The biggest music industry news | September 2024
AI tools continue to develop on both creator and consumer side, as Spanish language territories’ music industries flourish and independent artists are championed through acceleration programs.
U.S. music revenues reach $8.65 Billion in H1 2024
In the first half of 2024, the U.S. recorded music industry hit $8.65 billion, driven by the dominance of streaming services and a continued surge in vinyl sales. While streaming remains the leading contributor, growth has slowed, rising by just 3.8%, reflecting a maturing market. Although modest, CDs continued to experience growth as well, at around 0.3%.
Brazil pushes rise of the Global South
Brazil’s recorded music industry grew 21% in the first half of 2024, with 99.2% of the revenue driven by streaming. Subscription numbers also surged, marking the country as a key player in the global music market and solidifying that the global south is a rising market within the music industry.
Spain’s music industry skyrockets
Spain’s recorded music industry generated €249.8 million in the first half of 2024, marking a 16.6% increase from the previous year. Digital music, driven by streaming, accounted for nearly 90% of the total revenue, while vinyl sales continued to grow steadily.
Soundcloud launches new artist breakout program
SoundCloud has introduced “Ascending,” a new program that promotes rising artists like Shaboozey and Teezo Touchdown. Artists featured in Ascending see a very healthy follower growth of 60% and double their streams during the promotion, which focuses on boosting those already gaining traction on the platform.
Tencent expands global reach with music outreach program
Tencent’s new Global Music Outreach Initiative aims to support emerging artists and foster international cultural exchange through music. Similar to SoundCloud’s Ascending program, Tencent will help rising musicians gain exposure and mentorship, while promoting cross-cultural collaborations and music festivals to connect artists with global audiences.
YouTube expands AI tools for content creators and launches new features
YouTube is expanding its AI-powered auto-dubbing feature, allowing creators to automatically translate videos into multiple languages to reach global audiences. Additionally, the new Dream Screen tool in YouTube Shorts generates photorealistic AI videos, enabling creators to produce imaginative and dynamic content effortlessly.
Plus, YouTube unveils new features for Shorts and creator engagement
YouTube Shorts now includes “Add Yours” stickers, encouraging community participation by allowing users to contribute to trends directly within videos. Additionally, YouTube has launched the Community hub, designed to foster deeper interactions between creators and their audiences. This new hub centralises posts, polls, and engagement tools, offering creators more ways to connect with fans.
SoundExchange announces AI music registry
SoundExchange has announced plans to create an extensive music registry designed to protect rightsholders. The registry aims to streamline information for AI tools in regards to training models, ensuring that any music where permission has not been given is not used for training. The registry will be built off of SoundExchange’s comprehensive ISRC database, and hopes to give creators control while centralising resources for AI companies.
YouTube Premium announces price increase
YouTube has announced a price hike for its Premium subscription service, which will now cost $13.99 per month, up from $11.99. The increase reflects ongoing investments in platform features and content, as well as the rising costs of providing ad-free experiences and exclusive content for subscribers.
Spotify expands daylist globally in 14 new languages
Spotify has expanded its daylist playlisting feature worldwide, while making it available in 14 new languages. These languages include Arabic, Catalan, French (Canada), French (France), German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish (Spain), Spanish (Mexico), and Turkish. Originally launched just in English last year, daylist now allows users across the globe to enjoy personalised playlists in their native language, tailored to time and mood throughout the day.