How Bad is Music File Sharing? – Part 25

The Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the EU Commission recently published a study entitled “Digital Music Consumption on the Internet: Evidence from Clickstream Data” with remarkable results. The authors, Luis Aguiar and Bertin Martens, concluded that music file sharing as well as music streaming have a significant positive impact on legal music downloads. The study is based on Clickstream data from Nielsen NetView. The database contains all the clicks of 25,000 Internet users in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom for the calendar year 2011. In the following the main finding “(…) that digital music piracy does not displace legal music purchases in digital format” will be further investigated.

Music Experience and Behaviour in Young People in the UK

The study Music Experience and Behaviour in Young People is the third survey of its kind – after 2008 and 2009 – for 2011. After a presentation of the key findings of the study in the 3^rd Vienna Music Business Research Days, it’s now an honour and pleasure to exclusively present the results of the current study on the blog. The 2011 study is based on a comprehensive online survey of 1,888 of 14-24 year olds across the UK. The main conclusion of the current research is “(…) that when it comes to music and young people, everything is different, and yet everything is still the same”; compared to 2008 and 2009.

The key findings of the 2011 study are:

• The computer is no longer their main entertainment hub.
• Digital music collections are still huge.
• Digital music collections still contain 50 percent “free” music.
• Ownership is still important.
• Music is no longer the most popular entertainment type.
• There remains a very clear “value gap”.
• The popularity of file sharing has changed significantly.
• The 14-25 years olds are prepared to pay for digital music.
• But there are still challenges for streaming music online.
• Digital music consumption is still complex.
• They have a clear understanding and grasp of what copyright law is.

Please read further if you want to know more about the research results.

Money from Music – a study on musicians’ revenue in the U.S.

Peter DiCola of Northwestern University School of Law and partner in the “Artists Revenue Streams”-project of the “Future of Music Coalition” has recently published a working paper entitled “Money from Music: Survey Evidence on Musicians’ Revenue and Lessons About Copyright Incentives”, which also will be published in the Arizona Law Review. Based on data of the “Artists Revenue Streams”-project, DiCola analyzes different income streams of musicians in the U.S. He highlights that musicians differ in earning money from music relying on several revenue sources. The main finding is that the largest revenue category for musician in the U.S. on average is live performance, which accounts for 28% of the overall annual income from music. Another important income source is teaching (22%), followed by salaries from orchestras, bands and chamber ensembles (19%) and session work (10%). Revenue from songwriting/composing and sound recordings is less important, accounting for 6% of the annual music income each.

For a summary of the study, please click here

Music Business Research 2012 – in retrospective

Dear friends of the music business research blog. Thank you for visiting the blog in 2012. It was again a very eventful year for the music business/industry. The US and EU regulators cleared the merger of the recorded music arms of Universal and EMI. The Anschutz Group announced the selling of AEG, the world’s second largest live music company. Apple’s iTunes is virtually available worldwide after launching the music download portal in Russia, Turkey, Turkey, India and in other 52 countries. Music streaming service Spotify launched in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Luxembourg, operating now in 17 countries, whereas French based rival Deezer raised US$ 130 million from Warner Music Group’ owner Access Industries. And U.S. singer/songwriter Amanda Palmer managed to raise more than US$ 1.0 million for her new album on Kickstarter crowdfunding platform – to name only a few events.

However, from a music business research perspective, one of the highlights were the Third Vienna Music Business Research Days on “New Music Consumption Behaviour” held at University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. Recent studies on music consumption behavior in the the UK, Austria and in the US were presented and the graduaded response scheme of the French authority for protection of copyrights on the Internet (HADOPI) was discussed. Further, the best paper of the Young Scholars’ workshop was awarded for the first time: “The ‘artepreneur’: A model for future success and personal fulfillment for artists” by Maike Engelmann, Lorenz Grünewald and Julia Heinrich of Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media. As a reward the paper was published in the October issue of the International Journal of Music Business Research (IJMBR), whose first issue was already published in April 2012:

Volume_1,_no_2,_October_2012

Editorial by Dennis Collopy, Peter Tschmuck and Carsten Winter, pp. 4-6

Jari Salo: Customer Experience Management in the Music Industry Online Communities, pp. 7-30

Maike Engelmann, Lorenz Grünewald and Julia Heinrich: The New Artrepreneur – How Artists Can Thrive on a Networked Music Business, pp. 31-45._ (awarded best paper of the Young Scholars’ Workshop of the 3rd Vienna Music Business Research Days 2012)

Carsten Winter: How Media Prosumers Contribute to Social Innovation in Today’s New Networked Music Culture and Economy, pp. 46-73

 

Volume_1,_no_1,_April_2012

Editorial by Peter Tschmuck and Dennis Collopy, pp. 4-6

Patrik Wikström: A Typology of Music Distribution Models, pp. 7-20

Pinie Wang: Music and Advertising. The Influence of Advertising and the Media on the Development of the Music Industry in the USA, pp. 21-43

Martin Kretschmer: Copyright Term Reversion and the “Use-It-Or-Lose-It” Principle, pp. 44-53

In the following you can find all academic theses & papers, which have been added for downloading in 2012. In addition find a list of important music business/industry studies and books published last year. You can also find a top-10-list of the most visited blog-posts and some more information.

 

Australian Music Business – The Market for Music Licencing by Collecting Societies in Australia

In this blog the early music industry in Australia was analysed in great detail (The Early Record Industry in Australia – part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5 and part 6). In a four part series on the Australian music business I would like to highlight the recent economic situation of the Australian music industry. In the first part of this series the charts of the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) are analysed to understand the consumers’ taste downunder especially in respect to the Australian national repertoire. In the second part the question is answered, which labels benefit from the chart successes of international and domestic artists. In a third part the development of the recorded music sales in Australia from 2000 to 2011 is analysed to give an explanation for the ups and downs in the observed period. In the fourth and last part of the series the economic role of collecting societies in Australia is highlighted especially from the licensing income’s perspective.

In the last part of the series the role of the three Australian music collecting societies – APRA, AMCOS and PPCA – for the Australian music industry is highlighted.

Australian Music Business – an analysis of the recorded music sales 2000-2011

In this blog the early music industry in Australia was analysed in great detail (The Early Record Industry in Australia – part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5 and part 6). In a four part series on the Australian music business I would like to highlight the recent economic situation of the Australian music industry. In the first part of this series the charts of the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) are analysed to understand the consumers’ taste downunder especially in respect to the Australian national repertoire. In the second part the question is answered, which labels benefit from the chart successes of international and domestic artists. In a third part the development of the recorded music sales in Australia from 2000 to 2011 is analysed to give an explanation for the ups and downs in the observed period. In the fourth and last part of the series the economic role of collecting societies in Australia is highlighted especially from the licensing income’s perspective.

In the following the Australian recorded music market is analysed in detail to answer the question why the market was hit by the recession not earlier than 2006.

Australian Music Business – An Analysis of the ARIA Charts, 1988-2011 – Part 2

In this blog the early music industry in Australia was analysed in great detail (The Early Record Industry in Australia – part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5 and part 6). In a four part series on the Australian music business I would like to highlight the recent economic situation of the Australian music industry. In the first part of this series the charts of the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) are analysed to understand the consumers’ taste downunder especially in respect to the Australian national repertoire. In the second part the question is answered, which labels benefit from the chart successes of international and domestic artists. In a third part the development of the recorded music sales in Australia from 2000 to 2011 is analysed to give an explanation for the ups and downs in the observed period. In the fourth and last part of the series the economic role of collecting societies in Australia is highlighted especially from the licensing income’s perspective.

However, in the following the question is answered which labels succeeded in the ARIA charts and the role of indie and major labels a highlighted for the observed period.

Australian Music Business – An Analysis of the ARIA Charts, 1988-2011 – Part 1

In this blog the early music industry in Australia was analysed in great detail (The Early Record Industry in Australia – part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5 and part 6). In a four part series on the Australian music business I would like to highlight the recent economic situation of the Australian music industry. In the first part of this series the charts of the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) are analysed to understand the consumers’ taste downunder especially in respect to the Australian national repertoire. In the second part the question is answered, which labels benefited from the chart successes of international and domestic artists. In a third part the development of the recorded music sales in Australia from 2000 to 2011 is analysed to give an explanation for the ups and downs in the observed period. In the fourth and last part of the series the economic role of collecting societies in Australia is highlighted especially from the licensing income’s perspective.

However, in the following the question is answered what artists were appreciated most by Australian music consumers and thus benefited by successes in the ARIA charts.

The US Recorded Music Market in the Light of the Billboard Hot 100 – the 1960s

In February 2011, Billboard Magazine celebrated the 1,000^th number one hit of the Hot 100 single chart since its introduction in September 1958 by listing all number one hits with links to YouTube videos and additional information. I used this list as a starting point to analyse the preferences of US music consumers for artists and music genres and how major and indie labels economically profited from it. Part 1 of the analysis highlights the top chart positions of the Billboard Hot 100 in the 1960s.

EU Copyright Term Extension in Sound Recordings to 70 Years – An Economic Assessment

On September 12, 2011 the EU Council of Ministers passed the copyright term extension in sound recordings from 50 to 70 years, which was proposed by the European Commission in 2008 and voted on by the European Parliament in 2009. The term extension was welcomed by the music industry bodies and several musicians. The newly appointed IFPI chairman Plácido Domingo called the extension great news for performing artists which “(…) reflects the important role performers play in success of songs by narrowing the gap between the protection offered to recorded performances and that offered to compositions.” IFPI CEO Frances Moore added that “The extension of the term of protection to 70 years (…) improves the conditions for investment in new talent.” In first statements U2 manager Paul McGuiness and ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus applauded to the EU decision.[1]

On the other hand, the extension is criticized by open access activists, but also by most of the academics in the field of intellectual property rights. In an open statement to the European Parliament the who-is-who of IP-law professors and economists, including Nobel laureats Sir James Mirrlees and Kenneth Arrow, opposed the copyright term extension as an ineffective and unnecessary extension of monopoly rights in 2008[2].

Thus, the question arises, what is the economic rational for such a term extension? What are arguments and counter-arguments and how they can be assessed by economic theory?