Reports: Labels

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Streaming strongholds
High-potential markets for global music players

Perry Gresham

August 2025

ARPU

Labels

Streaming

While the balance of music streamers continues to tip towards global south markets, their smaller ARPU rates limit their revenues. Meanwhile, periodic price-rises and the advent of supremium will reinforce the contributions from the West. This report highlights streaming strongholds, those markets which, underscored by high music engagement and his...

Label services vendor landscape
Rise of the atomised label

Cover image for Label services vendor landscape

Olivia Jones

May 2025

Innovation

Labels

Artists

The label services sector has emerged as a way for independent labels to provide artists with best-in-class tools without having to build those tools in-house. This shift towards atomised labels has created a new opportunity for label service vendors to establish a stronghold in the music industry.

Breaking saturation
Music streaming pricing strategy

Tatiana Cirisano and Perry Gresham

April 2025

Labels

Subscriptions

Streaming

Nearly two decades into the streaming era, established subscription markets like the US are approaching saturation. While growth pockets for standard subscriptions remain, the next stage is about raising average revenue per user through both price increases and user segmentation.

Pixels to playlists
Music preferences and behaviours of gamers

Rhys Elliott

March 2025

Innovation

Labels

The global games industry is a $236.9 billion behemoth. It now rivals film, television, and music combined in terms of revenues and is a cultural driver. Yet, for music companies, labels, and platforms, gaming represents more than a parallel market: it is agateway to the world’s most engaged, tech-savvy, and monetisable audience.

The superfans of music superstars
Identity and cut-through

Cover image for The superfans of music superstars

Olivia Jones

February 2025

Labels

Artists

Fandom is becoming the music industry’s golden goose, with labels focusing on building and monetising superfan bases for their top artists. However, superfan behaviours are changing in response to oversaturation and hyper-fragmentation. What once worked for measuring and monetising fandom will not work the same in the future.

Music’s podcast potential
Focus on branding over discovery

Cover image for Music’s podcast potential

Annie Langston

August 2023

Labels

Streaming

Artists

In this hyper-fragmented entertainment consumption space, artists and labels must use every tool available to break out above the noise. Artists must diversify their content to not only promote their music, but to develop their personal brand. Podcasts are an effective vessel to target niche audiences and build a brand, both within and outside of m...

Demand Creation
What’s the Next Big Growth Curve for Music?

Keith Jopling

January 2020

Labels

Spotify

Marketing

Over the past 40 years the music industry has seen highs and lows, mirroring the careers of many of the legacy artists the industry plays host to. The most spectacular successes in the music business, from the Sony Walkman to MTV, to iTunes and Spotify – have all generated demand for music in entirely new ways.

Independent Artists
The Music Industry Rewritten

Mark Mulligan

July 2019

Creators

Labels

rhapsody

The rise of independent artists is one of the most important changes to happen to the modern recorded music business. While traditional label models still dominate, ever more artists are pursuing non-traditional alternatives, ranging from self-releasing through to joint-venture label service deals with majors.

Global Music Distribution
A Buyer’s Market

Cover image for Global Music Distribution

Mark Mulligan

May 2018

Labels

Spotify

Record labels

The internet was supposed to be the great leveller, enabling smaller artists and labels to reach global audiences in a way not previously possible. But, it turns out that getting music to these global fan bases is not quite so straightforward. Smaller labels simply do not have the resources to enable them to distribute music across all territories.

Making and Marketing an Artist
Streaming Rewrites the Rules, Again

Cover image for Making and Marketing an Artist

Mark Mulligan

April 2018

Labels

Streaming

Streaming Music

Marketing is one of the core competencies of record labels. The rise of the internet and social media transformed label marketing strategies. Now streaming is turning everything upside down again. The new challenge this time round is that streaming is both a marketing tool and a revenue source.