New issue of Music & Copyright with France country report

The latest issue of Music & Copyright is now available for subscribers to download. Here are some of the highlights.

Global royalty collections see positive year, with growth at reported and constant currency rates
The world’s 20 biggest collective management organizations (CMOs) registered an increase in collections last year at both reported and constant currency exchange rates. The listing, which includes just those CMOs that have published collection results, shows that five of the 20 registered a fall in collections compared with 2016. As always, currency fluctuations affected some CMOs more than others, and overall, the growth rate last year of the combined 20 was higher at reported rates than constant. SACEM remained the leader in terms of total revenue, but BMI and ASCAP took the second and third spots, with a decline in GEMA collections relegating the German society to fourth. The performance of BMI and ASCAP meant the US is the clear leader in terms of collections at country level. Europe is the top region, accounting for close to 60% of the combined top-20 collection total.

Africa faces challenges on its way to becoming a recorded-music contributor
Africa might well be home to a sizable share of the world’s population, but in terms of recorded-music returns, the region is massively underperforming. Aside from South Africa, which has established music distribution and rights administration infrastructure, most countries in Africa have been decimated by high levels of piracy and infighting among collection societies. Ever the optimists, the three major record companies have all made recent moves to reverse the African status quo. The growth of access services in the rest of the world and their positive effects on unlicensed music consumption have given hope to those who believe Africa is an untapped treasure trove. Plenty of local activity and a rapid transformation of digital communications suggest that the time could well be right to move into the region. Few are holding their breath for a turnaround in the short-to-medium term, but longer-term prospects are certainly improving.

Streaming’s winners need to adapt if they want to keep on thriving
Spotify and Netflix are two highly successful children of the streaming revolution and have built market-leading positions with their attractive services. But times are set to become a little tougher for both of them. While the audio- and video-streaming markets will continue to grow, the sectors are becoming more challenging. Spotify’s IPO went smoothly enough, but its public listing means its inability to make a profit is under constant scrutiny, and its streaming business may not be able to deliver on that front; pressure is on the company’s non-core activities to do the job. Netflix faces a new era of tough competition from powerful adversaries and is sure to lose market share; from here on in, it’s all about the content.

France country report
In addition to the usual set of music industry statistics and news briefs, the latest issue of Music & Copyright includes a detailed France music industry report. France is the seventh-biggest economy in the world and the third-biggest in Europe, behind Germany and the UK. For recorded-music sales, France is the smallest of the three European countries. However, trade sales have risen for three consecutive years and look likely to rise again this year, with subscription service gains more than offsetting declines in sales of physical formats and music downloads. Digital sales overtook physical and accounted for more than half the combined digital physical total for the first time. UMG enhanced its position last year as the biggest music distributor, with an increase in market share. Authors’ society SACEM registered a fourth consecutive annual growth in collections, with income topping the previous year’s record thanks to a big jump in digital receipts.

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