The latest issue of Music & Copyright is now available for subscribers to download. Here are some of the highlights.
CISAC reports better-than-expected year for creators’ collections
CISAC has published its latest annual report on global creators’ collections. Combined revenue for creators of music, audiovisual works, visual arts, drama, and literature suffered the first annual decrease since 2013. After topping the €10bn ($11.6bn) mark for the first time in 2019, collections fell back below the milestone due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on performance-based revenue sources. However, despite the decline, the global collection total was still the fourth highest on record. Also, the report noted that the results were far less catastrophic than had been expected one year ago. A good 12 months for digital managed to offset much of the performance declines. Moreover, income from broadcasting (TV and radio) fell at a lower rate than expected. SACEM remained the leading collective management organization (CMO) in revenue terms, ahead of the two US CMOs BMI and ASCAP.
Positive results for APRA AMCOS despite the impact of COVID-19 on public performance
Australian authors’ society APRA AMCOS has reported another new record for rights collections. The latest figures are for the financial year ending June and despite a number of sectors taking a hit from the COVID-19 pandemic, collections topped the A$500m ($373.6m) mark for the first time. Receipts from public performance were down for the second straight year, along with income from TV and radio. However, the rate of decline for these income sources was lower than in the previous financial year. Moreover, combined collections from audio streaming, websites, and user-generated content (UGC) as well as VOD services easily offset the performance and broadcast sector declines. Revenue from overseas was also boosted by increased digital collections. The gain saw digital overtake TV to become the single biggest international revenue source.
Podcasters experimenting with new musical initiatives to drive audio ambitions
There’s no shortage of podcasts that tell the story of how a song become a number-one hit, or how an iconic album came to be made, and there are plenty more of those productions brewing. What the music-based podcast has lacked to date is some left-field thinking. That’s set to change. Spotify is becoming more creative with the format to help artists: a reality TV-style audio series is now in the making, and one well-financed studio is looking to make waves with music dramas. What’s still missing, though, is serious podcast ambition on the part of the major record companies. It’s time to get imaginative and make much more of a popular, engaging format.
Spain country report
In addition to the usual set of music industry statistics and news briefs, the latest issue of Music & Copyright includes a detailed Spain music industry report. Spain is one of Europe’s mid-tier music markets. The country’s recorded-music sector was one of the region’s worst hit by digital piracy after the turn of the century. Although piracy levels remain high in the country, spending on recorded-music has recovered somewhat. Despite the impact of COVID-19 on the physical sector, with many brick-and-mortar retailers forced to close for long periods as part of government efforts to limit the spread of the virus, streaming gains boosted the overall sales total. Moreover, physical sales scored something of a bounce back in the first six months of this year with total sales rising at the fastest rate for more than 20 years. UMG maintained its position as the biggest music company despite losing share to second-placed SME. Authors’ society SGAE suffered a sharp fall in collections, with the pandemic badly affecting performance-based sectors. Spain’s live sector took a massive hit from virus restrictions. Local promoters have been critical of the fact that restrictions on concert attendance are still in place despite the country’s high vaccination rate.
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