The damage done to Hollywood by COVID-19 is just beginning, and will hasten the decline of theatrical moviegoing, TV advertising, pay-TV and other longtime features of the landscape, according to a sweeping new report by Wall Street analyst Michael Nathanson.
Source: Theatrical Film, TV Ads, Pay-TV Doomed By COVID-19 To Fade Out Like CDs, DVDs, Print – Analyst
Universal is reporting that Trolls: World Tour scored the biggest opening day and opening weekend for a digital title, with a figure 10x larger than Universal’s next-biggest traditional digital release (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom). It is top on every relevant digital platform, including Amazon, Comcast, Apple, Vudu, Google/YouTube, DirectTV, Verizon Fios and FandangoNow.
Source: ‘Trolls: World Tour’ Breaks Records And Nabs Biggest Digital Debut Ever
Spend on music streaming subscriptions is also up significantly year-on-year. From what we can tell from the data published over the weekend by the New York Times, consumer spending on the likes of Apple Music and Spotify Premium rose by just over 20% YoY in the week when compared to the same seven days in 2019. That’s a bigger spending rise than that seen on News Media and eBooks, according to the NYT article, but a smaller jump than that seen by video streaming (Netflix et al) and video games.
Source: Positive signs: Music streaming spend is rising in the US, even amid Coronavirus lockdown
A new report published by Counterpoint Research predicts that the number of music streaming subscriptions globally will exceed 450 million by the end of 2020, which would be more than a 25% year-on-year increase. Counterpoint reports that global music streaming subscriptions grew 32% YoY to reach 358m subscribers by the end of 2019.
Source: Music streaming subscriptions forecast to top 450m by the end of 2020 (report)
According to an internal report, more than 90 percent of the clicks to coronavirus content came from “Power News Consumers” and “Power News Discussers” — Facebook’s terms for users who read and comment on news stories much more frequently than the average user. The company is now considering several options for targeting those people with higher-quality information to make sure it is “being spread downstream.”
Source: The Coronavirus Revives Facebook as a News Powerhouse
The app gives artists stats like total listening stats or more granular data like 24-hour performance. Artists can see which country their fans are from, real-time streaming data, and which fans engage the most. The app also keeps track of the Amazon Music playlists and stations where their music appears. Data goes back to 2018 and refreshes every few hours.
Source: Amazon Music for Artists Officially Sets Sail With Deep Alexa Integration
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The worldwide recorded music industry generated $21.5bn across all formats last year, growing 11.4%, according to Midia Research. Some 56% of that, or $11.9 billion, came from streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and YouTube. Interestingly, Midia has revised upwards its preliminary estimate for the ‘artist-direct’ sector, i.e. those DIY artists independently uploading their own music via platforms like Amuse, Ditto, TuneCore, CD Baby etc.
In spite of large investments in the industry, artificial Intelligence in music is still underdeveloped, but it does absolutely have the potential to transform A&R. At least, that’s what HITLAB – a company quietly making in-roads in this field – is suggesting. The Montreal-headquartered digital media and artificial intelligence company claims to be ‘revolutionizing the way entertainment content is discovered, produced and consumed’.
The Society of Composers, Authors & Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) again reports record-breaking numbers, issuing preliminary year-end figures for 2019 of an estimated CA$405.5 million (USD $305.38 million) collected, an 8% increase over 2018’s $375 million ($282.41 million).
Source: Canadian Performance Rights Org SOCAN Collected Record $405 Million in 2019