Takeaway Takeover | The Good, Bad & Ugly
A rollercoaster ride with ticketing, AI music, major label stocks and Web3
As a rule, life is always full of good and bad. But since we launched the Cadence 30 months ago, the overall tenor of industry news has gone from cautious (during COVID) to jubilant (post-pandemic) to gloomy (since inflation and interest rates wrecked the “new normal”).
But as we gathered a deep pool of links for this week’s Takeaway Takeover, it is clear that things are good, bad, and ugly. Everything, everywhere all at once, indeed.
But before we begin…
Last week’s newsletter introduced the debut of Cadence Talks, a series of full-length video conversations with some of the music industry’s most interesting individuals available to our premium subscribers.
If you are a free subscriber, you can continue to enjoy our regular newsletter — like this one — each week. If you want to support The Cadence and get access to full-length video talks and other bonus content, click here.
TAKEAWAYS
Salient statements from this week’s music news.
1. Fix the Tix Unveils Its Own Plans for US Ticketing Reforms
Industry giants including the RIAA, Wasserman, UMG and 25+ other organizations are urging Congress to act to fix concert ticketing.
Takeaway: The current debate about ticketing in the US is increasingly polarised, with heavy lobbying from the various entities, and multiple bills vying to become law.
2. World’s First Web3 Music Patent for Capital Distribution
While the SEC turns up the pressure on crypto exchanges, the U.S. Patent Office acknowledged the utility for new tech.
Takeaway: Although SEC and legal considerations are discussed through the specification of the patent, the purpose of the patent is NOT to present a perfected business model that specifically addresses fluid SEC, etc. considerations; but rather to serve as a more general framework to reference while remaining mindful of such considerations.
3. As AI-made Music Explodes, Deezer Lays Out Strategy
The smallest of the big DSPs revealed plans to identify and label AI-generated music in order to weed out fraud while allowing users to decide if they prefer human artistry.
Takeaway: Via generative AI music apps, large volumes of audio content can be created by fraudsters and uploaded to DSPs with the aim of racking up huge numbers of plays of this content via bot-driven ‘streaming farms’.
4. Gen Z Is Drinking Less and Clubs Aren’t Thrilled
Some venues report a 25% reduction in alcohol sales with younger crowds. Must be all the legal weed and microdosing.
Takeaway: While a drop in drinking may have a positive health impact, it does represent a potential challenge for some venues.
5. Why Pop is So Heavily Plundering the Past
Competition for hits leaves producers little choice when deciding between novelty and nostalgia.
Takeaway: It’s easy to dismiss these songs as cheap hits capitalizing on millennials looking to recreate the halcyon days of their youth, but Spotify’s Lambie-Knight says a lot of the audience for this music is new and from broad demographics.
6. Rod Stewart Calls Off Potential Hipgnosis Sale
Low stock prices, limited funds, and waning interest by artists to sell their catalog mean it’s time for the 65,000-song fund to prove its worth by monetizing its catalog.
Takeaway: With few levers to pull to grow Hipgnosis Songs Fund — the fund has been fully invested, meaning it has no additional funds to acquire new rights, for more than a year — Mercuriadis has struck deals with companies like Timbaland’s Beatclub to open up Hipgnosis’s catalog to more synch and sample opportunities.
7. Atlantic Equities Downgrades Warner Music Over ‘Rapid Development of AI-Created Music’
A Wall Street analyst drastically lowered WMG’s stock target price from $39 to $26 per share.
Takeaway: Wall Street doesn’t have confidence that a long fight will be waged to determine how AI music should be regulated.
8. Primavera Sound Cancels Initial Dates Over Severe Weather Concerns
Climate change poses an increasing threat to outdoor events worldwide as Primavera gets washed out and Governors Ball narrowly avoids cancellation.