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Global music market grew by 18.5% in 2021, driven by paid subscription streaming

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Re: Global music market grew by 18.5% in 2021, driven by paid subscription streaming

#31

Post by Adraghast »

BaseballPhysics wrote: post #9
candiddevmike wrote: post #4

Doesn't say how much the actual artists are seeing of this growth, and how spread out it is. These streaming services make it really hard for smaller artists to stand out, almost everyone uses the services "radio" equivalent which seems to play a very narrow scope of similar artists (mostly more well known). Basically it seems like it's easier than ever to become a musician with global reach/fans but harder than ever…

Yup. Listen to any smaller artist and they'll tell you streaming services are only good for exposure and the real money is in ticket sales, swag, and physical and digital sales to buying customers.

Yep. Straight from one such smaller artist’s mouth:

https://www.nodepression.com/the-wrong-haul-neil-joni-have-y...

Re: Global music market grew by 18.5% in 2021, driven by paid subscription streaming

#34

Post by gen220 »

Looking for pointers on a music industry question.

For an up and coming musician (e.g. Billie Eilish in December 2015, after it was clear she had potential and after she had signed with an A&R in January 2016, but well before she signed with Interscope Records in August 2016),

What is the primary motivation to sign to a record label?

Assuming they have a solid understanding of the financial and copyright aspects of the transaction (which I'm sure Eilish had through her brother/producer, who had worked in the industry for years), what are the primary factors that influence the decision?

The ones that occur to me are marketing/PR/general exposure, access to artistic collaborators (visual, musical, etc.), and in the case of "advances" on future albums, an insurance/put option against the unpredictability of their future career.

But I have never worked in the industry, so I'm seeking wisdom from the HN crowd!

Re: Global music market grew by 18.5% in 2021, driven by paid subscription streaming

#35

Post by SketchySeaBeast »

birdyrooster wrote: post #12

Art is best when it's unpaid. I don't want you paying me for my music and I won't pay for yours. I am tired of corporate rent seeking in the art space. Yes this is historical for art of all kinds, but I think that was to the detriment of art rather than its benefit. The talent of artists has been used to ingratiate and inflate the perception of some truly awful people and ideas.

I am far more than happy to pay artists who create the music that I love to continue to create that music.

No one demands a purity of purpose from software developers.

Re: Global music market grew by 18.5% in 2021, driven by paid subscription streaming

#36

Post by bocytron »

BaseballPhysics wrote: post #8
ProfessorLayton wrote: post #2

I am having a hell of a time adjusting to a streaming-focused music world. On one hand, I love having access to pretty much all the music I want, and have discovered a lot of new artists (through no help of the apps themselves, however). On the other hand, having my library randomly switch on me with songs disappearing, album covers swapping out or renamed is driving me NUTS. Not to mention the general buggyness that…

So stop streaming and start buying. That's still an option. I use streaming services for taste testing, but if I really like something and want to own it, I turn to a DRM-free platform (e.g. Bandcamp) to buy from the artists, then use my own solution for playing that music on my devices (in my case Navidrome). And as a bonus you'll put a lot more money in the pockets of the artists you love.

Oh man. Navidrome looks awesome. Never thought about doing that. Will start buying from bandcamp tomorrow. Thank you tons for the suggestion.

Re: Global music market grew by 18.5% in 2021, driven by paid subscription streaming

#37

Post by bryans »

basisword wrote: post #20
bryans wrote: post #15

The self-congratulatory nature of the article and quotes actually betray a self-reassurance, because in reality, record labels are rapidly becoming irrelevant. They're scrambling to figure out how they fit into the TikTok era, where artists no longer require years of financial incubation to succeed. The music industry is growing because independent musicians are finally figuring out how to navigate it without any nee…

Do you have any evidence of this? People have been saying labels are irrelevant for a decade or two at least now. It's never true. To succeed you need to get noticed and for that you need a marketing budget and the labels provide that. Artists can get much further than before but going viral on TikTok is not a viable career strategy for most artists.

Yes, I have tons of evidence for this, and for why all of your claims have no foundation. Allow me to provide one example of the hundreds that I personally know of or worked with (which is a tiny fraction of the numbers finding success independently).

In late 2020, a band called Sub-Radio had a couple thousand followers on each social media platform and around ~15k monthly listeners on Spotify, and this was after many years of working extremely hard and even touring the US. Among many things, my primary advice to them was to start live streaming, particularly on Reddit. By the time 2021 arrived, they had more than tripled their social media presence and doubled their listener count. The continued to stream on Reddit throughout the year before recently switching to TikTok, and in the process garnered over 1 million new followers, 150k monthly listeners, sold out an entire US tour and their music is being licensed left and right.

That's just one example of countless many, and it's the way the entire industry is moving. If you're not on board with that, then you're behind the times, because you don't need a million dollar music video budget to become famous and you never did. Financial support has always been a very well-understood con by the record labels, as it allows them to assume ownership over music rights under the guise of "necessary promotional activities."

Re: Global music market grew by 18.5% in 2021, driven by paid subscription streaming

#38

Post by cloutchaser »

I wonder how many of these X market grew by X% last year will take account of inflation? My hunch is not many, because it sounds better without it, and these numbers need to sounds good.

But looking at year to year dollar growth at 8-10% inflation is not accurate. This headline is probably only an 8-10% grow rate in real terms.

Re: Global music market grew by 18.5% in 2021, driven by paid subscription streaming

#39

Post by oh_sigh »

BaseballPhysics wrote: post #9
candiddevmike wrote: post #4

Doesn't say how much the actual artists are seeing of this growth, and how spread out it is. These streaming services make it really hard for smaller artists to stand out, almost everyone uses the services "radio" equivalent which seems to play a very narrow scope of similar artists (mostly more well known). Basically it seems like it's easier than ever to become a musician with global reach/fans but harder than ever…

Yup. Listen to any smaller artist and they'll tell you streaming services are only good for exposure and the real money is in ticket sales, swag, and physical and digital sales to buying customers.

This seems like a problem associated with how money is apportioned out by the streaming services. As I understand it, they basically throw all the user money into a big pot, and throw all the streams into a big pot, and then apportion it out that way.

However, the problem with that is, if I don't listen to Taylor Swift at all, why is a portion of my subscription fee going to her? If, say, $10 per month of the money I give to Spotify goes to artists, it should just go to who I listen to. If I listen exclusively to Obscure Band X, then all of my money should go to them. If half my streams are Taylor Swift and half OBX, then they should both get $5.

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