Music Business Worldwide (MBW)’s Post

Goldman Sachs prediction is 1.2 billion music streaming subscribers by 2030 – double where we are now! They've been pretty good at beating their own forecasts in recent years, even with some global hiccups. What's interesting is how they see this growth happening, with a shift toward emerging markets like India, where there's a huge potential audience ready to join the music streaming party. The potential to monetize superfans and music lovers, or even potentially change how artists get paid, make it a pretty exciting time to be in the music industry. #MusicStreaming #MusicIndustry #StreamingForecast #GlobalSubscribers #EmergingMarkets #MusicBusiness #Superfans #FutureOfMusic #Monetization #StreamingGrowth

On the latest Music Business Worldwide podcast, MBW founder Tim Ingham is joined by Milana Lewis, the founder and CEO of Los Angeles-based Stem Disintermedia Inc., a distribution and services company, including financial services for independent artists. Stem has had a big year, with a major highlight coming last summer when it announced it had secured a $250 million credit agreement with Victory Park Capital Advisors, which has transformed the size and scope of artist advances that Stem can offer. For a company that has grown used to seeing some of its biggest independent artists jump to major label deals, that $250 million raise is something of a game changer for Stem and Milana. Long-term listeners to MBW's podcasts may remember that this isn't Milana’s first time speaking to us. She last appeared on this podcast four years ago, just at the tip of the pandemic, and she volunteered a number of predictions about the music businesses in the years ahead, many of which have already come true, or at least partly come true. On this podcast, Milana and Tim discuss – with some agreement, but not always – several crucial topics in the music business right now, from TikTok versus Universal Music Group to artist-centric streaming royalties to artificial intelligence, and of course Stem, and why Milana truly believes she is building a music company fit for the future. Read an abridged/edited version of the Q&A, or listen to the podcast here... Thanks to Voly Entertainment for the support. #podcasts #musicbusiness #musicindustry #AI

Royalty Rumble at Spotify and a Crisis at Hipgnosis New year, same old music business. Our latest episode of Money4Nothing checks back in on two of our favorite industry players, and things….well, we hate to tell you, but things aren’t GREAT, you know? Regarding Hipgnosis, the once high-flying music fund is very much in hot water—conflicts of interest flying, shareholders revolting, and board-members unceremoniously shown the door. Who could have possibly seen this coming? Certainly not us…(wink wink, nudge nudge). And then there's Spotify, where the times—or at least the streaming payout structure—are a-changin’. On the surface, new rules regarding monetization (under 1000 plays? No cash for you!) might seem relatively minor, but they reflect a more fundamental set of shifts within the power-structures of the industry. Everyone is gearing up for a fight about the next 25 years of music—moves like this are the first steps towards a new world order. And if recent events are any indication, Spotify doesn’t seem like it’ll be the one calling the shots… Listen -->

So what’s been up at the hot corner of music and capital(ism) in the first month of the new year? Oh just some casual royalty payout changes at Spotify, boardroom shakedowns at Hipgnosis and some, weird and disheartening structural changes and layoffs at Pitchfork — THE defining music publication of the Millennial generation. Like the rest of the increasingly small world of music criticism, we were shaken by the news on Pitchfork had not only been more-or-less gutted by publisher Conde Nast, but also, bizarrely pulled into GQ. Yeah, f-ing Gentleman’s Quarterly. Of all possible things. We’re not gonna lie—this one feels grim. But, what kind of grim? We’re split. Is it corporate confusion and brand-based failure, or some (desperate) fragments of sense from the seemingly nonsensical plan? Is music criticism lifestyle reporting? Is there an economic base for the record review? Will a thousand newsletter flowers bloom? On our latest episode of Money4Nothing, we have questions, not answers. Insert your own "Wintour is the cruelest season" joke here. Meanwhile, Hipgnosis, the once high-flying music fund is STILL very much in hot water—conflicts of interest flying, shareholders revolting, and board-members unceremoniously shown the door (We told you so). Also, Spotify changed its royalty payment structure (1000 plays minimum) which seems like no biggie but reflects a fundamental set of shifts within the power-structures of the industry. Everyone is gearing up for a fight about the next 25 years of music—moves like this are the first steps towards a new world order. What does that mean? Well we know A.I. is going to play a role, and Lucian Grainge isn’t going to be left hanging around when the garbage needs to be taken out. Funny enough, you might have seen a very, recent article in The New Yorker on Sir Lucian was just published on this very subject (A.I….not garbage). Unfortunately, most of it is spent on Grainge’s penchant for dropping vague analogies and PMA pull-quotes from other industry big wigs (plus Bono) about Grainge. Probably better to just listen to our last two episodes instead.

https://lnkd.in/grp3mpXR 🎵🎶 Spotify’s amazing growth story: from 68 million to 550 million MAUs in 8 years 🎶🎵 How did Spotify become the world’s largest music streaming service? 🤔 Find out in this blog post how they achieved this incredible feat by offering personalized playlists, podcasts, social features, and more. 🙌 Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from the best in the industry. Click the link below and read the blog post now. ☝ #spotify #music #streaming #growth #business #career #success #inspiration #learningjourney #blogging

What’s on the music sector’s playlist for 2024? “Harvesting” and “Monetizing” On the label side, Warner Music Group commented this week…“we should be not only hunting, but we should also be harvesting,” as it highlighted that the industry has focused on growth over the last 15 years (“hunting”), but now they need to also focus and be much more intentional about monetization (“harvesting”) and aligning incentives between streamers, labels, and artists Similar sentiments were echoed on the platform side, as Spotify emphasized that 2024 will be much more about monetizing versus over-indexing on growth, though the greater focus on profitability is not expected to come at the expense of growth, just that the hurdle rate for investment will be “much higher than what it has been”   We expect this to be a key theme for the music sector in 2024. If interested, my colleague James Lindsay and I discussed other key anticipated music themes in LionTree’s 2024 Outlook podcast. Watch a clip below and you can access the full episode on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts: https://lnkd.in/g2tEKY6J

𝐈𝐬 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠? 😕 . . . Spotify has transformed the music world. Instead of paying per song, users pay a monthly fee for unlimited music. This change made Spotify a leader in music streaming, with over 574 million monthly users, including 236 million paying subscribers. In 2023, Spotify 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 €𝟭𝟯.𝟮 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻. 🎧💰 Despite this success, Spotify has a big problem: it's not profitable. In 2023, Spotify reported a 𝗻𝗲𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 €𝟱𝟯𝟮 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻. Let’s explore why and consider some solutions. 🤔📉 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆’𝘀 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹 💼 Spotify makes money from: 1️⃣ Premium Subscriptions: Users pay monthly for ad-free music. 🎵 2️⃣ Ad-Supported Subscriptions: Free users hear ads. 📢 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺? ❗ Spotify pays €0.003 to €0.005 per stream to artists and record companies. In 2023, they paid over €9.8 billion in streaming fees. 💸 This is 𝟳𝟱% of their revenue, leaving only 25% for other costs like staff and marketing, making it hard to be profitable. 🤯💼 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 🛠️ 1️⃣ 𝗟𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝗼𝘆𝗮𝗹𝘁𝘆 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝘀: This is 𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 because major labels (Sony, Warner, Universal) control 70% of the music industry. They could withdraw their catalogs, which would hurt spotify. 🎤 2️⃣ 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗦𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀: A 20% revenue increase might help, but competitors (Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music) make this risky. They offer similar music and 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 due to their diverse services. 📈 3️⃣ 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝘀: Spotify is expanding into podcasts, audiobooks, and more. They've spent over $1 billion on podcasts, signing deals with stars like Kim Kardashian and Joe Rogan. They aim to increase ad revenue, but 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 as some big names have left Spotify. 🎙️ 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 🧐 Spotify’s story shows the challenge of making money in a competitive industry. It will be interesting to see how they innovate and handle these issues. 🎶📈 #ProductManagement #BusinessModel #Innovation #MusicStreaming #TechNews #Entrepreneurship

If 2023 was the year streaming matured? Then 2024 is the year we properly monetize super fans. Streaming is great. It's led to the (very) welcomed growth after the aughts and early 2010's of rampant piracy. But a streaming subscription fee isn't going to sustain most artists. In Luminate's 2023 report, they identified 18% of all music consumers as "super fans": "Super fans are listeners who engage with artists and their content in five or more ways, whether it’s by streaming their music, following them on social media, buying albums, buying merch, or purchasing concert tickets." As an industry, we need to make it easier on these super fans to engage & support artists. To that end, I'm encouraged by the bevy of startups who are trying to fill this need. I expect to see many of these companies get properly funded, & start to scale this year. This will be good for the industry, and it will be good for artists. #musicindustry #musicbusiness #musictech #musicstartups

Sonic Review: Earn $385.49 Daily Effortlessly. (Seyi Adeleke) Welcome to my Sonic Review. Music plays a crucial role in our daily lives, and individuals are prepared to invest in uninterrupted, top-notch music experiences. The demand for music and podcasts has led to a significant market where consumers are willing to pay for content without advertisements and easy accessibility. Consider the success of Spotify – it has amassed a fortune due to the value people place on listening to their favorite songs seamlessly. Picture yourself as the owner of a streaming platform that caters to this profitable market. While it may seem like a far-off aspiration, it can turn into a reality today. Read the full review here: https://lnkd.in/eKNc6CXx #SonicApp #AIPoweredStreaming #DigitalStreamingTool #HypermediaApp #ContentMonetization #CustomizablePlatform #StreamingMadeEasy #AIEngine #MobileAppGenerator #SecureStreaming #FastServers #ContentLibrary #AIAnalytics #CustomerAcquisition #OneClickPublishing

Will Spotify ever become profitable? Despite dominating the music streaming industry, the company is struggling to make much money due to the high royalties it has to pay. Its gamble on podcasts hasn't paid off yet. However, like Amazon once did, can Spotify grow so big that it can negotiate better terms and eventually become a profitable behemoth? It will be interesting to follow how the company navigates the challenges ahead. https://lnkd.in/g7x6PTua #Spotify #MusicStreaming #Podcasts #Profitability