MBW shares some not-so-great numbers about music played on streaming services - there are 67.1 million tracks on music streaming services that, in the 2022 calendar year, attracted 10 or fewer streams apiece, globally. These 67.1 million songs represent 42% of the entire catalog of tracks available on streaming services - there are 158 million tracks on streaming platforms. Nearly a quarter (24%), or approximately 38 million tracks attracted - zero plays in 2022.

The IFPI (International Federation of Phonographic Industry) reported that global recorded music revenues in 2018 had totaled $19.1 billion. By May 2020, those 2018 revenues had been slightly downgraded to $18.7 billion, whereas this week, the IFPI says it was actually $17.5 billion, the industry analyst Mark Mulligan of MIDIA noted on Twitter. More of the same - a year ago, IFTI reported $25.9 in 2021 revenues. This week it's much less - an even $24 billion. Global recorded music growth from 2021 to 2022? Nine percent, according to the industry. One percent, according to Mulligan.

TikTok has blocked access to major label music for some users of its app in Australia last month in an effort to monitor user behavior – it was an experiment to see just how much its audience really valued 'premium' music. TikTok took that step in the middle of negotiations with the majors for its next round of music licensing agreements. Bloomberg reports that the number of people using TikTok in Australia declined for three consecutive weeks after the experiment began, and the amount of time users spent on the app declined in the same period.

Ticketmaster will refund some of its fees to The Cure fans buying tickets for their US tour, after frontman Robert Smith contacted Ticketmaster over their “unduly high” fees that were, in certain cases, adding up to more than the price of a ticket, Upworthy reports. The Cure had purposefully kept tickets affordable, with some as low as $20, but fans had to pay the service fee of $11.65 per ticket and a facility charge of $10, plus an overall order processing fee of $5.50, adding up to more than the price of a ticket. “After further conversation, Ticketmaster have agreed with us that many of the fees being charged are unduly high, and as a gesture of goodwill have offered a $10 per ticket refund to all verified fan accounts for lowest ticket price (‘ltp’) transactions,” he wrote. Ticketmaster would also issue a $5 refund per ticket for any show on the US tour for all fans who bought more expensive tickets. The band had chosen to use Ticketmaster in order to combat scalping, but had declined to participate in the company’s dynamic pricing and Platinum ticket schemes as they did not want ticket prices to be “instantly and horribly distorted by resale”.

"Scott was one of the finest arts and culture writers in the country, engaged and passionate and capable of delivering insightful articles at short notice on almost any subject... Somehow he combined a deep earnestness and total dedication to his craft with a childlike innocence" - music writer Ted Gioia writes in the introduction of the posthumous collection of writings by Scot Timberg, entitled 'Boom Times for the End of the World', including texts about jazz, pop and classical music. "Here he still survives in the role he played best: the passionate and earnest culture writer".

the beginnings of rock'n'roll. Sister Rosetta Tharpe was a Black queer gospel singer and guitarist from Arkansas who emerged in the 1930s, daring to mix gospel with secular music, laying the foundations for rock and roll. Memphis Minnie was a blues musician from the 1930s with a master finger-picking guitar style. Barbara Lynn was the R&B guitarist and singer who came to prominence in the 60s. Beverly Watkins was one of the first women to be recognised as a lead blues guitarist. A few of the representatives of the new generation are: Stephanie Phillips, guitarist and singer of Black feminist punk band Big Joanie; artist Lava La Rue who came to play guitar through a government scheme to support music tuition for lower-income families; vocalist/guitarist Amy Love is one half of English rock duo Nova Twins, together with bassist Georgia South.

There were 589 million users of paid subscription accounts at the end of 2022, according to IFPI, the organization that represents the recorded music industry worldwide, MBW reports. This means that 7% of the world's population has a paid music subscription account. Global recorded music revenues grew 9% year over year in 2022, to reach $26.2 billion, IFPI's also noted in their Global Music Report 2023. Streaming continues to be the driving force behind the overall growth. Subscription audio streaming revenues increased by 10.3% year over year to $12.7 billion in 2022, with total streaming - including both paid subscription and advertising-supported - grew by 11.5% YoY to reach $17.5 billion in 2022, and accounted for 67% of total global recorded music revenues. Last year marked the global music market’s eighth consecutive year of growth.

"As a result of the upheaval, 2022 became one of the most creative and prolific years ever for Ukrainian culture and the country's music scene. The achievement was a significant one: preserving the country's unique identity" - Resident Advisor presents its selection of the best Ukrainian electronic music released since February of last year. It begins with John Object who released his ambient compilation 'Life' the very same day he joined the army ("I guess there was a good chance that was it—my life—and I'd be killed tomorrow"), and finishes with a dark electronic album 'Katakomba' by Chaosy.

According to Spotify's latest Loud and Clear report, 14,700 DIY artists generated $10,000 across recorded music and publishing royalties on the service in 2022, MBW reports. This means that DIY artists comprised approximately 25.8% of the subset of 57,000 artists who generated $10k+ on Spotify in 2022. However, compared to the previous year, the news isn't that good. In 2021, Spotify helped 15,140 DIY artists generate over $10,000.

A new moment in the developing story of artificial intelligence being used in making music. Complex reports about fans of Lil Uzi Vert and Juice WRLD making full songs out of snippets recorded by the two artists, all made with the help of AI, and of course knowledge about how to use exciting new tool. Fans had taken low-quality snippets they found on the internet - mostly Instagram and Snaphat - and used AI technology to turn them into full songs with much higher audio quality. Songs went viral on Twitter.