Marketplace

In the case of Kate Bush, Warner Records couldn’t ignore 85 million global streams (this week alone) and re-serviced “Running Up That Hill” to radio. Without a sync on a cultural juggernaut like “Stranger Things” to open doors, artists and their teams are tackling this increasingly common scenario in a variety of different ways.

Source: Viral Revivals: From Kate Bush to Tom Odell, Inside the Business of Oldies as New Hit Songs

Americans age 50 and older are powering the growth of streaming video in the U.S., accounting for the biggest increase in time spent on services such as Netflix, Hulu and YouTube, according to data from measurement firm Nielsen. People 50 and over accounted for 39% of streaming watch time as of May, up from 35% a year earlier, the data show.

Source: WSJ News Exclusive | Americans Age 50 and Up Are Powering Streaming Growth

Continued growth in streaming is delivering another upbeat year for the music business, both in the U.S. and globally, according to Luminate’s 2022 Midyear Report. But the report’s biggest surprise might be that a music configuration which has enjoyed more than a decade of growth could see its growth streak plateauing: the LP.

Source: Midyear Music Report: U.S. Streams Rise a Solid 10.6%, Per Luminate; Latin and Country Heat Up, While Vinyl Growth Cools

As streaming’s explosive pandemic-driven growth has slowed and inflation has set in, pricing has become an increasingly important driver of subscription video-on-demand service (SVOD) subscription adds and cancels, according to research from NPD Group. Between October 2021 and April 2022, NPD’s surveys show cost having risen from being the No. 4 reason for cancelling an SVOD service to being No. 2, below content.

Source: Video Insider: SVOD Cancellations, Additions Increasingly Driven By Price

With the recent staggering losses in the crypto market, speculators have fled the once-frothy NFT market, taking what was left of their money with them. Now some people in the industry producing original digital art—as opposed to collectible PFP (profile picture) collections like Bored Apes and CryptoPunks—are attempting to create a grassroots, sustainable business model that has a low bar for entry and doesn’t rely on speculation.

Source: The Next Big Thing in NFTs: Selling Them for Peanuts – Decrypt

Lyor Cohen, YouTube’s Global Head of Music, worries that short-form video-focused platforms like TikTok do musicians a disservice. “I think short-form video could help crowd source and make it easier for kids to find the soundtrack of their youth, but then you have to be prompted and it has to lead you to [long-form content] so it’s not empty calories, but it leads you to learning and discovering and becoming a fan,” Cohen says.

Source: YouTube Music Exec Calls TikTok Short Videos ‘Junk Food’

The recent drop in the market has had a significant effect on non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Most NFT floor prices have gone down by 75% or more over the past few months. As prices have dropped, many investors have lost faith and are now wondering if the whole NFT craze was just speculation. But even in this chaotic situation, musicians are finding new and interesting ways to use non-fungible tokens.

Source: Three Ways the Music Industry Can Reduce NFT Speculation – The Daily Hodl

The startup claims that this week’s “v1.0 launch” creates a “two-sided marketplace”, by “allowing any music rightsholder that owns both the recording and publishing rights of a track to license their music directly to a licensee without an intermediary in between the transaction”. Built on the Algorand blockchain, Dequency claims to be, “the only option for on-chain sync licensing for blockchain-native content such as motion-visual digital art, NFT projects, games, and metaverse productions”.

Source: After raising $4.5m, Keatly Haldeman’s Dequency officially launches Web3 music licensing marketplace

Study from Twitch and analytics platform Luminate sheds light on how the platform is driving music discovery in the U.S. According to the new study, which aimed to quantify the value and influence of Twitch users on the music industry, one in three music listeners in the US now discover new music through Twitch.

Source: 1 in 3 music listeners in the US discover new music through Twitch, according to new report

UK-born Lickd, which provides claims-free commercial music for creators, has inked an exclusive deal with Vegas City, a virtual district within the metaverse-based 3D world Decentraland. The 24-month partnership will see Lickd provide commercial music to Vegas City’s partners and ‘tenants’, who will be able to buy virtual land on the platform through blockchain-based purchases.

Source: Licensing platform Lickd strikes metaverse music deal with Decentraland’s Vegas City