business
Drake Outstreams All Pre-1980 Music: The 2021 Streaming Market, by Decade
The most popular oldies are getting younger. Since at least 2014, the market share of catalog has been rising – from just over 65.1% in 2020 to 69.8% of album consumption units last year, according to Luminate (formerly known as MRC Data). At the same time, though, the music that dominates the catalog category – defined by Billboard as albums released more than 18 months ago, as long as they’re not being actively promoted by labels or in the top half of the Billboard 200 – is more recent than ever. In a trend apparently driven by streaming, growth is now being driven mostly by older albums from newer artists – sometimes referred to as “shallow catalog” – rather than the “deep catalog” of the ’60s and ’70s rock acts that used to dominate the category. To get a sense of how profound this shi...
(This Is) Not Your Father’s Catalog Music
Streaming has made catalog music more important than ever – it jumped from about 65% of the market in 2020 to about 70% last year. But the catalog that’s growing isn’t necessarily what you’d expect. Icons like The Beatles are thriving, but the category is now dominated by Drake, Taylor Swift and other modern acts. Billboard explains where the growth is – and how it could continue. Plus: Why Drake streams as much as all music before 1980 combined, how TikTok turns yesterday’s tracks into today’s hits, how classic rock acts are holding up and why the only thing that hasn’t changed is the industry’s ability to hype up trends. Related Related Deep Dive: A Musician’s Guide to Web3 04/15/2022 Read the full Deep Dive here. More Swift Than Dylan: How Newer Hits Overtook Classic Rock to Rule ...
More Swift Than Dylan: How Newer Hits Overtook Classic Rock to Rule the Catalog Market
At the beginning of the year, Luminate (formerly MRC Data) issued its 2021 annual report, which showed that catalog music — which Billboard defines as a track that is older than 18 months — increased its share of overall U.S. music consumption from 65.1% in 2020 to 69.8% last year, as measured by album consumption units. The initial interpretation of that data was that, more than a year into the pandemic, listeners were soothing themselves with nostalgia — relaxing with Fleetwood Mac, rather than blasting Doja Cat. The market share of catalog has actually been rising since 2014, back when sales still dominated the industry, when it accounted for just 35.8% of the business. Since then, the popularity of catalog has climbed steadily, until its big jump last year – when consumption in the cat...
Major Labels Appeal to Keep Mechanical Royalty Rate at 9.1 Cents
The RIAA and the three major record labels have filed a motion with the Copyright Royalty Board asking to limit the scope of a recent ruling to reconsider the long-standing 9.1 cent mechanical royalty rate on physical and download format sales. The motion, filed April 5, seeks to confirm that when the CRB rejected a settlement between the labels and the National Music Publishers’ Association to keep mechanical rates frozen at 9.1 cents for the 2023-2027 term that it only applied to the music of George Johnson, the independent songwriter who objected to the agreement. It also requests that the CRB extend the response period to 60 days, instead of requiring participants in the proceeding to respond by April 22. But RIAA CEO/chairman Mitch Glazier tells Billboard the intent for the filing is ...
After Deezer Failed to Go Public Years Ago, Now Timing Is Everything
Since 2020, nine music-related companies — including the first- and third-largest record labels — have gone public to take advantage of renewed investor interest in a once-struggling industry. Add French music streaming service Deezer to the list. According to a report on Wednesday at The Wall Street Journal, Deezer, which first attempted an initial public offering in late 2015, is planning to go public with a European special purpose acquisition corporation, I2PO, backed by Groupe Artémis, a holding company behind fashion brand Puma and French investment banker Matthieu Pigasse, a partner at Paris-based Centerview Partners. Deezer had no comment to Billboard on the news. Representatives for I2PO did not respond to a request for comment. Deezer — led since last year by CEO Jeronimo Folguei...
Lauryn Hill Champions California Bill to Limit Record Labels’ Power: ‘Greed Often Perverts’
Lauryn Hill has come out in support of a California bill that would prevent record labels from suing artists who leave their record contracts prematurely. On Thursday (April 14), the eight-time Grammy-winning singer/rapper made a public plea to members of the California State Assembly’s Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism and Internet Media to support the FAIR Act, also known as Assembly Bill 2926. Introduced by Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San Jose) in February, the bill would repeal a 1987 amendment to California’s “Seven-Year Statue” (a.k.a. California Labor Code Section 2855) that allows record labels to sue artists for damages if they leave after seven years but before delivering the required number of albums in their contract. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts an...
Quantum computing firm simulates adoption of crypto payments
Multiverse Computing, a quantum computing firm with offices in Canada and Spain, has partnered with the Bank of Canada to run simulations on how the adoption of cryptocurrency might proceed as a payment method. In a Thursday announcement, Multiverse Computing said it used its equipment as part of a proof-of-concept project with the Bank of Canada to generate examples of how non-financial firms may end up adopting crypto. The quantum simulations used scenarios with 8 to 10 financial networks with more than 1.2 octillion possible configurations. According to the firm, it was “important to develop a deep understanding of interactions that can take place in payments networks” to understand how companies may adopt different forms of payments. The simulations suggested crypto payments may end up...
The Deals: Lostboycrow Plugs Into Nettwerk; Merlin Goes With FLO
Los Angeles indie-pop artist Lostboycrow signed to Nettwerk, which just released his new single “Chewed Up.” His prior releases include the 2016 EP Sigh For Me, 2017 EP trilogy Traveler, 2019 album Santa Fe and 2021 album Valleyheart. Digital music licensing service Merlin struck a partnership with South Korean streaming service FLO that will allow Merlin members to expand their audiences in the country. Users on FLO will now have access to music from Merlin members including Hong Kong-based music distribution and media company Euphoria Media, Latin American online digital distribution company FaroLatino, Brazilian platform Sua Música and California-based punk indie Hopeless Records. Warner Music Nashville and Elektra Music Group signed country singer-songwriter Bailey Zimmerman. According...
Wikimedia community supports proposal to stop foundation from accepting crypto donations
Requests for comments on a proposal urging the Wikimedia Foundation to stop accepting donations in cryptocurrency have closed, with the majority of users voting in favor. According to a Tuesday update on the proposal, roughly 71%, or 232 out of 326, Wikimedia contributors who responded requested that the Wikimedia Foundation — the nonprofit that hosts Wikipedia — stop accepting cryptocurrency donations. The arguments in favor of the proposition included environmental concerns surrounding Bitcoin (BTC) transactions and “the risk to the movement’s reputation for accepting cryptocurrencies.” The community first opened the proposal to comment on Jan. 10, expanding the discussion to include topics like El Salvador adopting BTC as legal tender, crypto as a tool for illicit financial activities, ...
Trending Up: Willow Is Everywhere, With Hits Both New and Old — Plus SZA and Muni Long on R&B Radio, ‘Sun and Moon’ & More
Welcome to Billboard Pro’s Trending Up newsletter, where we take a closer look at the songs, artists, curiosities and trends that have caught the music industry’s attention. Some have come out of nowhere, others have taken months to catch on, and all of them could become ubiquitous in the blink of a TikTok clip. This week: A resurrected older hit of Willow’s bumps up against her newer singles (again), Muni Long and SZA help close the gap between streaming and radio in R&B, and yet another 2010s alt-rock song blows up on TikTok. Willow’s Slow-Release, Sped-Up New Hit Willow has quietly become a ubiquitous figure in pop over the past year — popping up on alternative radio with her great 2021 pop-punk album Lately I Feel Everything, in the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 w...
PayMaya’s parent company Voyager Innovations raises $210M
Voyager plans to enhance the services offered by PayMaya, including cryptocurrency solutions The company will use the recent funding to boost its efforts to employ the digital economy in serving the unbanked and underserved. Voyager Innovations, the parent company of the leading digital payments application in the Philippines, PayMaya, has announced that it recently completed a $210 million funding round at a $1.4 billion valuation. Pushing it into unicorn status, the funding round was led by Asia’s SIG Venture Capital. Other investors who participated in the funding round were Tencent, First Pacific, and PLDT – Philippine’s largest telecommunication service provider. “The strong endorsement from our new shareholders and participation of our existing investors in this fundraising validates...
Virtual Avatar Company Genies Raises $150M at $1B Valuation
Genies, a Los Angeles-based avatar startup with close ties to the music industry, raised $150 million in Series C funding led by Silver Lake and existing investors Bond, NEA and Tamarack Global, the company announced today. The deal values Genies at over $1 billion. The six-year-old company has partnerships with Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group as their official avatar and digital goods NFT provider, and has partnered with artists including Cardi B, Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Shawn Mendes, J Balvin and Migos. Genies creates virtual identities for artists to use across the metaverse and releases digital wearables – such as a J Balvin space suit and a Mendes digital hoodie — for fans to collect and wear in the metaverse. Last year, Genies widened its ambition by launching a marketpl...
