The biggest music industry news | January 2024 roundup
Image credit: Soundtrap
This month we got to look back at the incredible results of 2023 in music whilst looking forward to big changes in the music industry for 2024.
India is set to be the biggest music streaming market in the world
India has taken to music streaming in a big way. With a huge population, the potential audience for digital music services is massive. In 2023, India came second in the world for the number for overall song streams. With over 1 trillion songs streamed for the year, India was second only to the United States just over 1.45 trillion streams.
However, India far outpaced the US for year-on-year growth of streams. India gained 464 billion more streams in 2023 than the year before. The United States came second, with a drastically lower volume of 184 billion new streams for the year. This represents the established music streaming audience in the US, whilst India is very much still taking up music streaming in a big way. With continued growth, India is prepped to be the world’s leading streaming market in terms of consumption.
2023 was an explosive year for music
Last year was the biggest on record for music consumption. Over 7 trillion songs were streamed around the world according to Luminate’s 2023 music report. It saw the continued breakout of regional music, as the dominance of English-language music shrank in favour of Spanish-language artists, Korean music, and beyond.
In the UK, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) reported music industry growth for the 9th year in a row. Female artists had a record breaking year, making up a larger percentage of the top tracks in 2023 than ever before.
New songs available in the public domain
Each year, a new selection of songs enter the public domain. Songs recorded 100 years ago or more lose their copyright. This means this music is now free to use for anyone.
This is fantastic news for DJs and producers, who each year gain full recordings that they can use in their music however they like. The music from 1923 is still quite grainy, but each year the prospects will only get better.
TikTok tests AI-song generation for creators’ videos
TikTok are experimenting with a tool that would allow creators to use completely original music in their videos, generated by AI. They are testing the feature, which allows users to input a text prompt that the AI will use to produce original music from.
Users can reportedly input lyrics that the AI will transform with a voice and the backing music. There are genre customisation and musical style options. Users can refine the outcome to their tastes.
Deezer’s CEO reveals another layer to royalty changes
Last year, Deezer began their new artist-centric streaming model which aims to redirect certain streaming revenues in the hopes to reward “working artists” more. They are now working with Warner And Universal artists to fulfil the new payouts.
In a recent interview, Deezer CEO Jeronimo Folguiera revealed a new dimension. He said that users who stream over 1,000 songs in a month will have their influence of revenue distribution capped. This is to prevent the possibility of fraud streaming redirecting revenues from unrealistic listening habits.
Nearly 200 million music creators predicted by 2030
Making music is easier than ever thanks to the proliferation of digital music creation software. Not only do these programs make it easy to start putting music together, even for amateurs, but they make it accessible without the need for elaborate programs or the power of a recording studio.
Mark Mulligan of MIDiA Research predicts a huge rise in music creation as free apps like BandLab makes it easy for anyone to create music and share it with the world. He is predicting that there will be 198.2 million music creators by the year 2030.
SoundCloud prepare to sell for over $1 billion
SoundCloud‘s two biggest investors, Raine Group and Temasek Holdings, are gearing up for a sale of the music platform. They have been interviewing investment banks to prepare for a sale, reportedly with an expectation of selling for over $1 billion.
The two companies invested in SoundCloud as it was struggling in 2017. Eliah Seton took over as chief executive last year, leading SoundCloud to a successful year. Following a decent revenue increase for the year, Raine Group and Temasek Holdings look to pass the music platform on whilst SoundCloud’s prospects look good.
CDs are on the comeback
Last year in the UK, CD sales grew for the first in two decades. What was thought to be a dying format has seen a resurgence. Following in the footsteps of vinyl, which has seen increasing growth in recent years, CDs have taken on a new importance as a collectors item for music lovers.
At a cheaper price point than vinyl records, CDs are an easier route for listeners to gather a physical music collection that represents their tastes. In the wake of the news, physical music retailer HMV are even considering opening new stores.
Google are taking on Dolby Atmos with more accessible immersive audio
Dolby have led the way with spatial audio, placing their Atmos technology in movie theatres and on some music services for the average consumer. Google are producing spatial audio that they hope to be even more accessible for average audiences.
Their technology is developed in partnership with Samsung and would empower regular home-audio devices with immersive audio experiences. One of the improvements they’re looking to introduce is audio that moves vertically, not just horizontally.
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