Streaming slowdown? Independent music is thriving!
New claims suggest music streaming is slowing down but the truth is that major labels are slipping as independent artists are on the rise.
What’s all this about a slowdown? Well, if you listen to Universal Music Group’s (UMG) recent Q2 2024 earnings you might think that the revenue from streaming services is slowing down. It’s not, we’re just seeing different artists and labels rise to the top.
The two other major labels, Warner Music Group (WMG) and Sony Music, have now reported their year’s Q2 results. WMG disclosed 5% year-on-year gains in recorded streaming revenue and 7% YoY growth in recorded subscriptions revenue.
Whilst WMG’s results are better than UMG’s reported 3.8% YoY growth in combined subscription and streaming revenue, they both lag beh
ind Spotify’s reported 21% year-on-year growth in Premium revenues for Q2. So, where’s the discrepancy?
It speaks to the increasing rise of independent artists in a new age for music. The major labels no longer have a stranglehold over the opportunities, with the funds required for reach and promotion. Thanks to the digital, streaming age, any artist can upload their music for free and reach a global audience with free marketing opportunities.
Luminate recently revealed that 61.5% of the artists getting 1-10 million streams are independent. That is huge and represents a dynamic shift that wouldn’t have been possible without the opportunities that digital music provides for all artists.
Spotify revealed that 26% of Spotify streams in 2023 were listens of independent music. That’s double the number of independent music listens in 2017, when just 13% of Spotify streams were made on independent music.
So, is there really a streaming slowdown? Not at all. Music streaming is continuing to grow at an epic pace each year. The IFPI reported that paid subscriptions grew by 11.2% worldwide last year. That led a 10.2% increases in global recorded music revenues, of which paid music streaming made up nearly half the total contributions.
Around the world, national music revenues are booming at rates not seen since before music piracy plummeted them in the early 2000s. The RIAA revealed that the US recorded music industry revenues grew by 8% in 2023, hitting a record high of $17.1 billion. Streaming made up 84% of that revenue.
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