October 22, 2007

The Music Industry Is Rocking!

by Piers Fawkes

biz de musicA couple of weeks ago I showed two slides that I presented to a client (Mars Inc) about the music industry where I suggested that the music industry has never looked so good - the problem is that we keep looking at the wrong metrics.

Now, Chris Anderson provides some handy stats that show that the music business is booming but says that the problem with the music labels is not that music is an industry in decline, but that they have a too-narrow view of what business they’re in. Quick stats:

  • Concerts and merchandise: UP (+4%)
  • Digital tracks: UP (+46%)
  • Ringtones: UP (+86% last year, but probably just single-digit percent this year)
  • Licensing for commercials, TV shows, movies and videogames: UP (Warner Music saw licensing grow by about $20 million over the past year)
  • Even vinyl singles (think DJs): UP (more than doubled in the UK)
  • And, if you include the iPod in the music industry, as I’d argue a fair-minded analysis would: UP, UP, UP! (+31% this year)

Read more: The Long Tail: Everything in the music industry is up! (except those plastic discs)

Article categories: Entertainment, Music

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