: “On our second album, we learned the importance of controlling the narrative. I learned early...

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...

The future of marketing and A&R is all about scenes

Blog post by Tatiana Cirisano

15 Sep 2022

music industry

music streaming

fragmented fandom

Today’s era of hyper-fragmentation raises all sorts of questions for the music industry, in particular marketing and A&R departments. In a landscape where it is harder than ever to have a mainstream...

A counterculture music industry is emerging — welcome to the platform era

Blog post by Tatiana Cirisano

5 Jul 2022

music industry

Major labels

record labels

What do TikTok’s distribution tool , Universal Music Group’s samples marketplace , and Snoop Dogg’s virtual marijuana have in common? On the surface, not much. But beneath, these news headlines are...

Major label revenue surged in 2021, but what does that mean?

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

7 Jan 2022

Major labels

streaming

music revenues

Major label revenue surged in 2021, but what does that mean? 2021 was an anomalous year for the recorded music market. Two of the majors did an IPO, the pandemic continued to disrupt the marketplace,...

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...

Addison Rae will not be owned: The pitfalls of the major label business model

Blog post by Kriss Thakrar

25 Mar 2021

Major labels

TikTok

independent artists

TikTok stars are rejecting major labels. It is no secret that major labels are being outpaced by independent artists in the overall market. Addison Rae has a combined following of over 100 million between...

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....

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...

Welcome to the Age of the Artist

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

27 Feb 2020

age of the artist

artist distribution

artists

As it enters the third decade of the millennium, the recorded music business is in rude health. Revenues are about to enter the second half of a decade of annual growth, streaming is booming and investment...

Creator Support: A New Take on User Centric Licensing

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

26 Apr 2019

Amuse

artist streaming income

artists

User-centric licensing (i.e. stream pay-outs based on sharing the royalty income of an individual user split across the music they listen to) has stimulated a lot of debate. I first explored the...

2018 Global Label Market Share: Stream Engine

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

13 Mar 2019

artists direct

DIY

DIY artists

Recorded music revenues grew in 2018 for the fourth consecutive year, reaching $18.8 billion, up $2.2 billion from 2017. Streaming was the engine room of growth, up 30% year on year to reach $9.6 billion....

Is Spotify’s Acquisition of Gimlet (the ‘HBO for audio’) the Beginning of the Audio Influencer Boom?

Blog post by Georgia Meyer

7 Feb 2019

Anchor

app spend

Audio ad engagement

Following six days of speculation, Spotify announced yesterdaythat it is acquiring Gimlet Media (comprising Gimlet – the production house, and Anchor – the production, distribution and monetisation...

Taylor Swift, Label Services and What Comes Next

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

22 Nov 2018

#MERKY

ADA

Billy Bragg

Taylor Swift has done it again, striking a deal with UMG that includes a commitment from the world’s largest label group to share proceeds from Spotify stock sales with artists, even if they are not...

Midem 2018 – Definitive Disruption: Streaming Opportunities in Africa

Blog post by Georgia Meyer

13 Jun 2018

advertising

Africa

disruption

The Africa focus at this year’s Midem began in April, with four local forums in South Africa, Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Congo. This culminated in a focused set of talks, seminars and a keynote on the...

Facebook Might Just Have Done YouTube a Massive Favour

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

13 Apr 2018

content id

facebook

fair use

The word on the street is that the deals labels have struck with Facebook for its forthcoming music service have been done on a blanket license basis (i.e. a flat fee) with no reporting. This was reported...

What Spotify Can Learn From The Roman Slave Trade

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

13 Oct 2017

age of enlightenment

AWAL

Believe Digital

OK, you’re going to have to bearwith me on this one, but let me take you back to 2 nd century Rome… [caption id="attachment_4582" align="aligncenter" width="650"] Roman Slaves[/caption] The Roman Empire...

The Three Eras Of Paid Streaming

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

28 Jul 2017

3 ages of streaming

3 eras of streaming

3 phases of streaming

Streaming has driven such a revenue renaissance within the major record labels that the financial markets are now falling over themselves to work out where they can invest in the market, and indeed whether...

Quick Take: IFPI Revenue Numbers

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

25 Apr 2017

downloads

global music sales

IFPI

Today the IFPI published their annual assessment of the global recorded music business. The key theme is the first serious year of growth since Napster kicked off a decade and a half of decline, with streaming...

Universal And Spotify’s Deal Is An Even Bigger Deal Than It Looks

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

4 Apr 2017

Major labels

music licensing

Spotify

Universal Music and Spotify have finally agreed on terms for the streaming service’s new licensing deal which reportedly includes better rates tied to growth targets and premium windowing. Check out...

Showing 1 to 20 of 24 results.