Reports: music videos

The rise of short-form video, and the resulting shift in value from music videos to music in videos, have upended the music video space. This report unpacks the growth of short-form, the resulting decline in YouTube weekly active user penetration, and the impact on both artist marketing and advertising revenue.

A transformational technology in need of a meaningful content offering meets a wounded industry looking to new revenue streams. Despite their obvious differences, music (as one of the first and most vigorously disrupted mediums by the internet), and Virtual Reality (as a poster-child of technology’s brave new world), could yet prove natural allies.

YouTube is the globe’s leading digital music service but it delivers comparatively little back to the music industry in direct revenue. Even the one billion dollars paid out in Content ID revenues only represents $0.14 for each of its one billion users per year, since the launch of Content ID in 2007.