The team here at Exploration is thrilled to announce the Spanish translation of our book!

"How the Music Industry Works” is an easy-to-read, comprehensive guide that serves to explain how all the moving parts of this industry work together. We are proud to say that this is one of the few Spanish-language music business guides available, and we would love to hear your feedback! Please join (via Zoom) our Director of Latin Music, Maria Lozano, on May 2 to announce the release. We look forward to seeing you there!

YouTube’s advertising revenues were up 14.4% year-on-year to $6.87 billion for the first quarter of 2022, Alphabet announced this week. YouTube Shorts is now averaging more than 30 billion daily views, double the Q2 2021 figure, said Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai.

The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC) is currently accepting suggestions of Publisher candidates for its Board of Directors and Unclaimed Royalties Oversight, Dispute Resolution and Operations Advisory committees until May 26, 2022.

And Spotify’s first quarter revenue of 2022 grew 24% year-on-year to $2.96 billion, which was also a 1% dip from Q4’s revenue. The company also counted a total of 182 million paid users and 252 million ad-supported listeners in its latest earnings release.

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Compiled by Heidi Seo


Exploration Weekly - April 29, 2022

YouTube Advertising Revenues Up 14.4% to $6.87 Billion in Q1 2022

According to YouTube and Google’s parent company Alphabet, the latest figures for YouTube’s advertising business revealed that revenues were up 14.4% year-on-year to $6.87 billion. The figures fell short of what analysts were hoping for, with the average prediction for the quarter being $7.48 billion. Chief financial officer Ruth Pichai said that the company saw “substantial growth in YouTube non-advertising revenues driven by subscriber growth in YouTube Music and Premium and YouTube TV”. In addition, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said that YouTube Shorts is now averaging more than 30 billion daily views. That’s double the 15 billion daily views it was doing in Q2 2021.

The MLC Seeking Suggestions for Board of Directors and Advisory Committees Candidates

The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC) is accepting suggestions of Publisher candidates for its Board of Directors and Unclaimed Royalties Oversight, Dispute Resolution and Operations Advisory committees. Board and committee members sit for three-year terms and may be re-elected. There are openings on the Board of Directors for two Publisher representatives, and openings on The MLC’s advisory committees: Two Publisher seats on the Unclaimed Royalties Oversight Committee, One Publisher seat on the Dispute Resolution Committee, and Two Publisher openings on the Operations Advisory Committee. Suggestions should be made no later than May 26, 2022.

Spotify Subscribers Crawl to 182M as Quarterly Revenue Grows 24%

Spotify added just 2 million premium subscribers in the first quarter of 2022 and wrapped up March with a total of 182 million paid users and 252 million ad-supported listeners, the company announced in its latest earnings release. While that paid subscriber tally was a million under guidance, the company was quick to note that its wind-down in Russia, following its invasion of Ukraine, resulted in an “involuntary churn” of roughly 1.5 million subscribers there. First-quarter revenue was US $2.96 billion, in line with guidance, representing 24% growth year-over-year but a 1% dip from Q4’s revenue. The vast majority of Q1 revenue came from subscriber income, which grew 23% YoY.

135,000 Artists Are Now Getting Paid Through SoundCloud’s Fan-Powered Royalties Platform

In April 2021, SoundCloud launched its “Fan-Powered Royalties” platform – its own branding of the user-centric streaming payment model. This method of monetization sees royalties from each individual subscriber’s monthly payment distributed only amongst the artists they listen to. On April 26, SoundCloud revealed that 135,000 independent artists are now getting paid through Fan-Powered Royalties (FPR), marking a 30% growth in the volume of artists who have signed up to monetize their music via FPR on the platform since March 2021. The company also claims that, on average, independent artists are now earning 60% more through Fan-Powered Royalties than they would have been had they stuck with the traditional pro-rata model.

Apple Services Rake in $19.8B in Revenue as Total Earnings Smash Expectations

Apple’s services division, which includes Apple TV+, Apple Music, iCloud and the App Store, brought in $19.8 billion in revenue during the second quarter of the fiscal year, up from $19.5 billion in Q1. The tech giant reported $97.3 billion in total revenue, surpassing Wall Street estimates, while net income hit $25 billion. Across Apple’s products, iPhones continued to account for the majority of sales, bringing in around $50.6 billion in sales during the quarter. The company has not disclosed the breakdown of sales across the Apple services division, but it now has 825 million paying subscribers, up from 165 million last year, according to Apple CFO Luca Maestri.

PRS for Music Reports 22.4% Revenue Increase in 2021 - As Live Performance Royalties Continued to Decline

PRS for Music achieved a 22.4% YoY revenue increase in 2021, even as royalties from live shows and plays in public establishments remained nearly 40% beneath their pre-pandemic total, according to the organization’s 2021 financials. PRS for Music announced that online plays (and especially streaming) drove its 2021 revenue growth, with the category up 45.6% YoY. Public performance, on the other hand, remained 38.1% beneath the 2019 total despite surging by 59.6% from 2020. The segment’s failure to rebound to pre-pandemic levels came even as pubs, clubs, hotels, and restaurants resurged by north of 100% YoY in the royalties department.

SiriusXM and Pandora Lost Subscribers, Improved Revenue in Q1 2022

SiriusXM lost subscribers in the first quarter of 2022 but improved net income to $317 million on revenue of $2.19 billion, the company announced Thursday. SiriusXM self-pay subscriptions fell by 25,000 subscribers from the previous quarter. Paid promotional subscribers fell by 54,000 subscriptions. Pandora, SiriusXM’s internet music streaming platform, lost 65,000 self-pay subscribers in the quarter, its third consecutive decline. That left Pandora with 6.32 million subscribers, its lowest since the second quarter of 2020.


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