Exploration Weekly - Ent’t & Media Revenue to Rebound / 66%+ of US Music Listening are Catalog Records / YouTube Shorts Rolls Out in 100+ Countries

“The reason I talk to myself is because I’m the only one whose answers I accept.”

George Carlin

In 2020, media and entertainment revenue globally dropped 3.8% as the pandemic led to an overall $81 billion drop, says a new report published by PricewaterhouseCoopers. On the other hand, the company predicts that the overall industry is projected to bounce back this year and continue growing, with a 3.5% compound annual growth rate from 2019-2025.

According to MRC Data‘s new mid-year report, H1 2021 saw catalog music’s share of total album consumption in the US rise to 66.4%, up from 63.9% in H1 2020. Conversely, the percentage of total album consumption claimed by new releases was just 33.6%, down from 36.1% in H1 2020.

YouTube Shorts is now expanding to all the regions where YouTube main is currently available. That will put it live in more than 100 countries worldwide. The TikTok competitor will be in beta as it plans to add more convenient features and increased monetization for creators.

In this newsletter:

After COVID Pushed Industry Revenue Down 3.8% in 2020, Biz Poised to Rebound: PwC
Over 66% Of All Music Listening In The US Is Now Of Catalog Records, Rather Than New Releases
YouTube Shorts Goes Global, Rolling Out in 100+ Countries
Copyright Office Recommends MLC’s Distribution of Pre-2021 Unmatched Royalties Not Occur for 5 Years
SoundExchange Expanding Into Private Copy Royalty Collection in the US
Report Claims YouTube Music is Fastest Growing Music DSP
RTikTok’s Chinese Parent Shelves IPO Plans After Regulators’ Warning (Report)

Now, the details...
Compiled by Heidi Seo

Exploration Weekly - July 16, 2021

After COVID Pushed Industry Revenue Down 3.8% in 2020, Biz Poised to Rebound: PwC

Media and entertainment revenue globally dropped 3.8% in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic led to an overall $81 billion drop, according to PwC’s “Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2021-2025″ report. Movie theaters saw a 71% decline in box-office revenue and live music plunged 74% last year. The good news, per PwC projections, is that the overall biz is projected to bounce back this year and continue growing, with a 3.5% compound annual growth rate from 2019-25, the firm predicts. The industry’s two hardest-hit sectors will also have the biggest gains in 2021, according to PwC: Cinema and live music will both see revenue increases of more than 90% this year, to $25.37 billion and $14.15 billion, respectively.

Over 66% Of All Music Listening In The US Is Now Of Catalog Records, Rather Than New Releases

According to MRC Data‘s new mid-year report, the six months to the end of June 2021 saw catalog music’s share of total album consumption in the US rise to 66.4%, up from 63.9% in the first six months of 2020. Conversely, the percentage of total album consumption claimed by ‘current’ music keeps on falling. In the first half of 2021, according to MRC Data’s report, ‘current’ music claimed just 33.6% of total consumption, down from 36.1% in H1 2020. The report additionally claimed that there were 555.3 billion streams of music on audio and video platforms in the US in the first six months of 2021 – up by 54.3 billion year-on-year.

YouTube Shorts Goes Global, Rolling Out in 100+ Countries

YouTube Shorts is going global. The TikTok competitor will soon roll out to all the regions where YouTube main is currently available. That will put it live in more than 100 countries. Shorts debuted in India in September 2020, and introduced a beta version in the U.S. earlier this year. YouTube says Shorts will remain in beta in all countries. It plans to add more features, and is eyeing monetization for creators beyond the $100 million fund it launched in May.

Copyright Office Recommends MLC’s Distribution of Pre-2021 Unmatched Royalties Not Occur for 5 Years

The Copyright Office has recommended that the first distribution of the black box monies accumulated before the creation of the Mechanical Licensing Collective won’t be distributed until five years after the claiming portal is operational. So far, the MLC apparently only has a beta version of the claim portal - which will give rights owners the ability to search through unmatched songs and claim those they own so that they can be paid the royalties for plays of those songs. Furthermore, the Copyright Office stated in its guidance that even at the 5-year period, the MLC should apply relevant criteria to determine whether the first distribution should be further deferred.

SoundExchange Expanding Into Private Copy Royalty Collection in the US

SoundExchange, the nonprofit appointed by the U.S. Congress to collect and distribute performance royalties for non-interactive digital music streams, is expanding its operation to encompass domestic and foreign private copy royalties. The organization will take over the collection and distribution of private copy royalties in the U.S. from the Alliance of Artists and Recording Companies (AARC), planning to begin claiming international private copy royalties in late 2021 and domestic private copy royalties in February 2022. Private copy royalties are assessed on the sale of devices and media which allow consumers to copy music for private use, like CD-Rs and blank cassette tapes. These royalties are then distributed to rights holders by one or more collective management organizations (CMOs), often according to market share.

Report Claims YouTube Music is Fastest Growing Music DSP

Midia Research has published its latest estimates for the size of the global music streaming subscriptions market, with figures from the end of the first quarter of this year. The company estimates that Spotify’s 158 million subs at the end of March gave it a 32% share of the 487 million music subscribers globally. It also claims that YouTube Music is the fastest growing subscription service, growing by 60% in 2020, and reaching an 8% market share in Q1 this year –just under 39 million subscribers. That would be a decent rise from the 30 million reported by the company for Q3 2020, which was a figure split between subs to YouTube Music Premium and YouTube Premium.

TikTok’s Chinese Parent Shelves IPO Plans After Regulators’ Warning (Report)

ByteDance, the Chinese owner of short-form video app TikTok, has put on hold, indefinitely, plans for an initial public offering in the U.S. or Hong Kong after government officials in China warned management to address data security risks, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the situation. The Beijing-based company was valued at $180 billion in a round of funding in December. According to the paper, founder Zhang Yiming decided to put the IPO considerations on ice after meetings with regulators. It also cited a person close to the firm as noting that ByteDance didn’t have a CFO at the time of the decision.

Random Ramblings

Music tokenization - how it will change the music industry and why you should care.
Ed Sheeran debuts at No. 1 on the Top Triller U.S. Chart with "Bad Habits".
Serbia's EXIT makes history as Europe's first major festival since the pandemic began.
Queen’s Live Aid Performance: How rock’s royalty stole the show.
Ariana Grande shows off her vocal skills with her live performance of "my hair".

Who is Exploration?

Exploration is proud to be the company of choice to administer much of the world’s most important media. Utilizing competent staff and advanced technology, our clients are able to better control their data and collect their money.

We’re writing a free book on how the music business works. Learn more here.

The catalog metadata template offers the minimum viable data needed to collect publishing royalties. Download the file here.

To see who is collecting your royalties, request a free copyright audit here!

Please feel free to reach out anytime if you have any questions or ideas!

Hope you have a great weekend!