Digital drives music industry revival

The IFPI’s 2013 Digital Music Report is out and in the words of Frances Moore, chief executive of IFPI:  “It is hard to remember a year for the recording industry that has begun with such a palpable buzz in the air.  These are hard-won successes for an industry that has innovated, battled and transformed itself over a decade.  They show how the music industry has adapted to the internet world, learned how to meet the needs of consumers and monetised the digital marketplace".

The headline stories are that global recorded music revenues up 0.3 per cent, boosted by downloads, subscription and other channels, digital revenues up 9 per cent, with major music services now open in more than 100 markets and that music is helping fuel the digital economy, but barriers to growth need to be addressed

Global recorded music industry revenues rose by an estimated 0.3 per cent to US$16.5 billion in 2012, the first year of industry growth since 1999.  Digital revenues saw accelerating growth for the second year running, up 9 per cent to US $5.6 billion, 34& of all revenues, with most major digital revenue streams – downloads, subscription and advertising-supported – on the rise.  The digital music business is globalising fast, as smartphones and new licensed services span new and emerging markets.  In January 2011, the major international download and subscription services were present in 23 markets.  Today, they are in more than 100. The number of people paying to use subscription services leapt 44 per cent in 2012 to 20 million.  Subscription revenues are expected to account for more than 10 per cent of digital revenues for the first time in 2012.

Despite the optimism, the IFPI says that key barriers to further growth remain – the biggest being unfair competition from unlicensed music services.  The IFPI say that governments have a key role to play in addressing this problem.  The key priority remains to secure effective cooperation from intermediaries including advertisers, ISPs and search engines, who have a major influence on levels of copyright infringement.

Canadian artist Carly Rae Jepsen topped the 2012 global singles chart with Call Me Maybe.  British singer-songwriter Adele achieved phenomenal success with 21, the first album to top the global albums chart for two consecutive years since IFPI began reporting global best sellers in 2001. Music is also helping power social media platforms: Nine in 10 of the most watched videos of all time on YouTube are music videos, led by PSY’s Gangnam Style which has been viewed more than 1.2 billion times.  Nine in 10 of the most liked people on Facebook are artists.  Seven of the top 10 most followed people on Twitter are artists.

Digital album sales 2012

1.            Adele  21  8.3 million

2.            Taylor Swift   Red   5.2 million

3.            One Direction   Up All Night    4.5 million

Digital singles sales 2012

1             Carly Rae Jepsen  Call Me Maybe  12.5 million

2.            Gotye  Somebody That I Used To Know  11.8 million

3             PSY   Gangnam Style  9.7

To download a copy of the Digital Music Report 2013 click here