Top 8 Music News Of the Week
Spotify Price Hike, XXXtentacion Beats The Beatles, Stubhub's Explosive Summer More
TAKEAWAYS
Salient statements from this week’s music news.
1. More Swift Than Dylan: How Newer Hits Overtook Classic Rock to Rule the Catalog Market
Catalog continues to dominate streaming, but the idea of what “catalog” consists of is not what the average consumer imagines.
Takeaway: The Beatles have 28 tracks among the top 10,000, which generated 121.6 million streams in the first six weeks of 2022 – more than any other legacy act. But XXXtentacion had 30 tracks that generated 205 million streams. “Roll Over Beethoven,” indeed.
2. New York State Senate Passes Bill Limiting Use of Song Lyrics in Court
Sorry, Elon. Prosecuting rappers for lyrics is what actual violations of the first amendment look like.
Takeaway: The bill, while in the works for months, comes as Atlanta rappers Young Thug and Gunna face RICO charges in Georgia in a case where their lyrics and music videos make up the bulk of the state’s evidence of criminal conspiracy.
3. Streaming’s Growth in Sweden Suggests That the Time for Price Rises Is Now
Price hikes in multiple markets prove that Spotify should have bumped up revenue before inflation made 9.99 worth less.
Takeaway: Spotify didn’t see much in the way of existing user subscription cancellations – or a slowdown in new subscriber uptake – after raising its prices in all those territories.
4. AirPods Will Switch to USB-C Amid Apple’s Shift, Driven By the EU
A new EU mandate for interoperability of chargers is fixing one problem and replacing it with a whole lot of soon-to-be-useless lightning cables.
Takeaway: The lightning port is at this point, decades-old, and data transfer speeds are surpassed by USB-C. Apple just didn’t want to give up the millions it rakes in proprietary cable sales.
5. Spotify Tests Letting Artists Promote NFTs on Their Profiles
The pilot program allows select artists to display NFTs on their Spotify page, with links to OpenSea for sales. Similar to ticketing, Spotify is NOT collecting any revenue.
Takeaway: The data will help it decide whether to roll this out as a full feature for all artists, but it will also clearly inform whether Spotify decides to do anything more ambitious (and on-platform) with NFTs in the future.
6. StubHub Reveals 25% Increase in Ticket Sales Over 2019 Summer Season
The Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard double-bill is topping total sales by a jaw-dropping 3x over number two, Kenny Chesney. 😲
Takeaway: The ticket resale platform says the growth is due to nearly double the amount of events this year compared to the same period in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic set in.
7. Tencent Music Confirms Revenue Declines, but Investors Seem Optimistic
Losses were driven by a decline in the social singing app WeSing, but were partially compensated by increases in premium subscriptions for the company’s traditional music streaming apps.
Takeaway: Traditionally the vast majority of users of streaming services in emerging markets like China were on free tiers, but the upsell of premium accounts has become more successful in recent years, even if it’s achieved with some discounting.
8. Limewire Strikes First Major Label Deal With Universal Music Group
The announcement stressed utility and security, two criticisms often aimed at the NFT ecosystem.
Takeaway: “Universal Music Group and our labels are fully embracing the exciting Web3 space and will work with our new partner LimeWire, our artists and their communities on engaging NFT projects with real utility and creating cool experiences for fans, while allowing mainstream consumers to participate in a safe and trusted environment with low entry barriers.”
