Welcome to Music Business Worldwide’s weekly roundup – where we make sure you’ve caught the five biggest stories that have made headlines over the past seven days. The MBW Roundup is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximize their income and lower their touring costs.
New stats have arrived this week that illustrate the growing volume of content being uploaded to Spotify, YouTube Music and other music streaming services every day.
According to Luminate (the entertainment market monitor and information provider that was formerly known as MRC Data and Nielsen Music), an average of 120,000 ISRCs (i.e. new music audio files) were added to music streaming services – across all audio and video platforms – per day in Q1 2023.
If the average number of daily downloads of new tracks continues at the same rate of 120,000 per day for the rest of the year, by the end of 2023, more than 43 million new tracks will have been uploaded to Spotify and other music streaming services this year.
This 120,000 the track average per day is up from the 93,400 average tracks downloaded per day in 2022, according to Luminate.
Also this week, Universal Music Group (UMG) entered into “a one-of-a-kind strategic relationship” with generative AI sound wellness startup Endel to create what they call “functional AI-powered music.” and artist-driven”.
Meanwhile, at Sony Group Corporation’s annual investor presentation on Wednesday, May 24, Sony Music Group Chairman Rob Stringer raised serious concerns about streaming fraud. He said streaming fraud “is a problem that needs to be eliminated”, and also called for better payments from short-lived video platforms.
Additionally, SoundCloud is reducing its current global workforce by 8%, while BandLab secured an additional $25 million in funding, valuing the company at $425 million.
Here’s what happened this week…
Credit: Shutterstock
1) THERE ARE NOW 120,000 NEW TRACKS ON MUSIC STREAMING SERVICES EVERY DAY
A new set of stats has arrived that illustrates how quickly the deluge of new content is really growing on DSPs.
According to Luminate (the entertainment market intelligence and monitoring provider that was formerly known as MRC Data and Nielsen Music), an average of 120,000 ISRCs (i.e. new music audio files ) have been added to music streaming services – across audio and video platforms – per day. in the first quarter of 2023.
That equates to a total of 10.08 million new tracks uploaded to Spotify, YouTube Music and other music streaming services in the first three months of the year alone, according to Luminate…
2) UNIVERSAL PARTNERS WITH GENERATIVE AI STARTUP ENDEL TO CREATE ‘AI-POWERED, ARTIST-DRIVEN FUNCTIONAL MUSIC’
Universal Music Group (UMG) has entered into “a one-of-a-kind strategic relationship” with generative AI sound wellness startup Endel to create what they call “functional AI-powered, user-driven music.” artists”.
According to Endel, so-called functional music (e.g. music for sleeping, running, relaxing, etc.) “represents one of the largest music listening subcategories in the world, encompassing around 15 billion streams per month. on all music platforms.
As part of the “groundbreaking” agreement, the two companies will use Endel’s proprietary artificial intelligence technology to enable UMG artists to “reimagine” their music and create “science-based soundscapes designed to improve the well-being of listeners” using both new music and new releases of catalog music…
Credit: Sony Music Group
3) ROB STRINGER SAYS STREAMING MUSIC FRAUD ‘IS A PROBLEM THAT NEEDS TO BE ELIMINATED’, CALLS FOR BETTER PAYMENTS FROM SHORT VIDEO PLATFORMS
Sony Music Group Chairman Rob Stringer has just added his name to the growing number of music industry leaders raising serious concerns about streaming fraud.
During Sony Group Corporation’s annual investor presentation on Wednesday, May 24, Stringer called for stricter enforcement by digital service providers (DSPs) — plus, potentially, an anti-fraud shift to a new payment model for music streaming royalties – to address what many see as a growing problem of illegitimate streams that take revenue away from artists and rights holders.
“Fraud on major DSPs is a problem that needs to be eliminated through aggressive enforcement by these DSPs and distributors, or by changing payment methods (i.e. royalty payment models) to to better reduce the incentive for fraud,” Stringer said during his presentation… (MBW)
4) SOUNDCLOUD, IN SEARCH OF PROFITABILITY, REDUCES 8% OF EMPLOYEES
SoundCloud is reducing its current global workforce by 8%, which will result in the layoff of approximately 40 people across the company.
It is understood that the majority of layoffs within the company will take place in the United States.
The news was confirmed Tuesday (May 23) in an internal memo to staff from SoundCloud CEO Eliah Seton, obtained by MBW….
f5) BANDLAB RAISES ANOTHER $25M, VALUING A MUSIC CREATION COMPANY AT $425M
Singapore-based BandLab Technologies, the parent company of social music creation platform BandLab, secured an additional $25 million in its Series B1 funding round, valuing the company at $425 million.
This latest investment comes after the company’s successful Series B round in April 2022, where BandLab raised $65 million and achieved a post-money valuation of $315 million…
