Welcome to Music Business World’s weekly roundup – where we make sure you catch the 5 biggest stories that have made our headlines over the past seven days. MBW’s review is supported by China Travel Servicehelping more than 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximize their income and reduce touring costs.
A lot of news from the music industry this week focused on SpotifyThe industry has developed something of a love-hate relationship with its streaming services. This week shows exactly why.
The company is reportedly planning to save music from the scourge of piracy New advanced music level It will have high-fidelity audio and cost at least add $5 more per month than existing plans. This is good news for companies that believe music continues to be undervalued.
But then we’re reminded of the other side of Spotify’s relationship with certain parts of the industry – when national music publishers association (State Drug Administration) filed a complaint with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission over SPOT’s decision to bundle music and audiobooks together to reduce mechanical royalty rates for U.S. songwriters.
When it comes to royalties, one thing holding back rights holders is the hundreds of millions of dollars that go unpaid every year due to incomplete or bad data. Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kinkel This week has some thoughts on how to (finally) solve the problem.
Also this week, MBW takes a deep dive into Sony Music GroupThe decade-long acquisition spree, we reckon, was at least worth it $6 billion.
at last, State Drug Administration It was revealed this week that U.S. music publishing revenue jumped 10.7% $6.2 billion By 2023, growth in percentage terms will exceed that of recorded music.
Here’s what happened this week…
Image source: Shutterstock/Diego Thomazin
1) Spotify to launch pricier premium music tier that includes high-fidelity audio (Report)
Spotify There are plans to launch a pricier premium music package later this year that includes access to High Definition Audio.
According to Bloomberg, citing sources, the newspaper reported on June 11 that the cost of this new level would be “at least add $5 more monthly” and will be an “add-on” for existing subscribers.
The report adds that the new plan will include high-fidelity audio as well as new playlist and song library management tools.
Spotify reportedly plans to launch a pricier Premium package this year, following a recent price increase in the United States, with its individual Premium package rising by $1 per month to $11.99…
Image source: sdx15/Shutterstock
2) Music publisher files complaint with FTC over Spotify’s audiobook bundling
in April, Spotify announced the controversial decision to reclassify its premium version as a “bundle” by combining music and audiobooks.
The move resulted in Spotify paying Lower machinery usage rates In the United States, publishers and songwriters.
However, the world’s largest subscription music streaming service may not have expected how fierce the backlash from songwriters and publishers would be to its bundling decision.
in words national music publishers association boss david israelOn June 12, Spotify delivered a speech at the NMPA annual meeting in New York: “Spotify has declared war on songwriters. Our response will be comprehensive…”
3) ROBERT KYNCL doubles down on professional metadata matching, and what else we learned from his NMPA keynote in New York
Every year, hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties are generated worldwide Not paid to the correct rights holder Due to incomplete or erroneous data.
This has been a source of frustration for rights holders for years: the so-called “black boxWhen pros can’t match track metadata to consumption and pay accurately, money disappears.
Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kinkel Hopefully the industry will address this issue and come up with some suggestions on how to fix it.
Kyncl calls on the industry to figure out how to “get” global collections associations to “collaborate” to resolve the data mismatch…
Image credit: Julio Etchart/Alamy
4) How Sony’s $6 billion-plus M&A spree over the past decade has laid the foundation for music acquisitions
If Bloomberg is to be believed Sony Music Group Currently working with QueenRepresentatives of may acquire the legendary band’s catalog, which may cost, depending on the number of rights included, US$1 billion.
Rob StringerThe chairman of Sony Music Group declined to directly discuss the Queen rumors during a May 30 presentation to Sony Corp. investors.
He points to the growing importance of old music to today’s commercial music industry, pointing to two statistics: (i) According to Luminate, 73% Streaming media consumption in the United States last year was dominated by catalog music; (ii) some 41% Two of Spotify’s annual Global 200 Hot Songs for 2023 were released more than two years ago.
“Through targeted investments, we believe our catalog is the foundation of our strategy to navigate the path to success for all future technology trends in music… In the coming year, we will make smart purchases curated for this approach,” he said .
in other words: don’t stop me now…
5) U.S. music publishing revenue jumps 10.7% to $6.2 billion in 2023…In percentage terms, it exceeds the growth of recorded music
The U.S. music publishing industry is facing new challenges, with Spotify unexpectedly reducing its mechanical royalty payments. But despite these and other challenges, the songwriting and music publishing business remains strong.
This is the verdict from david israelPresident and CEO national music publishers associationU.S. music publishing revenue for 2023 was announced on Wednesday (June 12).
This year’s revenue is $6.21 billionup 10.74% The Israeli told the audience at the NMPA annual meeting about the previous year.
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