A Look Into The Music Industry’s Crystal Ball

“Crystal Ball, Crystal Ball, tell me things as you think they will be.” The great thing about the music business now is that, unlike previous eras, it’s rapidly shifting and morphing at a faster pace than ever. That makes it difficult for some to keep up, more difficult for others to adapt, and pretty near impossible to predict what will happen ten years from now. That said, there are a number indicators that allow us to look into the near future and take an educated guess at what we may see just a few years down the line. Allow me to gaze into my crystal ball.

Streaming will become the primary way that most people consume their music. We’re only at the beginning of the streaming era of music and there’s a lot of room for growth. World-wide there were only 28 million paid subscribers of streaming services last year according to the latest IFPI digital music report, which is a drop in the bucket compared to the number of music consumers on the planet. More and more people are discovering just how useful the access model is as compared to the ownership model. It doesn’t take long to realize that your digital storage filled with a library of songs can’t compete with having access to 10+ million songs anytime and anywhere.

But there will be fewer outlets that deliver it. Right now streaming is a part of the industry that’s completely upside down financially. None of the major platforms, Spotify, Pandora, Beats Music, Slacker, etc., turn a profit yet, instead playing for the big score down the road when the economy of scale flips their way when enough new users sign up. Unfortunately by that time it will be too late. Apple will have entered the game with their own streaming service that will play on all platforms, and will be able to convert its massive existing customer base into monthly paying customers. Amazon will be in the game too, and Google will intensify it’s already potent efforts (perhaps with a separate new YouTube component). Read more on Forbes.

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The Rapid Rise Of Digital Music

Digital music has become a huge part of the global recorded music income, now bringing in just over a third of the total, according to the latest IFPI report. Here's a chart from Statista that shows how rapidly the sector has grown over the last 10 years.

As you can also see, downloads still make up more than half the digital music income, although expect that to decrease and for streaming income to increase in years to come.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

Follow me on Forbes for some insights on the new music business.

You should follow me on Twitter and Facebook for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.

Samsung Spills The Milk With Its New Streaming Service

Just what the world needs, another streaming service. Samsung recently announced that it launched a free online streaming music service that's only available in the US and on its Galaxy phones. The service is called Milk Music, and offers over 200 curated streaming channels free of charge to Samsung customers.

Milk Music is certainly a curious name (although it does bring the widely known “Got Milk?” campaign by the American Dairy Association to mind), but you have to wonder why Samsung would even dream of entering a space with such low margins and high competition. Okay, I can think of some.

First of all, Samsung didn’t have to build the infrastructure for the service, relying instead on Slacker Radio to provide the backbone. This is actually a good strategic move for both parties in that it moves Slacker closer to its major competitor Pandora while Samsung gets Milk users to stay within the controlled Galaxy environment, at least at first. Being powered by Slacker also takes Samsung off the hook for any expensive licensing deals with the labels. That much makes sense.

But that’s where it also gets curious. One of the things about non-interactive radio-style streaming services is that you’re not supposed to be able to skip a song, rewind it, or choose what you want. Milk Music is somewhat of a hybrid in that you get six skips per hour, can choose to “Never Play” a particular song, and can listen to a previously played song from a list of the last 500 aired. This obviously straddles the line between interactive and non-interactive, with each paying a different royalty rate. Are we seeing yet another streaming category emerging? Read more on Forbes.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter and Facebook for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.

Questions To Ask When Choosing A Music Distributor

The easiest way to submit your music to a digital distribution service like iTunes or Spotify is to use what’s known as an aggregator. An aggregation service submits your songs or album to multiple services all over the world, and also collects the royalty for downloads or streams. 

There are more than 40 digital aggregators doing business around the world, but they all fall into two basic categories; they take a percentage of sales or you pay a fee. Examples of services that take a percentage are CD Baby, Louder, Mondotunes and Bandcamp. Services that charge on a per album or song basis include Tunecore and Reverbnation. Some services, like Distrokid, just require a yearly fee for unlimited submissions.

Some questions to ask when comparing services include:

• Do they report to Neilsen Soundscan?
• Do you maintain your rights over your music and publishing?
• How often they provide a sales report?
• How often do they pay?
• What other services do they offer?
• Is there a setup fee for each release?
• Do they supply ISRC codes or barcodes?
• Will you continue to receive royalties if you stop paying the monthly or yearly fee?
• How many outlets do they distribute to?
• Is there a take down fee to remove your songs or album for the service?
• Can they arrange iTunes pre-order sales?
• Are there any additional charges that aren't obvious?

There are a lot of options between aggregators and there is no clear choice between them all. For more information, there are plenty of comparison sites online, but be sure that the service that you choose best suites you needs without any unforeseen surprises.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

Follow me on Forbes for some insights on the new music business.

You should follow me on Twitter and Facebook for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.

Too Many Hashtags = Less Engagement

Hashtags have become an almost universal way of presenting a marketing keyword that people can search for. One of the problems though, is that if you use too many, your engagement actually goes down.

I pointed out in the Social Media Promotion for Musicians book that more than 2 hashtags can drop your engagement by over 20%, and now this infographic by Statista.com offers some additional proof - only in this case they found it dropped 30%!

Keep in mind that this applies to Twitter only. Hashtags in any number have proved to be ineffective on Facebook.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

Follow me on Forbes for some insights on the new music business.

You should follow me on Twitter and Facebook for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.

6 Reasons Why Live Concert Streaming Hasn't Taken Off

A few years ago, the technology and bandwidth seemed to have advanced to the point where live concert video streaming from venues large and small would be inevitable. That hasn't happened and there are a number of reasons, as outlined by a recent Billboard article:

1. Production costs. It costs a lot more to produce a live video stream than a live concert recording.

2. Union fees. Ask anyone who's ever dealt with a major venue and they'll tell you about the union fees that are introduced the moment a camera appears.

3. The bandwidth isn't there yet. Surprisingly, you can't always get the upload bandwidth needed to support a live stream, and many times when you can it's way too expensive.

4. Promoters are afraid. They think that it will prevent people from attending the show.

5. It's the same show. Most acts have a show that's pretty much the same every night. There's very little reason for someone to purchase a live stream more than once. Plus, it may prevent a fan from actually attended the show when it comes to town since they've already seen it.

6. Ownership. For small venues, the issue of licensing fees and ownership of the product become a huge issue. Who owns the product? Who pays the publishing? Can cover songs be cleared in a timely fashion?

Live concert streaming looked like it might become a major new income stream a few years ago, but as with many technologies, just because it's possible doesn't necessarily mean there's a business there.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

Follow me on Forbes for some insights on the new music business.

You should follow me on Twitter and Facebook for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.

10 Things Never To Say On Stage

How you conduct your business on stage can be the difference whether you're perceived as an amateur or as a pro. Performers without a lot of experience tend to use a number of phrases when things go bad on stage that just make things worse. The also rely of some very worn-out cliches are that are better left unsaid.

Here's a list of 10 things to never say on stage by Ari Herstand that recently appeared on Digital Music News. I'm just going to repeat the phrases; you can follow the link for the more complete explanations.

1. "We're having technical difficulties."

2. "I forgot the lyrics."

3. "I want to thank my girlfriend."

4. "I'm sorry."

5. "Your city sucks."

6. "This song is about my Granda who died of cancer. Love you Nana."

7. "I'm broke."

8. "You guys suck."

9. "Any requests?"

10. "How does it sound?"

Here's the best advice:

• Don't acknowledge mistakes
• Don't insult your audience
• Don't insult your band, crew or soundman
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your audience
• Don't look lost on stage

Performing is a muscle and it takes exercising just like anything else. The more you do it, the better you get. If you follow the advice and stay away from the above cliches, you'll be way ahead of the game.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

Follow me on Forbes for some insights on the new music business.

You should follow me on Twitter and Facebook for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.

Best And Worst Times To Post On Social Media

There's no point in posting if no one is there to read it. Here's an infographic from socialcaffeine.com on the best and worst times to post.

These times are pretty broad, and you'll find more precise times for both networks in my Social Media Promotion for Musicians book.

For instance, I've found that Twitter posts at 8AM, 1PM, 3PM, and 5PM ET work really well. Dan Zarella has a wealth of information on the best times to post on his site if you need more info on the subject.

You can also read excerpts from Social Media Promotion for Musicians and my other books on the excerpt section of bobbyowsinski.com.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

Follow me on Forbes for some insights on the new music business.

You should follow me on Twitter and Facebook for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.

CDs Refuse To Die, And That’s Bad For The Music Business

The 2013 global music industry revenue numbers are in courtesy of the IFPI (International Federation of the Phonograph Industry - an outdated name if there ever was one), and streaming is now a huge part of not only digital sales, but all music sales. According to its latest Digital Music Report, streaming and subscription services climbed 51% last year, which accounted for $1 billion, over 27% of the total digital music revenue. When downloads are taken into consideration, digital music totaled $5.87 billion in 2013, up from $5.63 billion the previous year, despite download revenues dropping 2.1%.

While streaming and subscription appear to be the immediate destiny of the music business, the physical product side of the business refuses to die. Despite predictions that the CD format would be just a memory by now, physical sales of $7.73 billion still made up 51.4% of the total global revenue. Granted, that amount was down 11.7% from the previous year, but a $7+ billion business segment is still substantial by any measurement you want to use. In fact, it’s decreasing at a much slower rate than anyone ever predicted, and actually even grew by 0.8% in France.

All that said, total global music revenue fell by 3.9% last year to $15 billion, most of which was due to a stagnant and slowly changing Japanese music economy, the second largest music market in the world. Japan still centers mainly around physical product, which took a big sales hit last year, while its digital sales have yet to gain much traction. Japan, along with South Korea, was dominated by local artists, who held the top 10 sales positions for the year. It’s not known if that might somehow be a factor in the 16.7% sales slump that occurred in 2013, but it does show that Japanese music consumers are beginning to exhibit their preference for other types of music delivery. Read more on Forbes.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter and Facebook for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.

Global Top Sellers Of 2013

The latest IFPI report is out outlining the recording industry's health for 2013. We'll cover the numbers more in depth in a future post, but first let's look at the top global sellers of last year.

Global Top Selling Albums of 2013

	ARTIST	TITLE	TOTAL SALES (M)
1	One Direction	Midnight Memories	4.0
2	Eminem	The Marshall Mathers LP2	3.8
3	Justin Timberlake	The 20/20 Experience	3.6
4	Bruno Mars	Unorthodox Jukebox	3.2
5	Daft Punk	Random Access Memories	3.2
6	Katy Perry	Prism	2.8
7	Michael Bublé	To Be Loved	2.4
8	Imagine Dragons	Night Visions	2.4
9	Lady Gaga	Artpop	2.3
10	Beyoncé	Beyoncé	2.3

Global Top Selling Digital Singles of 2013

	ARTIST	TITLE	TOTAL SALES (M)
1	Robin Thicke	Blurred Lines	14.8
2	Macklemore & Ryan Lewis	Thrift Shop	13.4
3	Avicii	Wake Me Up	11.1
4	P!nk feat. Nate Ruess	Just Give Me A Reason	9.9
5	Katy Perry	Roar	9.9
6	Daft Punk	Get Lucky	9.3
7	Imagine Dragons	Radioactive	8.6
8	Bruno Mars	When I Was Your Man	8.3
9	will.I.Am	Scream & Shout	8.1
10	Rihanna	Stay	7.9

One of the things that sticks out is that the sales numbers for these hits are rather anemic when you consider we're talking world-wide. Also, when you consider the amount of hype that artists like Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Beyonce and Daft Punk received, you'd expect the numbers to be much higher.

But that's the music business we live in today, where sales numbers aren't what they once were and probably never will be. That said, I bet if you look at the same artist's YouTube and streaming numbers (which I'll attempt to get), they'd be off the charts.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

Follow me on Forbes for some insights on the new music business.

You should follow me on Twitter and Facebook for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.

Simple Things To Help Your Music Career

Sari Delmar wrote a great piece in Music Think Tank called "15 Quick and Simple Things You Can Do To Help Your Music Career." There are a lot of great ideas there, but here are the first 5.

#1 Remember Peoples’ Names 

Ya ya ya, you meet a lot of people… we get it. If you want people to remember your name, you better sure as hell try to remember theirs. Find a good system. Make notes. Facebook stalk. Do something.

#2 Send Thank You Notes 

A small and simple gesture that goes a long way to ensure you leave a great impression.

#3 Database Relentlessly

Keep organized and detailed databases of your mailing list, the local media, your supporters, promoters, and everything else. This will save you tons of time and help you manage relationships with ease. There’s a kazillion great databasing tools out there and a simple spreadsheet does the trick as well.

#4 Role Play

Now this is a fun one! As an indie band you often need to wear a number of different hats. One minute you are a publicist, the next you’re an agent, and the next moment you’re a merchandiser. It can happen so fast sometimes it’s easy to forget the intricacies that make each of these professionals so good at their jobs. Every time you write an email or make a call in one of these roles, approach it as if you are the best publicist, agent, or merchandiser in the world and think about what a professional in that field would do. Then do it. This will help people take you professionally.

#5 Read Up 

Being well read will do more for you then make you look cool while schmoozing industry types. Watching the industry, keeping tabs on changes, and more will allow you to make the best strategic decisions possible, and managing a band or being in one is all about strategic decisions, as I’m sure you know. Websites like Hypebot and Billboard Biz are good starting points.

The rest of the post is well worth checking out. You can see it here.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

Follow me on Forbes for some insights on the new music business.

You should follow me on Twitter and Facebook for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.

iTunes Wants Exclusives

Faced with a downturn in download sales, Apple is now seeking exclusives and additional content from artists in order for iTunes to retain its edge on various competitors. Using the Beyonce exclusive from her fifth album that was released in December as an example, Apple hopes to convince other artists that providing iTunes with a window of exclusivity can be an advantage for all concerned.

Although Beyonce's album became a big hit and was the fastest selling album in iTunes history, she suffered a backlash as a result of the exclusive when retail giants Target and Amazon.com refused to carry it. Few artists are able to sustain a retail boycott of any kind, which makes providing Apple with an exclusive all the more dubious. Plus, is this really serving the artist's fans in the long run? You really don't want your fans to jump through hoops to get your latest release.

Streaming is clearly picking up steam and iTunes, which has around 80% of the download market in the US, wants to maintain sales for as long as possible. That said, using Beyonce as an example is a little like saying you get a good ride in a Rolls Royce, when few of us ever get to experience it.

There seems to be little incentive in giving iTunes an exclusive, and a lot to lose if you do. Maybe it would be better if Apple concentrated more on iTunes Radio instead.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

Follow me on Forbes for some insights on the new music business.

You should follow me on Twitter and Facebook for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.