|Policy
More than three fourths of the American internet-using population over the age of 13 is now streaming music. That’s according to MusicWatch’s audiocensus Q2 2019 report on U.S. music consumption and listening habits, shared exclusively with Billboard in advance of its publication.
In Washington, the Music Modernization Act aims to help by streamlining music licensing and closing a loophole in copyright law so it better fits the digital era. President Trump signed the landmark bill in October 2018, after it passed unanimously in both the House and the Senate.
Audio entertainment giant SiriusXM, the home of Howard Stern, on Tuesday reported continued growth in its satellite radio and Pandora subscribers.
The investment bank’s ‘Music In The Air’ dossier, from August 2017, forecast a booming future for record labels, and set in motion a series of escalating valuations for Universal Music Group which have since hit $50bn (in the case of JP Morgan). In that report, Goldman forecast that trade revenues from paid streaming would reach $28bn by the year 2030, with the overall recorded music industry pulling in a whopping $41bn in the same 12 months.
Oakland-based music streaming platform Pandora has had an office in Atlanta’s Atlantic Station for the past 10 years, and, recently, the company announced plans to expand to another building in Midtown.
Members for the new Congress’ Recording Arts and Sciences Caucus were announced on Thursday (March 14), including chairs House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). The bi-partisan caucus was established in 2005 and works with members of the music industry to understand sector economic and cultural impact on legislation.
The Digital Media Association (DiMA) trade group that was an integral music industry ally to get the Music Modernization Act passed into law last year has tapped Garrett Levinas its new CEO. For the last 26 months, Levin has served as senior vice president/deputy general counsel for intellectual property law and policy at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) radio trade group.
Revenue from music-streaming platforms now accounts for three-quarters of the music industry’s top line, as subscriptions to services including Spotify Technology SA, Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and others in the U.S. grew 42% in 2018 to top 50 million for the first time.
Fueled by tremendous creative output by groundbreaking artists and now more than 50 million paid subscriptions, the U.S. music industry experienced its third year of consecutive growth in 2018 with retail revenues up 12% to $9.8 billion. Streaming now comprises 75% of total industry revenues. Vinyl continues to be a bright spot for the physical market, up 8% to $419 million, the highest revenue level since 1988.
The Hatch-Goodlatte Music Modernization Act was signed into law on October 11, 2018. The act has been termed a music industry peace treaty of sorts, as it is designed to address years of issues and compromise between music streaming technology companies, such as Spotify, and artists and record labels.