Blog: Music Industry - Page 4

Read our latest daily deep dives, hot takes, and exciting updates about the entertainment world. Check out the latest insight from your favourite analyst, or search by coverage areas - music, entertainment and fandom, creator economy and social.

PLAY – music’s next chapter

Cover image for PLAY – music’s next chapter

Mark Mulligan

31 Jan 2024

Business Strategy

The old maxim that change is the only constant feels tailor made for the 21stcentury music business. No sooner does the industry get its head around one paradigm shift then another one comes along. First piracy, then downloads, then streaming, then the rise of the independent artist and now…well, just what is ‘now’? AI may be the word on everyone’s lips, but as transformational as it will be, it is going to be an enabler of a wider shift, one that will see a forking from today’s LISTEN-focused ecosystem, resulting in the emergence of a new, parallel PLAY-focused one.

min read

The crumbling of music media is a disaster for the music industry

Cover image for The crumbling of music media is a disaster for the music industry

Tatiana Cirisano

22 Jan 2024

music journalism

As a former music journalist, I can say that layoffs are somewhat to be expected when you work in media. Nobody gets into this industry looking for stability. But the past 12 months have felt especially grim, with a growing list of mass layoffs and complete shutdowns that includes Bandcamp Daily , MTV News , NPR , Vox Media, and Los Angeles Times , to name just a few.

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Despite its hyper-futurism, 2023 was a return to the past

Cover image for Despite its hyper-futurism, 2023 was a return to the past

Tatiana Cirisano

21 Dec 2023

From politics to tech to entertainment, the past few years can best be described as unprecedented. In 2023, daily life felt especially futuristic and surreal, with artificial intelligence dominating the discourse.

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Spotify re-positions two-tier licensing (we are getting closer, and it can be even better)

Cover image for Spotify re-positions two-tier licensing (we are getting closer, and it can be even better)

Mark Mulligan

24 Nov 2023

Two tier licensing

Streaming Royalties

Spotify released a blog post laying out how it wants the world to understand its new two-tier royalty system. The positioning is clear, leading with the statement that it will drive “an additional $1 billion toward[s] emerging and professional artists” and the PR push included several supporting quotes from the independent sector (with no major label quote to be seen).

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Why artist subscriptions are the perfect partner to two-tier licensing

Cover image for Why artist subscriptions are the perfect partner to two-tier licensing

Mark Mulligan

2 Nov 2023

With two-tier licensing now a thing , it is time to focus the discussion on how to add new components to the DSP ecosystem that will help long-tail artists continue to thrive in this brave new world. There are many positives that two-tier licensing will bring (helping mid-tier artist remuneration, attaching an appropriate premium to lean-forward listening, etc.

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How Spotify’s new model could accelerate a forking of music

Cover image for How Spotify’s new model could accelerate a forking of music

Tatiana Cirisano

2 Nov 2023

Music streaming

Spotify’s new royalty model is the latest attempt to try to bring streaming royalties in line with the dynamics of todays’ streaming market. It has many laudable objectives and intentions, but there is no escaping the threat perceived by artists and companies that operate in the long tail.

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Two-tier licensing is about to become a reality

Cover image for Two-tier licensing is about to become a reality

Mark Mulligan

24 Oct 2023

Streaming Royalties

With the dust still far from settled on the UMG / Deezer streaming royalty proposal, something even bigger is coming: Spotify is turning the concept into reality in Q1 2024. The behind-the-scenes conversations have been ongoing for some time, but the details were stated publicly on panels at last week’s ADE conference, meaning that the information is now firmly in the public domain.

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There are no elite artists without elite artist development

Cover image for There are no elite artists without elite artist development

Kriss Thakrar

24 Oct 2023

artist development

Creator economy

A recent interview with Mariah the Scientist saw her speak about the struggle of performing for only the second time in front of a crowd at one of the world’s biggest festivals, Rolling Loud. She shared that she “wasn’t good at it”, “did not know what she was doing”, and ultimately suffered from the consequences of all the criticism that followed.

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How Taylor Swift has ushered in an era of direct distribution for media fusion

Cover image for How Taylor Swift has ushered in an era of direct distribution for media fusion

Tim Mulligan

19 Oct 2023

Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour Concert Film

Cinematic releases of music concerts are nothing new, with the likes of the Beatles Help! film of 1965 ushering in a new era of mass participation for global fanbases beyond the concert arena. When Covid shut down the live music scene in 2020-2021, there was a brief flurry of interest in delivering virtual concerts for fans seeking a proxy for the live experience that went on hiatus.

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Music has become a ‘just-in-time’ economy

Cover image for Music has become a ‘just-in-time’ economy

Mark Mulligan

16 Oct 2023

The modern day economy is built upon ‘just-in-time’ supply chains. This framework has enabled the benefits of consumerism that we have come to enjoy, such as next day delivery, out of season foods on our shelves, and the digital devices we live our lives through.

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How to make artist centric artist centric

Cover image for How to make artist centric artist centric

Mark Mulligan

6 Sep 2023

Streaming Royalties

Music streaming

Music Royalties

Deezer and UMG announced a major (in both senses of the word) shake up of streaming music royalties. This is arguably the biggest streaming market development in years, as it will set the tone for market-wide change.

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AI, music rights, and known unknowns

Cover image for AI, music rights, and known unknowns

Mark Mulligan

31 Aug 2023

artificial intelligence

The music industry is approaching a tipping point, with the building blocks of what will be the post-streaming era beginning to fall into place.The streaming era will make way for something new. Innovation, disruption, and change will define the coming years, with AI, fandom, and the creator economy centre stage.

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Misaligned incentives make the music business a zero-sum game

Cover image for Misaligned incentives make the music business a zero-sum game

Tatiana Cirisano

17 Aug 2023

streaming services

“Pop Stars Aren’t Popping Like They Used To”, Billboard ’s Elias Leight writes in a recent article, in which record label executives stress over the struggle to break new artists. The article (or at least, the headline) stirred up a storm on Twitter — ahem, X — last week, where many users took the opportunity to slam record labels’ misguided focus on virality.

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Don’t be fooled by the streams that it’s got, it’s still hip hop from the block

Cover image for Don’t be fooled by the streams that it’s got, it’s still hip hop from the block

Kriss Thakrar

15 Aug 2023

Over its 50 years, hip hop has gone from a block party in the Bronx to a conquering global culture. It now accounts for almost a quarter of Spotify streams , with three-quarters of users listening to hip hop this year.

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Can Swift and Beyoncé save the economy? What the data says about music tourism

Cover image for Can Swift and Beyoncé save the economy? What the data says about music tourism

Tatiana Cirisano

10 Aug 2023

Taylor Swift and Beyoncé have more accolades than most artists in history. Now they can add “saving the economy” to the list — well, sort of. Governing bodies in cities from Chicago to Philadelphia to Stockholm have credited the duo’s respective concerts for boosting local tourism (and temporarily inflating prices).

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How live music will change in the next decade

Cover image for How live music will change in the next decade

Tatiana Cirisano

20 Jul 2023

The pandemic sent shock waves through the live music industry — a historic, catastrophic disruption to a decades-old business. But just because touring is back, does not mean that we are in the clear.

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Making sense of global music forecasts

Cover image for Making sense of global music forecasts

Mark Mulligan

20 Jul 2023

music forecasts

streaming music forecasts

streamign music revenues

MIDiA has been building global music forecasts for nearly a decade now, and I personally have been building them for nearly two decades. Throughout those years there have been many calls for the numbers to be bigger and bolder.

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The music industry’s tipping point is Right Here, Right Now

Cover image for The music industry’s tipping point is Right Here, Right Now

Mark Mulligan

29 Jun 2023

virtual artists

streaming remuneration

Streaming is buckling under its own weight. The economics and structure that served it well in its first decade are not the ones that will get it through the next ten years. You might say that streaming is going through its ‘start up to scale up’ phase.

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Right place, right time: Taylor Swift's track to the first $1 billion tour

Cover image for Right place, right time: Taylor Swift's track to the first $1 billion tour

Tatiana Cirisano

29 Jun 2023

music marketing

Another day, another record for Taylor Swift. As Wall Street Journal broke down this week, the superstar is now on track to achieve the first $1 billion tour in music history. A billion factors and decisions led up to this moment, with Swift’s songwriting artistry and business savvy high among them.

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Who tomorrow's music business is being built for

Cover image for Who tomorrow's music business is being built for

Tatiana Cirisano

22 Jun 2023

Product Strategy

The creator tools industry, meaning the market for music-making hardware and software, has historically served as the funnel to the recorded music industry. At the centre of that industry are big record labels, which trade on career artists.

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