The biggest music industry news | May 2024
Image credit: William White
With the Summer sun to go out and enjoy you may have missed the latest industry news, so here are the biggest launches, updates, and news.
RouteNote AI brings on-demand support to thousands
We’re thrilled to have launched our artificial intelligence chatbot: Luna. Now available from the RouteNote website, Luna is available to answer all of your questions in seconds.
Ask Luna anything about RouteNote, music distribution, streaming services, royalties, and more. We hope that with Luna and the power of AI we can aid our users around the world more efficiently, providing a smoother journey along your music career with Routenote.
You will find Luna in the bottom right corner of the www.routenote.com homepage and all our other webpages. Tap the sparkle icon to begin.
The 100 best albums of all time
Apple Music have revealed their (somewhat divisive) list of the greatest albums of all time. This list isn’t based on streaming numbers, but instead has been curated by tastemakers. The list has come under the scrutiny of music lovers and journalists alike, some praising the picks and others tearing it apart. What do you think?
The music industry is set to see phenomenal growth
Music streaming has been driving industry growth for years. With emerging markets continuing to drive global music growth, predictions for the next few years are looking good.
MIDiA Research revealed their prediction that the music industry will reach $100 billion by 2031. Looking closer to now, Goldman Sachs have adjusted their predictions for the music industry’s performance in 2024 to a slightly raised 7.6% of sales growth.
The RouteNote app is now available on iOS and Android
Our official app is now available on both iOS and Android devices. RouteNote users can access their discography through the app to manage their releases, view and track their analytics, and gain demographic insights with a map showing where your top fans are.
Get the app now and look forward to updates coming soon bringing mobile uploads, Dolby mastering, and more!
TikTok Studio replaces their Creator tools
TikTok are moving their Creator tools for recording and editing videos and bringing it under a new section: Studio. From their Studio, creators can create, edit, upload, and manage their content. The new section also features analytics, providing a one-stop shop for creators on TikTok.
Whilst providing a more cohesive section for creators apart from the rest of the app for general viewers, it seems the new spot may also have been launched to protect underage users. TikTok Studio is only available to those over the age of 18.
Spotify reveal the growth of artists in individual nations
Spotify have been reporting on the successes of local artists through their Loud & Clear reports. After a powerful year for global music that saw Spotify paying $9 billion in royalties to artists around the world, they’ve revealed success for artists on a smaller scale.
In the UK, artists generated over £750 million in royalties from Spotify in 2023. They also shared that Australian artists saw an impressive 10% growth on Spotify, resulting in $275 million royalties earned. Keep your eyes on Spotify’s blog for more country-specific Spotify data.
Music streaming prices continue to rise
In the last year, many music streaming services increased the price of their subscriptions for the first time ever. In a bid to continue providing the same service and paying working artists following years of inflation and rising costs, services like Spotify and Apple Music increased their individual monthly plans by $1/£1. Spotify then announced a second price hike of another $1/£1 a month.
Pandora have now caught up with the industry and increased the prices of their paid streaming plans. Meanwhile, French listeners saw their third price increase from Spotify, though of just 1.2%. This is to offset a new streaming tax introduced in France that charges large music streaming services.
TikTok’s new feature gets artists to promote fan’s videos
TikTok have unveiled Fan Spotlight. This new feature allows artists to highlight videos which use their music. When they select a video that they like it will then be pinned to the top of the song page for up to a week. This is yet another fantastic way for artists to connect with their fans, bolstered by TikTok’s recent enhancements of artists’ presence on the platform.
Apple are bringing AI into Logic Pro
Apple are using artificial intelligence to empower new music-making tools in Logic Pro. New session players will play instruments along to your music, using AI to give their playing a unique touch to each arrangement that matches your song and the criteria you input. A powerful new tool will help you to split audio files into separate stems for individually mixing instruments and track layers. A new plugin promises to bring automatic “warmth” to your tracks with the power of AI customising the effect.
The updated Logic Pro apps for Mac and iPad released on May 13th.
Sonos reveal their most requested product ever
Sonos teased a new product reveal that they announced was their “most requested product ever”. The big reveal turned out to be Sonos Ace, their first ever wireless headphones. The headphones feature high quality audio with the ability to stream lossless audio over Bluetooth. What sets Ace apart from other headphones is how it works with Sonos soundbars to create a simulated room environment in your headphones which you can use to switch your TV listening experience into your headphones with a single click.