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Record industry revenues return to decline, mainly because of Japan Fast forward to now, and how did we all fair in 2013 do you think? I mean, the record industries in Norway, Sweden, Germany and the UK all reported growth last year, so worldwide things are still looking good, surely? Well, no. Not so good. Though, providing we are all willing to ignore Japan, the money generated by recorded music in 2013 only dropped by 0.1% overall, so that's not too bad is it? And I think we can all agree to ignore the fact that, if you take in Japan's previously reported 15% revenue slide, overall the worldwide record industry saw its income fall by 3.9%, can't we? Good. These top-line revenue stats for the global record industry were published yesterday alongside the IFPI's annual digital music report. Amongst the other nuggets of stat glory revealed was confirmation that global revenues from subscription streaming services jumped up 51.3% last year bringing in over $1 billion worldwide, and helping the European record industry return to growth and the US business to hold more or less steady, despite the download market having peaked Stateside. Commenting on her organisation's latest report, IFPI CEO Frances Moore told CMU: "Even accounting for the difficult situation in Japan, the global recording industry is in a positive phase of its development. Revenues in most major markets have returned to growth. Streaming and subscription services are thriving. Consumers have a wider choice than ever before between different models and services. And digital music is moving into a clearly identifiable new phase as record companies, having licensed services across the world, now start to tap the enormous potential of emerging markets". Look out for more detailed analysis of the IFPI's latest digital data in the latest edition of the CMU Digest monthly report, out next week. Sign up to receive that here. -------------------------------------------------- Streaming income booms, though downloads and CDs remain biggest earners According to the trade group, subscription and ad-funded streaming services combined now account for 27% of digital music income, with an estimated 28 million people worldwide now paying for a music-based subscription service. Though, as some simple maths will have told you there, the download domain is far from dead, even if the streams have garnered many more column inches in the last year. Worldwide download revenues dipped 2.1%, probably a direct result of the growth of streaming (or, some might argue, because of competition for download spend from the booming app market), though still accounted for 67% of digital income, which in turn accounted for 39% of recorded music revenue. Which, of course, is another reminder that while downloads are still big business, so is good old fashioned CD selling. Although physical product sales continue to decline across the board, they still accounted for 51% of revenues worldwide last year. Though, with that figure down from 56% in 2012, this - ie 2014 - might be the first year when digital combined with public performance and sync income finally out-perform physical sales overall. See you in a year's time to find out. -------------------------------------------------- Streaming helps ensure US recorded music market decline only slight Streaming music revenue - including subscription services and all-important ad-revenue from free-to-access platforms like Vevo, YouTube and Pandora - was up 39% last year generated $1.4 billion in revenue. It means that in the US this revenue stream is now accounting for over a fifth of recorded music income overall. This growth helped ensure that 2013 revenues overall were pretty much on par with 2012 (down 0.3%) at just under $7 billion, despite CD income continuing to fall, by 12.3% this time, and - as much noted previously - the download market has also peaked Stateside, with iTunes-style monies down 1% in 2013 to $2.8 billion. Said the RIAA's VP of Strategic Data Analysis Joshua Friedlander yesterday: "All of this shows the music industry today has grown into a diverse digital business teeming with a wide variety of innovative services catering to all types of music fans". And hurrah to that. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Viacom's long running YouTube dispute settled As much previously reported, MTV owner Viacom accused YouTube of deliberately allowing copyright infringing content to be posted by users to its platform because it knew such unlicensed videos generated good traffic. YouTube countered that it always operated a takedown system allowing rights owners to request unlicensed content be removed, and in doing so enjoyed protection from copyright infringement claims under America's Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The case was important to the wider content industries - including even the record companies that had actually done licensing deals with YouTube by the time this litigation got going - because it tested quite how the so called 'safe harbour' of the DMCA would work. The record companies and movie studios reckon that the DMCA too readily allows the operators of platforms that let users post content (or which aggregate content through automated means) to circumvent liability when they end up hosting copyright infringing material, by saying that even the most shoddy of takedown systems provides protection for said platform owners. Of course since Viacom went legal, YouTube has enhanced its takedown system way beyond what the DMCA demands. However the media giant wanted compensation for infringement pre those refinements, while the wider content industries were hoping a win for the MTV owner would force other websites still operating less sophisticated takedown processes - Grooveshark springs to mind - to step up their rights management activities. But in court, at first instance, YouTube won, dashing all those hopes and dreams. Though Viacom, of course, appealed, and an appeal judge raised various concerns about the original ruling, forcing a rethink in the lower court. But having done some rethinking, last April a judge reaffirmed the original ruling. So Viacom appealed again. Now the two sides have reached an out of court settlement, meaning no further judicial consideration will be given to this specific dispute, or the wider issues of takedown systems and DMCA protection for digital platforms. Terms of the settlement are not known, but sources say no money will change hands, and more likely YouTube and Viacom will forge some sort of partnership to generate future revenues. The two companies said in a statement: "This settlement reflects the growing collaborative dialogue between our two companies on important opportunities, and we look forward to working more closely together". As for the wider debate about the DMCA, and how YouTube's competitors operate their takedown processes, most attention on that issue in the content industries is now focused on Washington anyway, where the record and movie industries' lobbyists hope to force refinements in law to remove the perceived loopholes in the current system. NFL now pushing for $16 million+ over MIA's finger As previously reported, MIA raised her finger during a guest spot in Madonna's half-time performance at the 2012 edition of the NFL's biggest annual celebration of America's inability to correctly play either football or rugby. The sporting body claims that, by raising her finger, MIA breached a contractual commitment to ensure her performance didn't negatively impact on the "tremendous public respect and reputation" enjoyed by American football. Even though the finger moment led to only a smattering of formal complaints from the Super Bowl's 111.3 million viewers, the NFL has been pushing for compensation from MIA ever since, so far through a process of arbitration, something the rapper and her legal rep went public on last September. MIA's lawyer Howard King told The Hollywood Reporter back then: "The NFL's claimed reputation for wholesomeness is hilarious in light of the weekly felonies committed by its stars, the bounties placed by coaches on opposing players, the homophobic and racist comments uttered by its players, the complete disregard for the health of players and the premature deaths that have resulted from same". Needless to say, such comments have not placated the NFL in anyway, and it continues to push for a pay out, with new papers being presented by both sides to the arbitrator last week. And according to The Reporter, the footballing group is now asking for $16.6 million. That constitutes the $1.5 million in compensation they've been demanding from the start, and another $15.1 million in restitution. The latter claim has been added by lawyers - who may or may not be on a percentage cut of the winnings - based on the argument MIA raised her finger in a bid to capture the Super Bowl headlines for promotional gain, and therefore she should pay the NFL the going rate for promotional airtime during the big game, which works out at about $7.5 million per minute (she was on stage for two minutes). Providing new comment on all this via Twitter earlier this week, MIA posted a proposed indemnity agreement the NFL's lawyers also want included in any deal, covering themselves for any future third party action in relation to the finger incident (presumably in case any Super Bowl viewers suffer delayed trauma two years after the moment). The rapper also sent a cheeky tweet to Madonna asking "ummm... can I borrow sixteen million?" Meanwhile in her latest submission to the arbitration process, MIA lists various other salacious moments during Super Bowl halftime shows past, none of which the NFL bothered themselves about. Her legal reps then add: "[The] continued pursuit of this proceeding is transparently an exercise by the NFL intended solely to bully and make an example of respondents for daring to challenge NFL". -------------------------------------------------- Kim Dotcom extradition hearing delayed again Most recently due to begin on 14 Apr, the two week hearing to consider the application to have Dotcom and his MegaUpload co-founders extradited to the US, to face copyright infringement and other charges relating to their former business, is now scheduled to begin on 7 Jul. At which point it will be more than two and a half years since MegaUpload was shut down by the American authorities, and almost two years since the extradition hearing was original due to take place in August 2012. The delay is down to continued legal arguments over how much evidence the US Department Of Justice should have to disclose to MegaUpload's legal team prior to the court session. As previously reported, in December last year the DoJ did release some of its evidence in a 191 page report as part of this ongoing squabble. But Dotcom's legal reps have continued to fight for further evidence disclosure. Mainly because, they argue, the DoJ has not yet sufficiently shown there are grounds for a criminal case against their client at all. Which is important because if Dotcom only had to face civil action in relation to his role at MegaUpload, then he could not be extradited. Dotcom has also accused US authorities of delaying his case in the hope that his mounting legal costs will weaken his ability to fight the charges against him. -------------------------------------------------- KimKan's proposal lawsuit cleared for court As previously reported, Hurley incurred the wrath of the West-Kardashians after posting a video of their engagement to his new Vine/Instagram competitor Mixbit. In doing so, they say, he violated a confidentially agreement he signed prior to attending the engagement party (to which, they also claim, he was not even invited, coming as the +1 of another guest). It's not just a privacy issue for Kardashian and West. The couple had sold the exclusive rights to screen the proposal to E! Entertainment Television for a future edition of 'reality' TV show 'Keeping Up With The Kardashians', and the posting of Hurley's video preceded that broadcast. Hurley had attempted to have the case dismissed on constitutional grounds, specifically that his posting of the video was covered by his right to free speech. Btut Superior Court judge Ruth Ann Kwan rejected this claim yesterday. Hurley's lawyer Rodger Cole said that they would appeal the ruling, telling reporters: "We still believe Mr Hurley's conduct should be protected by the First Amendment free speech rights. We do not believe the celebrity release agreement should preclude him from posting the video he posted". Pending this, the dispute is set to reach court on 17 Nov. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Downtown Music Publishing to open UK office Downtown founder and President Justin Kalifowitz told Music Week: "For the last ten years, Tom has been at the forefront of discovering and championing critically acclaimed British songwriters and artists. As Downtown continues to expand our global creative services team, we are delighted to have someone with Tom's ears, experience and enthusiasm working with our roster". Graham will report in to Downtown's VP Of A&R in the States, Jeremy Yohai. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Pandora subs to rise as CTO steps down A post on the Pandora blog sates: "We've been fortunate to be able to offer Pandora One at an affordable price since its debut in 2009 at $36 per year and later with the introduction of a monthly subscription for only $3.99 per month. Over this same period, the costs of delivering this service have grown considerably. For example, the royalty rates Pandora pays to performers via SoundExchange for subscription listening have increased 53% in the last five years and will increase another 9% in 2015". As previously reported, in addition to the royalties Pandora pays the labels via SoundExchange, it has also been quibbling the monies it hands over to the music publishers via their collecting societies. Last week Pandora won a court ruling in a dispute with one of those societies, ASCAP, which said it should pay 1.85% of annual revenue (Pandora wanted 1.7%) for the publishing rights, rather than the 3% the collecting society was asking for. Though the big music publishers are continuing to lobby for changes in US collective licensing rules, which would allow them to withdraw their digital rights from ASCAP and its counterpart BMI and negotiate direct with services like Pandora. Elsewhere, Pandora's Chief Technology Officer and EVP Of Product Tom Conrad is to step down in June, taking on a part time advisory role from July. Announcing his departure, Graham said in a letter to Pandora staff: "Through all these years perhaps the most gratifying thing has been how the whole company has evolved. From the scrappy group that wrote those first lines of code to the dynamic and talented assemblage we have today, through it all we've benefitted from a group of men and woman that are without question the most talented, intelligent, thoughtful and hardworking team I've ever had the pleasure to work with". Former VP Of Engineering Chris Martin will replace Graham as Chief Technology Officer, while the company is also seeking to hire a Chief Product Officer externally. It has also bee announced that VP Of Technical Operations Steve Ginsberg is being promoted this week, moving into the role of Chief Information Officer. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Box TV promotes Mark Adams The music station's Programming Director David Young said: "2013 was a huge year for us. Thanks to massively talented people like Mark and the superb programming we produced, Box TV was the number one music TV network, receiving the most individual video views". He went on: "Mark was an enormous part of this success and his promotion reflects this. He will now play a leading role in maintaining our position as the most-watched music TV network, as well as delivering greater promotional opportunities for breaking new acts and A-list talent, particularly by working closely with our partner Bauer on cross-platform projects with massive scale". Adams himself added: "Box TV is one of the most exciting companies to work for in music entertainment; our massive TV and online audiences are powerful platforms that can deliver huge reach to artists and their music. I can't wait to demonstrate to the labels how Box TV can break new artists and deliver really impactful programming opportunities that really shift the dial". | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Gary Burger 1943-2014 Growing up in Minnesota, Burger enlisted in the US Army after leaving high school, and later was shipped to Germany. Here he met his future bandmates, Larry Clark, Eddie Shaw, Dave Day and Roger Johnston and, in 1964, they formed a group called The Five Torquays, mainly performing covers of the popular acts of the day. However, they quickly began to experiment with their own music, developing a rhythmic sound that used a lot of feedback - a sound described by Shaw in a 2009 interview with CMU as a "deconstruction" of rock n roll. To match their strange new sound, they took on a strange appearance too - donning cassocks, tying nooses around their necks, shaving the tops of their heads and renaming themselves The Monks. After being discharged from the army, the group stayed in Germany and began to tour Europe, as well as recording their sole album 'Black Monk Time'. However, the pressures of touring took their toll and the band split in 1967, ahead of a tour of Asia. Burger returned to Minnesota, attending the Bemidji State University and later taking a job digging septic systems. He also built up a recording studio over a number of years, where he worked with new bands, and since 2006 had been serving as the mayor of the small, 77 person strong town of Turtle River, where he had settled. In the late 90s, Burger discovered that The Monks had gained something of a cult following, with original vinyl copies of 'Black Monk Time' exchanging for up to $1000 a piece. This led to a brief live reunion of the original line-up in 1999 for a show in New York. Later the band performed in Spain in 2004, and then Austria and Germany in 2007, though without the full line-up. Drummer Robert Johnston died in 2004, while banjo player Dave Day followed in 2008. Burger also played some solo shows in recent years, largely consisting of Monks and Five Torquays songs. Over the decades, The Monks were cited as an influence by artists including Jimi Hendrix, The Velvet Underground, The White Stripes, Beastie Boys, The Dead Kennedys and The Fall. For many now, their introduction to the band comes via YouTube videos of German teenagers attempting to dance to their music during a 1966 TV performance. Burger's funeral took place in Turtle River yesterday. He is survived by wife Cindy Burger, two sons from his first marriage Adam and Micke, sister Barbara Stephens, two aunts, two step-daughters and two granddaughters. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Vulfeck attempt to trick Spotify into funding tour Earlier this week, the band released a new album exclusively on Spotify, called 'Sleepify'. It features ten 30 second long tracks, all of which are completely silent. The band reckon that if fans play the album on repeat while they sleep each night, they'll generate $4 in revenue for the band. If enough fans do this every night, then the tour will be fully funded and no one will have to pay to get into the gigs. Also, the band plan to take the tour to the places where 'Sleepify' gets the most streams, so your sleepy devotion will hopefully be rewarded. Now, let's ignore the obvious flaws in this plan - that it only works for premium users who won't be disturbed by the ads, and the potential for Spotify to pull the album, being just two - and just enjoy the pure publicity stunt of it all. How? By watching this video promoting the idea, of course. -------------------------------------------------- Grumbling Fur to soundtrack video art installation Taking over the former church, Tucker and O'Sullivan will provide a 7.1 surround sound soundtrack to a four channel video installation created by Titchner, entitled 'Rose'. The show will run from 2 Apr to 4 May, with a preview on 1 Apr. More information here. In lieu of anything of the show to tease you with, here instead is Titchner's video for Grumbling Fur's 'Protgenesis'. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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SXSW announces second Grulke Prize winners Damon Albarn took the Career Act award, which is handed to an established artist who performed at the most recent SXSW festival to reinvent themselves or launch a new project. Meanwhile, there are two awards for new US and non-US artists, which this year were given to Future Islands, and Irish group The Strypes. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Original Nirvana drummer left out of Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame Although Nirvana have become eligible for induction because their debut single 'Love Buzz', on which Channing played, has now turned 25 years old, the Hall Of Fame often only recognises any band's most famous line-up. With that in mind, it would have been fairly easy to work out that Channing wasn't getting in. But in an interview with Radio.com he revealed that, after being encouraged by Krist Novoselic and the band's management to come along to the induction event, he only found out that he'll be a guest and no more via a text message sent to Nirvana's manager Michael Meisel, which said: "Can you tell whoever looks after Chad Channing that he isn't being inducted... It is just Dave, Krist and Kurt". It seems that "whoever looks after Chad Channing" is Chad Channing, as the text was just forwarded straight over to him. The drummer has said that he will still attend the induction ceremony in New York on 10 Apr though. So that's nice. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Send ALL press releases to musicnews@unlimitedmedia.co.uk - this is checked daily by the whole editorial team meaning your release will definitely get to the right person. For details of the training and consultancy services offered by CMU Insights click here - Andy and Chris are also available to provide music business comment, just email them direct. To promote your company or advertise jobs or services to the entire UK music industry via the CMU bulletin or website contact Sam on 020 7099 9060 or email ads@unlimitedmedia.co.uk | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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