In the US alone, 16 million people have picked up guitar since the pandemic began, many of them for the first time, Fender's CEO Andy Mooney told CNBC, based on their comprehensive research. Sales of guitars, according to CNBC, have nearly doubled since 2020, total sales are up 30% in 2021, and sub-500$ guitar sales are up 40%.
"Catalog" records accounted for a stunning 82.1% of total recorded music consumption in the US in the second half of 2021, MBW reports. On the other hand, that means "current" records made up just 17.9% of US music consumption in the last six months of 2021. "Catalog" music counts as anything released over 18 months before a consumer made a purchase and/or pressed play. MGW later admitted they miscalculated, and that the actual percentage was 73.1%.
David Bowie's estate has sold his publishing catalog to Warner Chappell Music for upwards of $250 million, Variety reports. The deal includes songs such as 'Heroes', 'Changes', 'Space Oddity', Rebel Rebel', 'Ziggy Stardust' and hundreds more from the 26 studio albums released during his lifetime, as well as the posthumous studio album release, 'Toy', which comes out on Friday.
A reminder to Dan Runcie's earlier essay: "Jay-Z, Rihanna, Kanye West are on the top shelf of rap’s new-money class. They became world-famous millionaires through the music industry, but realized they would have to sell more than music to become billionaires. The 'Run This Town' trio used music as the gateway, then capitalized on their influence at the height of their fame. Jay-Z made bank from selling Ace of Spades champagne and investing in startups. Rihanna built her Fenty empire into multiple brands. And Ye has sold so many Yeezys he’s probably lost count. The bottom line? Star power gets you in the door, but to maximize your platform, you need to sell something authentic that customers want to keep buying".
Bruce Springsteen has sold the masters of his entire catalog to Sony Music and the coinciding music publishing rights to Sony Music Publishing in a combined deal of around $500 million, Billboard reports. Springsteen’s catalog spanning 50 years, includes over 300 songs, 20 studio albums, 23 live LPs, 7 EPs, and more.
Mötley Crüe have inked a new deal to sell their entire recorded music catalog to BMG. Mötley Crüe acquired their masters back from label Elektra in the late Nineties for a reported $10 million. As Music Business Worldwide's sources indicate, the Mötley Crüe acquisition lands firmly in the high eight-figure region - somewhere around $90 million.
Music Business Worldwide is pretty much impressed by the latest YouTube revenue numbers: the world’s largest video platform generated $7.205 billion in revenues from advertising in Q3 this year, up 43%, or by over $2 billion, year-on-year versus the same quarter of 2020. In the first nine months of this year, YouTube generated $20.21 billion from advertising, more than it generated from ads in the entirety of both 2020 ($19.77bn) and 2019 ($15.15bn). To put that in perspective - in 2019, the global record industry generated $20.2 billion in global wholesale revenues. In 2020, it generated $21.6 billion.
Major music streamers Spotify, Amazon, and Pandora have filed to the US Copyright Royalty Board recommending a significant reduction in royalty rates over the 2018–2022 period. The three platforms have proposed lowering the rate to pre-2008 levels, with headline rates close to 10.5%. Consequence reports on the sensitive issue.
Investment giant KKR's new venture Chord has acquired the KMR Music Royalties II portfolio for approximately $1.1 billion, Music Business Worldwide reports. The catalog, which contains over 62,000 copyrights across multiple genres, includes hits by The Weeknd and Lorde.
A number of digital service owners – including Spotify, Apple, Amazon, and Google – are trying to cut the amount of money they pay songwriters in the US to the “lowest royalty rates in history”. The National Music Publishers’ Association, on the other side, is looking to raise the current rate up to 20% of a streaming service’s annual revenues (it's 15,1% at the time). Music Business Worldwide tries to find out whether the music streaming services can actually afford to pay artists more.
