"The current situation is going to dramatically change the music business, as a huge accelerator of user behavior on the digital side" - Denis Ladegaillerie from the big French distribution company Believe wrote in Music Business Worldwide. He added - "we are making the assumption when physical sales return in September, they will return at levels that are 50% lower than they were pre-this crisis... Yet, on the plus side, because of this expected change in user behavior, we are expecting a substantial surge in online digital usage. This could accelerate a physical-to-digital music consumer transition... Believe’s key message to artists and labels today is to try to make the best out of this situation by accelerating your knowledge of the digital business in response to the likelihood that you will be a more digital artist at the end of this".

Cherie Hu published a well researched and highly valuable article on her Water & Music blog about music licensing in this time of mass music livestreams. The area is, as it turns out, highly unregulated, with sporadic solutions here and there - Facebook and YouTube have blanket deals for on-demand content, Twitch has "flat-fee agreements... to avoid litigation for 12 to 18 months as its business matures". Some people in the music business consider livestream-only performances to be "ephemeral" uses that don’t require sync licenses. Several publishing companies disagree. An essential read.

Billboard is reporting about companies like Side Door, Looped, and StageIt trying to build online streaming business. Live event platform Side Door announced the launch of its ticketed private, streaming events with tickets ranging from $5-$35. Looped started as a virtual meet-and-greet platform between artists and fans until Wednesday, when the platform enabled those same artists to invite their super fans to ticketed livestreaming shows. Tickets typically range from $5-$30. Online venue StageIt has been in the business of monetizing livestreams since 2011 with 450 shows per month. Now they're doing anywhere between 30-40 shows per day (900-1,200 shows per month), with tickets averaging $10 each, offering fans the option to donate more.

Denis Ladegaillerie from one of the biggest players in the global record industry, Paris-based Believe shared some advice with Music Business Worldwide for artists waiting in the shadow of the big lockdown: "If you are an artist who is digitally-driven with a very strong fanbase, it’s actually in your interest to release rapidly right now. That’s especially true if you’re an independent artist because, as major labels are postponing a lot of big releases. With fewer new big releases, artists releasing music during a quiet time benefit. If they have strong and engaged fanbases, they benefit even more". Believe’s own, recently-released Creative Marketing Playbook is packed with further guidance for artists right now.

An interesting and easily read article in the Trapital about partnership between Adidad and Beyonce. It goes back to the 2000s and Adidas' misfortunate start with Reebok, to their change of luck with Kanye West, which makes for a promising deal with Beyonce.

In the March 13-19 week streaming in the U.S. was down 7,6%, although more or less everyone is at home, so it was to be expected for streaming to jump. However, label executives are neither startled nor concerned by the drop, as the Variety reports - they say it’s down to focus on news and other televised options; the loss of daily commutes, where many people stream music; and multiple people at home together streaming the same things.

Billboard has compiled a rundown of music companies who have pledged their support during this time of the big shutdown, which resulted in lay-offs and cuts. The independent concert promotion and production company has launched the I.M.P. Family Fund to assist the company’s hourly employees. Streaming service Mixcloud is waiving its revenue share for the recently-launched Mixcloud SELECT platform. British collecting society PRS For Music has launched the PRS Emergency Relief Fund to support members affected by the pandemic. Music service Qobuz is waiving its revenue share on all download sales. The music-centric finance firm Sound Royalties has dedicated $20 million to offer a no-cost royalty advance funding option on every new application. Music Business Worldwide asks whether the music industry can do more to help artists and songwriters whose income has been hit by coronavirus?

XL Recordings is one of the most successful independent record labels in the world - home to the Prodigy, Adele, Dizzee Rascal, Radiohead, White Stripes, etc. - and its founder Richard Russell, now 49, has written an autobiography, 'Liberation Through Hearing', that details how it happened. Alexis Petridis talked to Russell, who shared interesting insights and stories. About Prodigy's frontman Keith Flint: "Keith was untethered, so if you saw him onstage at a rave, you were seeing yourself, but a completely free version of it, no self-consciousness". He signed Dizzee Rascal after hearing his single 'I Luv U', then told him to hurry up making his debut album because he wanted to win the Mercury Prize. He signed the White Stripes,  M.I.A. and Radiohead, decided to track down Gil Scott-Herron, undeterred by the fact that the singer-songwriter was in prison. Adele in a different story - Russell insists her success is down to the label leaving her alone to do what she wanted: “Does anyone achieve that kind of thing because of anybody else?".

tify is rolling out a suite of new features and projects intended to help artists who are struggling financially due to the coronavirus crisis, Billboard reports. First up is Spotify's new COVID-19 Music Relief project, which helps connect musicians and other music professionals in need of funding to grant-giving organizations, in addition to helping fundraise. Spotify will match donations made via the project's webpage dollar-for-dollar for up to a total Spotify contribution of $10 million. Next, Spotify is working to add a new feature to its Spotify For Artists platform that will enable artists to fundraise directly from fans, and Spotify will not take any cut of the contributions. Spotify's music talent marketplace SoundBetter is waiving its revenue share, it's audio recording platform Soundtrap is offering extended free trials for educators, and podcast firm Anchor is waiving fees on its Listener Support feature.

Billboard sees grim future for the indie live music business when concerts start happening again: After the big shutdown, billions of dollars in ticket revenue and artist payments were frozen in accounts controlled by, respectively, Live Nation and AEG, and the four major talent agencies: WME, Creative Artists Agency (CAA), Paradigm and UTA. Everyone else in the business — indie promoters, staging companies and food/merchandise vendors — continued to receive bills but not the money they were counting on to pay them. When concerts do start happening again, the industry behind them will have changed significantly. Venue contracts will be renegotiated to account for months of inactivity, and the brands that sponsor tours and festivals will almost certainly slash their budgets. Most importantly, at least some indie promoters (and promoters that lack the resources of their larger competitors) may shutter, unable to weather the storm or get the credit they need to endure it — leaving their giant rivals with even more power.

An interesting choice by the Fast Company of the 10 most innovative companies in music marketing, merchandising, getting artists paid, music production etc. One of the chosen 10 is Gener8tor, a startup accelerator for artists and musicians. Each artist receives a $20,000 grant to help build their careers, with Gener8tor taking no equity, royalties, or revenue share. Artists do, however, still have access to Gener8tor’s network of entrepreneurs and resources to help create a more sound business model for monetizing and growing their rising careers.

Global recorded music industry revenues grew by 11.4% in 2019 to reach $21.5 billion, an increase of $2.2 billion in 2018, and the fifth year in a row the revenue grew. Of that total sum, $11,9 billion came from streaming music. The major record labels took 67.5% of the overall market in 2019. Artists without record labels was again the fastest-growing segment of the market, growing by 32.1% in 2019 to reach $873 million, representing 4.1% of the total market, up from 1.7% in 2015.

Concert venues and music businesses in Nashville are beginning to rebuild after being hit by several tornadoes Tuesday morning, Billboard reports, While popular concert venue the Basement East saw major damage, many other East Nashville-based music companies are also grappling with the aftermath of the destruction. Collective Artist Management (whose clients include Clint Black, Sara Evans and Edwin McCain) and Dualtone Records (the label home to the Lumineers, the Lone Bellow, Shovels & Rope and Amos Lee) both witnessed extreme loss. Craig Dunn, vp Collective Artist Management shared news on Facebook: “I was overwhelmed when I saw the devastation and damage to this beloved neighborhood in our great city. My sadness and dismay were quickly replaced by hope and optimism as hordes of volunteers showed up with snacks, water, and two hands willing to help clear debris. I DEFINITELY Believe in Nashville”.

The U.S. recorded music business generated $11.1 billion in revenue in 2019, a 13% year-over-year increase from the $9.8 billion it reached in 2018, and the fourth straight year of double-digit growth for the sector. Streaming revenue grew 19.9% year-over-year to $8.8 billion from 2018's $7.4 billion, accounting for 79.5% of all revenue. On the other side, digital download sales revenue dipped below the $1 billion mark, falling 18% year-over-year to $856 million, CD sales fell 12% to $615 million in 2019, but vinyl rose a whopping 19% year-over-year to $504 million, the format's highest revenues in 32 years and its 14th straight year of growth.

Universal Music Group generated €921m, or $1.02bn, in recorded music streaming revenues in the last quarter od 2019, and it's overall revenues in 2019 – across recorded music, publishing and other activities – hit €7.16bn ($8.04bn), according to Music Business Worldwide. That revenue number was up 14.0% year-on-year at constant currency and perimeter, recorded music streaming revenues leapt up by 21.5% in calendar 2019 to €3.33bn ($3.73bn). This means that streaming contributed some 59.1% of UMG’s total recorded music revenues in 2019, and physical recorded music revenues also grew in 2019 - up 3.1% year-on-year to €1.01bn ($1.14bn). Biggest money-makers: Billie Eilish, Post Malone, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, and 'A Star Is Born' OST.

Spotify has acquired The Ringer, a media company that includes culture website and massive podcast operation. This is the fourth podcast company acquisition Spotify has made in the last 12 months - last year it spent about $400 million to buy Gimlet Media, Anchor FM, and Parcast, announcing a year ago they intend to spend $500 million on its podcasting effort. Spotify hopes that adding a podcast business to its core music service will help them bring in new users, and keep existing users around longer. Music industry analysts say there are the first signs of the new company that Spotify is building – and they point to a very different and much bolder future.

In July, August and September Sony’s publishing companies generated $357.6 million, Universal Music Publishing Group was $30m behind with $327.5 million, while Warner was way behind with $173 million. In the first nine months of 2019, Sony made $1.036 million, Universal was at $857 million, and Warner at $478 million, Music Business Worldwide reports