New issue of Music & Copyright with Sweden country report

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

Digital music oldie Napster looking to the metaverse for a reawakening
Music industry disruptor Napster is reinventing itself once more, and this time it’s taking aim at the metaverse. The one-time illicit filesharing pioneer turned digital music company now has new financial backers and believes it can parlay its music tech experience into Web3 success. Napster’s first meta effort will involve bringing blockchain and tokenization technology to its streaming product before pushing into yet-to-be-developed offerings. The company can boast digital music expertise and has brought onboard Web3 know-how, so it may well find a space in the metaverse. However, it is up against some pretty stiff, well-resourced competition and could be severely outgunned by tech’s big players.

Return to collection growth for Hungarian authors’ society ARTISJUS
Hungarian authors’ society ARTISJUS has reported a return to growth for collections after registering the first fall in rights receipts since 2015. The dip in 2020 was caused by restrictions brought in by the government on the live, hospitality, and retail sectors to try and limit the spread of COVID-19. Public performance was hardest hit. However, the gradual lifting of restrictions last year resulted in the sector’s revenue stabilizing. Private copying, the biggest income source for the society, returned to growth after suffering a decline in the prior year. Higher royalty income from sales of desktop and laptop computers largely offset a dip in collections from mobile phones. Broadcast revenue benefited from new agreements with commercial TV broadcasters. Digital income almost trebled, with backdated collections from music streaming services boosting the total. However, digital remains a minor revenue source for ARTISJUS members.

Partial victory for UMG in TikTok copyright infringement claims against Bang Energy drink maker
UMG and a number of its recorded-music and music publishing subsidiaries have been granted a partial victory in their copyright infringement claim against the producer and owner of the drinks brand Bang Energy. The case concerned the use of UMG-owned musical works in videos produced by social media influencers promoting Bang Energy that were posted on the short video service TikTok. A Florida district court has decided that the drinks brand owner had committed direct copyright infringement and dismissed claims that the license held by TikTok for music use in posted videos covered the influencers’ music use. However, claims for contributory copyright infringement and vicarious copyright infringement were not granted. Although UMG proved to the court that the drinks company could have stopped the influencers using copyright-protected music, the music major failed to provide evidence of any financial benefit.

Sweden country report
In addition to the usual set of music industry statistics and news briefs, the latest issue of Music & Copyright includes a detailed Sweden music industry report. As home to the world’s biggest on-demand audio subscription service Spotify, Sweden is considered one of the world’s most progressive recorded-music markets. The country’s digital share of combined physical and digital formats and service trade sales exceeded 93% last year (see Table 1), with audio and video streaming registering positive gains. Physical sales also increased, with a sharp rise in trade income from CDs. In line with the buoyancy of recorded-music sales, rights collections and live music spending enjoyed a positive 2021 after suffering declines in 2020 from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. STIM, SAMI, and Copyswede all registered growth in collections. Live was the worst-hit music industry sector as restrictions imposed by the government to limit the spread of the virus effectively shuttered concert tours and festivals. Growth returned in 2021, although it will take a few years for ticket sales to return to prepandemic levels.

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New issue of Music & Copyright with Sweden country report

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

UK parliamentary committee details legislative reforms required to reset the music streaming sector
A UK parliamentary committee tasked with examining the workings of the music streaming sector has made a number of recommendations to rebalance streaming in favor of artists and performers. The Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) Committee said in its July-published Economics of music streaming report that the government should introduce a right to equitable digital music remuneration, a right to recapture the rights to works after a period of time, and the right to contract adjustment if artists’ works were successful beyond the remuneration they receive. The report also expressed concerns about the dominant position of the major music companies and called on the government to support the independent sector and take advice from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) as to whether competition in the recorded-music market was being distorted. Also under the Committee’s spotlight were user-generated content (UGC)-hosting services and their questionable licensing requirements.

Digital gains unable to offset COVID-related performance losses for SOCAN
Canadian collective management organization (CMO) SOCAN has published its collection results for 2020. The CMO had advised its members last year of the likely decline with live performance and general licensing expected to be down sharply. Those estimates were largely accurate. However, the overall dip was modest compared with the drop in revenue experienced by some other international CMOs. Higher receipts from digital services softened the losses from performance-based revenue streams. Unsurprisingly, concerts suffered the biggest decline, followed by cinema and general licensing. Online income overtook foreign collections to become the single biggest revenue source. Although distributions increased year-on-year, the full effect of the virus on member payments is expected to be felt in 2021.

Why Roblox’s virtual experiences are valuable to the music business
Fast-growing gaming company Roblox has drawn the attention of the music majors. The games platform has already hosted a number of virtual concerts and other music events, demonstrating that it is able to draw the crowds, sometimes in huge number. This kind of reach enables music companies and artists to develop the music tastes of millions of would-be fans, many of which, according to Roblox, are under the age of 16. So far, the events have made relatively modest use of the digital capabilities of gaming platforms, but expect Roblox and its new music company allies to work together to develop features that lean on innovative games technology to make artist avatar performances richer music-plus experiences. That will boost engagement, as well as the likelihood of selling a good deal of digital merchandize.

Sweden country report
In addition to the usual set of music industry statistics and news briefs, the latest issue of Music & Copyright includes a detailed Sweden music industry report. As home to the world’s biggest on-demand audio subscription service Spotify, Sweden has become one of the world’s most progressive recorded-music markets. The country’s digital share of trade sales last year topped 93% (see Figure 1) as digital sales continued to grow and combined spending on physical formats slipped to yet another record low. However, in contrast to the buoyancy in recorded-music sales, rights collections and live music spending suffered declines from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. STIM’s results were shaped by the virus, although a retroactive payment boost to foreign revenue in 2019 exaggerated the size of the overall dip. Live sales were the worst hit music industry sector last year and 2021 is shaping up to be no better with a government roadmap to a return to normality ruling out all major festivals until September at the earliest.

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New issue of Music & Copyright with Sweden country report

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

Online platforms not yet liable for the illegal uploading of protected works in Europe
Despite changes to the liability of online platforms set to change in Europe following the passing of a new copyright directive last year, an Advocate General (AG) at the European Court of Justice (CJEU) has published an opinion based on years old legislation in two long-running joined cases referred to the court by the German Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice). The German court had asked for clarification on the position of online video service YouTube and the upload and file hosting platform Uploaded with regards to the uploading of protected works by users to the services. The AG decided that under current EU law, YouTube and Uploaded were not directly liable for any illegal uploads as they only acted as intermediary services. Also, the services were eligible for exemption from liability as they played no active role in the uploaded contents’ distribution.

Four consecutive years of growth for Hungarian royalty collections
Hungarian authors’ society ARTISJUS has reported a fourth consecutive year of growth in royalty collections. In a repeat of previous years, private copying was the dominant collection source with remuneration growth boosted by retroactive payments following a deal with the hardware manufacturer LG as well as increased receipts from mobile handsets and larger storage devices. Public performance registered a modest year with ARTISJUS reporting higher receipts from the hospitality sector because of the buoyancy in the economy as well as ongoing improvements in payment discipline. Broadcast revenue benefitted from a licensing agreement with the TV2 Group, operator of the second largest commercial TV channel and the payment of backdated royalties. Digital collections grew sharply with the bulk of digital income generated by VOD services in the country. However, digital remains a minor revenue source for ARTISJUS members.

Festivals take a huge hit but the live spirit forges on
The global festival calendar 2020 has been decimated by COVID-19, while there are also creeping fears for next year’s roster. Organizers that push ahead with live, physical events tailored to a pandemic are finding the process highly challenging as virus outbreaks force often precipitous changes to proceedings. In addition, those in the US can be hamstrung by a charged political environment in a presidential election year. However, European organizers are proving adept at festival innovations with new physical formats that adhere to social distancing rules. In addition, some events are deploying digital technologies that, while likely not making up for a lack of festival togetherness, are managing to provide performance-plus experiences.

Sweden country report
In addition to the usual set of music industry statistics and news briefs, the latest issue of Music & Copyright includes a detailed Sweden music industry report. As home to the world’s biggest on-demand audio subscription service Spotify, Sweden has become one of the world’s most progressive recorded-music markets. The country’s digital share of trade sales last year topped 90% as combined spending on physical formats slipped to a record low. In addition to recorded music, consumer spending on tickets to live music events grew last year and royalty collections continued to break new records authors’ society STIM reporting a ninth consecutive year of collection growth. However, all the music industry sectors are set to be negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

If you would like more information about the newsletter or set up a subscription, then send us an email

New issue of Music & Copyright with Sweden country report

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

Recorded-music sales for UMG continue to outpace closest rival SME
French media company Vivendi and Japanese electronics giant Sony Corp. have reported financial details for their respective music subsidiaries, UMG and SME. Both companies continue to benefit from high sales of music streaming. For UMG, increased streaming income in the second three months of this year as well as a second straight quarter of unusually strong sales of physical formats boosted overall sales. Licensing income and revenue from merchandising sales also registered year-on-year growth. Not to be outdone, streaming sales for SME increased in the three-month period, the first quarter of the company’s 2019 financial year. Moreover, a modest fall in revenue from physical formats meant total recorded-music income increased year-on-year. Music publishing was the biggest growth sector for SME, with sales and operating income inflated by the acquisition late last year of EMI Music Publishing (EMI MP).

Artists with a gift for fashion stay in vogue
Leading artists such as Madonna and Lady Gaga have long been associated with high fashion and its brands to deliver music diva looks, but at the same time many musicians, especially rappers, have worked hard on developing branded clothing lines to bring their own styles to the street. We have now entered an era where the artist is also becoming a fashion creator, with Rihanna at the apex of the trend following her recent joint venture with luxury group LVMH. Not all musicians are able to clinch apparel deals, but there’s plenty of appetite from brands to work together with them short-term on clothing projects that can boost revenue and deliver marketing uplift.

SIAE reports mixed year for live entertainment in Italy
The Italian live events sector experienced an indifferent 2018, according to annual figures published by Italian authors’ society SIAE. Following a mixed 2017, total live entertainment box office receipts were up, along with audience expenditure and turnover. However, the number of shows/performances/events was down, along with admissions and attendance. In terms of box office, music concerts registered the highest growth of the tracked entertainment sectors, ahead of sports and traveling shows/amusements. Pop accounted for the biggest share of concerts, ahead of classical and jazz. The number of pop concerts edged down last year, while total classical concerts staged increased. Pop dominated box office takings, audience expenditure, and turnover. Cinema, Italy’s biggest sector by box office, suffered a fall in sales. Dance sales were also down year on year.

Sweden country report
In addition to the usual set of music industry statistics and news briefs, the latest issue of Music & Copyright includes a detailed Sweden music industry report. As home to the world’s biggest on-demand audio subscription service, Spotify, Sweden has become one of the world’s most progressive recorded-music markets. The country’s digital share of trade sales last year topped 90% (see Figure 1) as combined spending on physical formats slipped to a record low. In addition to recorded music, consumer spending on tickets to live music events grew last year and are projected to rise further in the next few years. Royalty collections in Sweden are breaking records annually, with authors’ society STIM reporting earlier this year the eighth consecutive year of collection growth.

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New issue of Music & Copyright with Sweden country report

The final issue of Music & Copyright for 2016 is now available for subscribers to download. Here are some of the highlights.

GMR hits back at RMLC with antitrust complaint
US performance rights organization Global Music Rights (GMR) has filed an antitrust complaint at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against the Radio Music License Committee (RMLC), accusing it of collusive tactics to depress the royalty rates paid by radio stations to songwriters and of operating an unlawful cartel intended to stifle competition among radio stations. The lawsuit follows a similar filing in November by the RMLC against GMR which accused the performance rights organization (PRO) of attempting to charge the US commercial radio industry monopoly prices to publicly perform musical works in the GMR repertory. In response, the RMLC described the GMR lawsuit as nothing more than a ploy designed to pressure the RMLC into paying higher royalty rates for GMR content than it currently pays other US PROs. It also accused GMR of ignoring the long-established court-set royalty rate system.

OTT video service growth and the challenge to broadcast royalty collections
Over-the-top (OTT) broadcasting of audio and video is a delivery system that has rapidly grown in popularity, from the perspective of both distribution and consumption. With its divergence from traditional means of broadcast – in that content is delivered using the open Internet rather than a service provider’s own infrastructure – it is not an understatement to say OTT has revolutionized broadcasting. Multiple services, including those from pure-play providers, such as Netflix and Amazon, and those from national pay-TV operators, are available across the world, many offering compelling libraries that include content from linear pay-TV services. Revenue from OTT services is rising, and growing numbers of consumers are finding the flexibility and convenience of OTT offerings preferable to traditional broadcast services. Pay-TV services’ entry into the OTT sector is as much about attracting subscribers who have yet to engage with a full paid-for offering as it is about competing with the current pure-play services. However, with the competition for broadcast eyeballs intensifying, collective rights management organizations could be forgiven for feeling a little apprehension that broadcast royalties are going to come under pressure, particularly given that the income source has for so many years been their biggest revenue generator.

Pricing, bundles, and new hardware set to drive digital music subscription growth
The recorded-music sector is rapidly becoming reliant on service providers rather than music sellers. The term “music retail” is fading from common parlance, and those years-old brands that for so long formed the epicenter of young consumers’ music lives have all but been replaced by the faceless but logo-heavy new kids on the block. It is often said that no one likes change, but the opportunities now available to many music industry service providers and secondary facilitators mean the latest changes have been for the better. Ovum has picked out three key trends that both primary and secondary music industry players should take note of if they want to benefit from what is now being seen as an industry on the up.

Sweden country report
In addition to the usual set of music industry statistics and news briefs, Music & Copyright also includes a detailed Sweden music industry report. Over a relatively short period of time, Sweden has become the world leader in terms of music access, with home-grown service Spotify dominating not only record-company earnings from digital music, but also total Swedish recorded-music trade revenue. While there has been an inevitable slowdown in the take-up of music subscriptions, the local IFPI branch said earlier this year that it was confident there was still room for growth and noted that interest in music in the country remained high. One of the ongoing beneficiaries of the digital growth has been authors’ society STIM, whose collections last year rose to record levels on the back of authors’ growing digital earnings. The live sector also registered a good year, with ticket sales to concerts and festivals registering healthy growth.

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Music & Copyright is published by Ovum.

New issue of Music & Copyright with Sweden country report

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

Mid-year trade results hint at a flat year for global recorded music sales
Almost all of the world’s biggest recorded music markets have published their mid-year sales figures. An assessment that the total global trade revenue from the sale of physical and digital recorded music and income from music access services will return to growth suggests the industry is heading for a stable year. Although music subscription services are continuing to experience gains in most of the leading markets, it remains on a knife edge as to whether the rise in record company earnings from access services this year will fully offset the lower income being generated by download and CD album sales. There have been some very positive mid-year results from countries that have suffered steady annual declines in recorded music sales for several years. But such is the ongoing dominance of a small number of markets, a return to global growth remains in the hands of the few.

SIAE reports slight growth in music repertoire collections in 2014
Italian authors’ society SIAE has reported a return to growth for royalty collections in 2014. Following a difficult 2013 when music collections fell and overall royalty income suffered a decline, SIAE said authors’ earnings from music repertoire edged up in 2014 with growth also reported for collections from dramatic works as well as opera. Although income from movies, literary works, and visual arts suffered a decline, the overall collection total for SIAE was positive. Digital music collections rose for the second consecutive year, but, as a share of total income, the collection source is still very low.

Rights holders use carrot and stick approach for music sampling
The art of music sampling had its heyday prior to the music industry’s sharp reversal of fortune. However, rights holders are increasingly eager to monetize the practice. Chasing unauthorized samplers through the courts is one way to do this, although EMI Production Music is choosing to give users of uncleared samples the opportunity to come clean, while also offering a spot of forgiveness for past sampling transgressions. But EMI’s initiative is a short-term promotional exercise above everything, and the threat of litigation will remain the primary mode of licensing enforcement — and revenue collection — going forward. However, those artists looking to legitimately use samples in their compositions are not finding it easy to clear rights and publishers really need to simplify their systems to accommodate them.

Sweden country report
In addition to the usual set of music industry statistics and news briefs, the latest issue of Music & Copyright includes a detailed Sweden music industry profile. Sweden has quickly become the world leader in terms of music access, with home-grown service Spotify dominating not only record company earnings from digital music, but also total Swedish recorded music trade revenue. There have been signs of a slowdown in music subscription take-up, but earlier this year the local IFPI branch said it was confident there was still considerable room for growth. The IFPI made its comments after mid-year figures hinted at a return to growth in total trade revenue after a slight dip in 2014. One of the major beneficiaries from the digital growth has been STIM, the authors’ society, with collections last year rising to record levels on the back of authors’ growing digital earnings.

If you want to know more about Music & Copyright then follow the below links.

Music & Copyright is published by Ovum.

Has streaming really brought the good times back to Sweden’s recorded-music sector?

Earlier this week Sweden’s local music trade association Grammofonleverantorernas Forening (GLF) proudly reported that total trade revenues from recorded-music sales increased 5.1% last year, to SEK991.2 million (US$152.2 million), from SEK943.6 million in 2012. The rate of growth was lower than the 13.8% year-on-year increase in 2012, but higher than the 0.5% upswing in 2011. Streaming was the big winner, with record company earnings from services such as Spotify and WiMP rising to SEK705.9 million, from SEK541.6 million in 2012. Based on the latest GLF figures, streaming accounted for slightly more than 71% of total trade revenues in 2013, up from 57.4% in 2012 and just 1.5% in 2008.

In a statement, the GLF CEO Ludvig Werner said three straight years of growth had pushed trade revenues to their highest level since 2004. However, he cautioned that record company earnings are still just 60% of the peak year of 2000.

With all the headlines about Sweden’s streaming boom, it is easy to forget how big the Swedish recorded-music market once was and how far it has fallen. Moreover, there are plenty of questions over how high streaming sales can actually go, particularly given the slowdown in the growth rate of streaming earnings (30.3% in 2013, down from 55.4% in 2012).

In just six years, sales of CDs in Sweden have more than halved, yet there is little published evidence detailing whether those CD buyers have switched to digital or are simply buying less recorded-music. In the early years of digital, falling trade revenues were a clear indicator that consumers were either switching to unauthorized services, or abandoning the recorded-music industry altogether. Download sales have never really taken hold in Sweden and so the big unknown is whether music subscription services have attracted consumers that stopped buying recorded-music, or whether the services are simply causing a redistribution of trade revenues from CDs and downloads.

Rising earnings suggests the growth has come from more than simple cannibalization, but it would be easy to gloss over the possibility that fewer Swedes are spending money on recorded-music, and that those consumers that are spending, are spending more. If that is the case then there will be a limit on how big the streaming boom will take Sweden’s recorded-music sector. No one is expecting streaming sales to keep on rising, but if streaming can’t return record company earnings to 2000 levels, then what can?

Music & Copyright
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