Streaming revenues, downloads and physical sales approach parity in US

Figures from the U.S. show the increasing importance of streaming for the recorded music sector as the  shift from physical to digital, and from download to stream continues.  2014 figures from the Recording Industry Association Of America (RIAA) show revenues getting ever closer to being split three ways between physical, downloads and streams:  27% of US recorded music revenues now come from streaming services is in no small part down to SoundExchange whose compulsory licence revenue very nearly equalled revenues from fully on-demand streaming services like Spotify, which are licensed by the labels directly although SoundExchange treats likes of Sirius - a satellite radio service - as streaming revenue. Directly-licensed freemium services brought in about a third of what was made from directly-licensed subscription services last year, despite having many more users, but that doesn't include ad-funded services using SoundExchange licenses, such as Pandora. RIAA figures show download revenues down 8.7% so that they represent 37% of the wider market, while CD sales were down 12.7% meaning that, despite the 'vinyl revival', physical product accounted by 32% of income. 

American record industry revenues down so far this year

The American record industry's half-year report shows that the revenues for the first six months of 2014 were 4.9% down on the same period in 2013. Recording Industry Association Of America's figures show that a 19.1% decline in physical  CD sales and a 10% drop in download to own revenues were not matched by a 25% rise in subscription streaming income and 50% in ad funded streaming income, highlighting the importance of platforms such as Pandora, Spotify and YouTube in the future.

Google "Must try harder" in the fight against piracy

The RIAA said Google should do more to stop illegal sites appearing in search results. The US record industry trade body said it had assessed the impact of a change in the Google search algorithm made last year, which was meant to downgrade unlicensed sources of music in Google search results, but had found the tweak had had little effect, and illegal music still appeared too high in Google search lists.  Google is,according to reports, is currently focusing on stopping pirates from using its ad networks which may well be a more effective remedy.  RIAA's EVP Steven Marks said "We recognise and appreciate that Google has undertaken some positive steps to address links to illegal music on its network. Unfortunately, our initial analysis concludes that so far Google's pledge six months ago to demote pirate sites remains unfulfilled. Searches for popular music continue to yield results that emphasise illegal sites at the expense of legitimate services, which are often relegated to later pages. And Google's auto-complete function continues to lead users to many of those same illicit sites".

US ISPs set to launch voluntary 'Graduated Response' scheme

RIAA CEO Cary Sherman has confirmed that the country's largest ISPs will voluntarily roll out by July 1 a "graduated response" program aimed at discouraging unauthorized downloading. Under the new system, a rightsholder accusing an ISP subscriber of infringement will trigger a series of ever-increasing consequences.

LimeWire settles with record labels

LimeWire, the now defunct file sharing platform, and its founder, Mark Gorton, have reached a settlement with the 13 record labels that brought an action against them in the Manhatten federal court, agreeing to pay $105 million in damages. The defendants has already been found liable for copyright infringement last year by Judge Kimba Wood and the trial that has been settled was to award damages – the Jury could have potentially awarded up to $1.4 billion in statutory damages.