In a statement issued to the news media today (January 7), the NPD Group has announced that print book sales in the US rose 8.2 percent in 2020. Growth occurred, the industry research specialists say, across all major super-categories including adult nonfiction, juvenile, and teen categories. That 8.2-percent figure is calculated year-over-year and represents 751 million units.
Source: NPD: 2020 Was the US’ Bestselling Year for Print in a Decade
In the case of on-demand video streams, the ‘R&B/hip-hop’ category actually claimed over a third of all plays, at 33.9%. In terms of audio streams, ‘R&B/hip-hop’ claimed 30.7% of all on-demand plays. And across audio and video streams combined, ‘R&B/hip-hop’ claimed 31.1%.
Virtual concerts show great promise, and will likely remain as a driving compliment to musical careers – but how will the vaccine, and a return to crowded fans, factor in social changes brought about by digital? The critical question, as streaming fragments fan bases, is of who will be attending events where.
U.K. Music, the umbrella body representing the collective interests of the country’s music industry, has published a report setting out the economic, social and cultural value of live music, along with a blueprint for reviving live music after COVID-19 forced the effective closure of the sector last March.
Source: U.K. Music Targets Summer Return for $1.7 Billion Live Music Industry – Global Bulletin
ASCAP and BMI have finally unveiled a new joint song data platform, reconciling songwriter and publisher information between the performance rights organizations in an easy-to-search way. With the new comprehensive SONGVIEW database, in songs where each PRO has a share, the listings on each organization’s website will now mirror the other’s.
Source: Who Owns That Song? ASCAP & BMI’s New Joint Database Will Tell You
BMG has issued the results of a study examining the historic royalty payments and rates of 33 labels and imprints acquired between 2008-2019, as part of the company’s initiative to ensure its artists are treated fairly and that Black artists are paid royalties on par with their label mates. BMG’s review found four of its acquisitions paid Black artists below the level of non-Black acts on those respective labels.
Source: BMG Review of Historic Catalog Finds Black Artists Paid Lower Royalty Rates at Four Labels
Music streaming services have continued to add U.S. subscribers this year, according to MIDiA Research, growing by 11 million paying users from January to September, to 117.9 million. But in a potentially troubling sign for the recorded music business, the number of total streams has remained the same.
Source: Streaming Is Stalling: Can Music Keep Up in the Attention Economy?
The MLC announced today (Dec. 9) that four music data companies are joining its Data Quality Initiative (DQI), including: Blokur, Exactuals, Music Data Services, and TuneRegistry. Through their work with The MLC, these companies will make it much easier for their users and customers to participate in the DQI and check the accuracy of their musical works data in The MLC’s current database.
Source: The MLC Partners With Software And Service Providers On Data Quality Initiative
In a blog post, YouTube Gaming head Ryan Wyatt attributed some of this growth to the pandemic, with fans increasingly turning to gaming as both a means of connection and entertainment, resulting in the industry hitting an unfathomable inflection point of growth, he said. “At these numbers, I believe our competition is now more the likes of Netflix than any other gaming video platform,” Wyatt tweeted.
Source: More Than 350 Gaming Creators Hit 10 Million Subscribers In 2020, YouTube Says – Tubefilter
New research published by the EU Intellectual Property Office unveils local piracy preferences, including the most pirated TV-shows, movies, and musicians. While the findings are somewhat dated, the follow-up analysis leads to some surprising conclusions.
Source: EU Research Unveils “Most Pirated” Movies, TV-Shows and Music * TorrentFreak