INDUSTRY
UK Parliamentary Probe Results In Calls for “Complete Reset” of the Streaming Industry
A Parliamentary probe into the current market dynamics of music streaming has yielded a bold call for a “complete reset” of the market by British MP’s. The topic of fair pay for artists has been a contentious one throughout the rise of the streaming era, but the results of this particular inquiry—published by Parliament’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) wing—have led to a rare inflection point where new protectionist regulations might be on the horizon. The subject of this inquiry considered the economic relationship between artists and their record labels, and unsurprisingly, the results showed that labels are reaping a disproportionate amount of the financial benefits. “While streaming has brought significant profits to the recorded music indu...
Beatport Publishes Report Exploring Mental Health and Electronic Music Culture
A new report exploring the correlation between mental health and the culture of electronic music has been published by Beatport. In collaboration with AFEM, Arigami, Silentmode, and How Mental, Beatport surveyed over 140 artists from around the globe to share their stories in the report, titled “Music Connects Us.” Together, they covered communication and outreach methods, and strategies for changing one’s mindset and controlling emotions. Among the artists surveyed in the report were Kaskade, LOUISAHHH, Junior Sanchez, Tom Middleton, and Sarah Story, among others. Some of the artists spoke out on their methods for getting their own mental health in check. “During these times, music became my best friend, the connection I needed to know I wasn...
Here’s How Much Each Music Streaming Platform Pays Per Stream
Streaming has become the most popular form of music consumption in recent years, accounting for roughly 64% of all recorded music revenues according to the RIAA US sales database. One of the most common questions, especially for musicians, is how those revenues are broken down, and how much each artist gets paid per stream. Though that number differs with every streaming service, most artists are in agreement that it’s not nearly enough. The most popular service, Spotify, accounts for over 44% of the market share. However, despite how favorable it is with consumers, the streaming giant pays an average of only $0.00348 per stream, according to data sourced from The Trichordist. To put that into perspective, an artist earning three tenths of a cent per stream would make ...
Major Music Festival Group Files Suit Against Dutch Government Over COVID-19 Restrictions
Amid an increasingly bitter battle between Dutch regulators and music festival organizers, one of the nation’s largest festival production entities ID&T is taking the government to court. ID&T is comprised of the brilliant minds behind Defqon.1, Mysteryland, Awakenings, and many more iconic festival brands. Time is of the essence and ID&T is hoping the suit will lead to immediate clarity from the government regarding what the path forward for large scale events will be. Despite the request, many major events—most notably Tomorrowland—have been forced to cancel last minute due to the mercurial nature of the government’s pandemic mandates. In Tomorrowland’s case, officials at the local level rejected their filing of an event permit despite nation...
UK Government Confirms July 19th Reopening Date—But 1 in 8 Nightclubs Have “Disappeared”
16 contentious months later, the UK government has confirmed its plan to lift lockdown measures on July 19th. But many questions about the return of nightclubs remain. According to Bloomberg, who cited data from CGA and Alix Partners’ Market Recovery Monitor, one in eight venues have “disappeared” since the onset of the pandemic—a ratio that is expected to worsen as COVID-19 cases surge. The clubs that remain face a dubious future as the number of coronavirus cases rises due to the delta variant. CNBC reports over 34,000 new cases were recorded in the UK on Monday, July 12th. In the wake of the UK government’s devastating delay on the lift of restrictions in June, the country’s clubbing scene—one of the world’s most historic nightlife sectors—was de...
Nigerian airlines list conditions for full refund to passengers after two-hour flight delay
Following the pronouncement of the Federal Government that airline operators must refund the full cost of travel tickets to passengers after a two-hour delay, commercial airlines have listed the conditions for such reimbursement. The airline operators made this known in separate interviews with newsmen. The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, had, on Thursday at the weekly State House briefing in Aso Villa, Abuja, read out some of the rights of air passengers as enshrined in Part 19 of the Consumer Protection Regulations of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (2015) and charged them to demand their rights whenever they were being trampled upon by airlines. “On domestic flights, for delay beyond one hour, carrier should provide refreshment, and one telephone call, or one SMS, or one e-ma...
Spotify Editors See Rising Appetite for Underground Genres in Dance Music
A fascinating deep dive into dance music was recently published to Spotify‘s For the Record, a dedicated blog and podcast managed by the streaming giant. According to Spotify’s “The State of Dance Music” report, For The Record spoke with the company’s global dance curators about current and future trends they’re observing within the genre. This is the team responsible for providing listeners with playlist content for Crate Diggers, mint, and a plethora of other popular dance music playlists. The piece provides a prescient perspective into how these decision makers view the genre at large—and where we may be headed. Overall, the health of dance music’s immediate future received glowing remarks. Despite stagnation related to closed c...
New MusicCareers Platform Aims to Help Jobseekers Find Post-Pandemic Work
As the music industry continues to find its footing in the wake of the devastating economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new resource has launched with the goal of aiding both employers and jobseekers in identifying new opportunities. Entrepreneurs Budi Voogt and David Sikorski recently unveiled MusicCareers, a music industry-specific job board platform dedicated to finding work for jobseekers. Last year saw a bifurcation of the music business unlike any other period in history. According to the BBC, live music revenues fell around 85% in 2020. However, commercial music sales continued to grow substantially due to the tailwinds of an 18.5% increase in streaming subscription revenue in 2020. The result of such stark market shifts has left many workers feeling unfamiliar with the...
BUA increases price of cement
BUA Cement Plc has increased the ex-factory price of its cement product by N200 per bag. The cement manufacturer, it was reliably gathered, unveiled its new price increase from N2,800 to N3,000 per bag over the weekend. The price increase by BUA is contrary to what he has repeatedly asserted that his company does not have any justification to increase the price of cement as it is currently making enough returns. It would be recalled that BUA Cement, in various statements issued between April 24 and June 18 this year, had refuted any claims of increase in the ex-factory price of its cement products by N300 per bag, stating that, “the company had no plans to increase prices of its cement now or in the near future.” According to a statement issued on April 24, 2021, the company stated that, “...
PIB: IPMAN commends National Assembly for inclusion of PEF
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria has commended the National Assembly for the inclusion of the Petroleum Equalisation Fund in the newly passed Petroleum Industry Bill. The Public Relations Officer of IPMAN, Yakubu Suleiman, gave the commendation on Sunday in a statement. Suleiman said the legislative arm of government had demonstrated that it was sensitive to the yearnings of majority of Nigerians for a permanent solution to the energy problems in the country. He said the entire content of the bill as passed by the Senate would serve as a catalyst for the inflow of the much desired foreign direct investment to boost the economy. He said: “The much awaited Petroleum Industry Bill has come to ease Nigerians of the pains that necessitated the call for the Bill in the ...
Female DJ Representation Is on the Rise—But There’s a Long Way to Go
There has long been a disparity with gender in the electronic music space. However, according to the 2021 IMS Business Report, the gap is finally starting to close—albeit at snail speed. The annual data collected by this private company analyzes its findings through the lens of Google Search volume generated by DJ Mag‘s “Top 100 DJs” list. This year women had a slightly stronger presence on list, which is traditionally dominated by men. While the polarizing list has often come under scrutiny for ranking key figures in the industry at low slots, the fact that more and more women are being nominated by the public is a key indicator that we are seeing a shift in support. The latest iteration saw 13 female DJs listed—including five newcomers—which i...
Dance Music Fans Are Split on How Many Shows They Plan to Attend in 2021
In a survey of nearly 9,000 respondents conducted by EDM.com, dance music fans appear to be divided on their future concert plans for the rest of 2021. Despite lingering hardships related to the pandemic it seems hard to believe that 2021 is nearly halfway over. Amid a successful vaccination campaign, large-scale events are starting to return. For dance music specifically, festivals such as Sunset Music Festival and Forbidden Kingdom have led the charge welcoming back festival-goers by the thousands. While the aftermath of those festivals paints a rosy picture of unshakably high demand for concerts and festivals, there seems to be a substantive part of the population that is a bit hesitant, or in the very least, plans to be more selective about what they will attend in the near term....
