Exploration Weekly - Spanish Authors Society SGAE’s Revenues Hit $367M in 2022 / Sweden’s STIM Reports Record Revenue for 2022 / UK Recorded Music Exports Grew by 20% Last Year

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In this newsletter:

• Spanish Authors Society SGAE’s Revenues Hit $367M in 2022
• Sweden’s STIM Reports Record Revenue for 2022 Amid Live Music Comeback, International Streaming Growth
• UK Recorded Music Exports Grew by 20% Last Year
• Stock Music Niche Projected to Grow Nearly $665 Million by 2027
• TikTok Launches Music-Streaming Service in Brazil and Indonesia

Spanish authors society SGAE posted a 35% year-over-year jump in revenue in 2022 to €349 million, the highest since 2007.

Sweden’s STIM Reports Record Revenue for 2022 Amid Live Music Comeback and International Streaming Growth.

UK recorded music exports last year were up 20% to £709 million, due to an increase in physical and digital download sales, streams and other consumption of British music in every region globally last year.

Now, the details...

Exploration Weekly - July 7, 2023
Compiled by Ana Berberana

Spanish Authors Society SGAE’s Revenues Hit $367M in 2022

Spanish authors society SGAE posted a 35% year-over-year jump in revenue in 2022 to €349 million (approx. $366.98m at average annual exchange rates as per the IRS), the highest since 2007. The society, responsible for the distribution and administration of authors’ rights, distributed €316.3 million ($332.59m) to its members and rights holders in the same period, reflecting a 27.4% jump compared to the previous year. A total of 66,243 authors received payments for their creative works, indicating a substantial 74% increase from the previous year. SGAE boasts a membership of more than 130,000 individuals, including 121,426 creative artists, 8,655 heirs, and 2,433 publishers. The organization says that it experienced a 23% increase in new members in 2022, with 60.9% of them being under 40 years old. Notably, 26.1% of the new members were women. Most recently, in the first half of this year, the society reports to have distributed a total of €183.5 million in authors’ rights, up 18% from €154.8 million in the year-ago period. “Our goal is to continue improving our results, especially in the digital realm, and to increase efficiency in the distribution of authors’ rights, with greater transparency towards our members,” said SGAE’s general director, Cristina Perpiñá-Robert.

Sweden’s STIM Reports Record Revenue for 2022 Amid Live Music Comeback, International Streaming Growth

Thanks in large part to an over 200 percent year-over-year (YoY) boost in live revenue as well as a 47 percent YoY hike in international streaming and UGC income, Sweden’s STIM has reported record royalty collections of over $250 million (SEK 2.71 billion) for 2022. The 100-year-old Svenska Tonsättares Internationella Musikbyrå (STIM) shared its 2022 annual report with Digital Music News today. According to the comprehensive performance analysis, STIM distributed SEK 2.15 billion ($198.72 million) of the mentioned sum to its 102,238 “affiliated rightsholders” on the year, consisting specifically of “98,322 individual rightsholders and 3,916 companies.” And of this tranche, SEK 1.77 billion ($163.60 million) went to “authors and publishers affiliated with STIM” directly, per higher-ups. Behind the broader collections total, STIM pointed to SEK 116.79 million ($10.79 million) from live events, chiefly referring to concerts and festivals (SEK 107.44 million/$9.93 million) – a YoY subcategory jump of about 269 percent, per the disclosed figures. Meanwhile, the “background” category, at SEK 200.58 million ($18.54 million), is said to have increased by 28.46 percent YoY, with some of the largest segment-specific rises (by percentage) attributed to usages in movie theaters (up 146 percent YoY) and hotels (up 61.34 percent YoY). Next, radio royalties actually declined slightly from 2021, to SEK 95.89 million ($8.86 million), whereas revenue deriving from usages on television stayed nearly flat YoY as a dip in Swedish television income was mostly offset by an improvement on the foreign television side, the document shows. Finally, in terms of STIM’s 2022 financials, the ICE co-creator pinpointed a material YoY gain in the “online” category (up 36.42 percent to SEK 1.10 billion/$101.68 million) and in revenue resulting from pacts with foreign societies (up 20.62 percent to SEK 869.30 million/$80.35 million).

UK Recorded Music Exports Grew by 20% Last Year

UK recorded music exports last year were up 20% to £709 million according to new stats from record industry trade group BPI. So, that’s the revenues generated by the sales and streams of UK releases outside the UK. That significant surge comes despite the Anglo-American music industries – which have generally enjoyed the most success in the past when it comes to exporting artists and releases – now facing much more competition from music made elsewhere in the world. In particular South Korea and some of the key Latin American markets. Breaking down the export stats a little, the BPI says “there was a double-digit percentage increase in physical and digital download sales, streams and other consumption of British music in every region globally last year”. “This was led by emerging music markets”, it adds, “including the Middle East (+59%), Africa (+48%) and Latin America (+38%), where streaming user bases grew significantly in volume”. Though, “UK music consumption also increased in more established markets, rising in North America (+28%), Europe (+11%), Asia (+17%) and Oceania (+16%)”. The biggest market for UK recorded music exports is the US, the biggest recorded music market of them all by quite some margin. There, export revenues were up 28% year-on-year. Some of that was down to the strong value of the US dollar against the pound, but also – of course – the success of numerous British artists in the American market, including Harry Styles, Glass Animals, Adele, Coldplay, Kate Bush and Sam Smith.

Stock Music Niche Projected to Grow Nearly $665 Million by 2027

The stock music market is set to grow by $664.36 million from 2022 to 2027, with the increasing adoption of the subscription model a significant factor driving growth. The subscription model in stock music is based on an application, and the integration of music streaming applications with social media platforms like YouTube has been a major aspect that has expanded the demand for music subscriptions. Vendors that offer stock music provide audio tracks based on customers’ demand and charge prices according to the use of music. For example, Musicbed, a stock music vendor, offers plans based on the type of project, delivering various subscription plans based on Personal, Nonprofit, Wedding, Business, and Custom models. Adopting such subscription models is shown to fuel the growth of the global stock music market during the forecast period. The expanding variety of stock music is an emerging trend driving the stock music niche growth. The demand for stock music is influenced by its widespread use as background music. Stock music tracks are commonly used in TV programs, corporate videos, on-hold production, and websites, while royalty-free music tracks are widely used in YouTube videos. The extensive use of stock music for personal and business applications gives rise to the demand for a variety of stock music, which is likely to boost the market’s growth during the forecast period.

TikTok Launches Music-Streaming Service in Brazil and Indonesia

After months of speculation, TikTok is finally launching its own “social music streaming service,” initially in Indonesia and Brazil, the company announced Thursday, with licensing from all three major music companies. The service, which is premium-only, will allow users to synch with their existing accounts and also share and download the tracks they discover on TikTok. The service is now available in both countries with a one-month free trial, according to The new service will replace the company’s existing streaming service, Resso, on Sept. 5. The transition began in May, which TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, announced that Resso would become a premium-only service. The move is a major one for any number of reasons, as TikTok has been the major source of music discovery for several years and the company’s launch of a new streaming service has long been expected. There was no word initially on when it will launch in other territories, but it would seem to be coming sooner rather than later. “We are pleased to introduce TikTok Music, a new kind of service that combines the power of music discovery on TikTok with a best-in-class streaming service. TikTok Music will make it easy for people in Indonesia and Brazil to save, download and share their favorite viral tracks from TikTok,” said Ole Obermann, global head of music business development at TikTok, in a statement. “We are excited about the opportunities TikTok Music presents for both music fans and artists, and the great potential it has for driving significant value to the music industry.”

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