The recorded music market in the US, 2000-2014

2014 seems to be the watershed year in the recorded music business in the US. According to the recently published sales figures (shipment value) of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the revenue of US $1.87bn from music streaming (SoundExchange distributions as well as subscription & ad-supported streaming) accounted for 41.4 percent of the digital music sales. Whereas music streaming revenue increased by 30 percent in 2014, digital album sales declined for the first time by 6.7 percent to US $1.16bn and digital singles’ sales by 10.2 percent to US $1.41bn. Additionally, the CD has become a by-product with a market share of just 27.4 percent (US $1.86bn). CD sales again decreased by 12.7 percent in 2014. All in all, digital music sales accounted for 66.5 percent of the US $6.78bn overall recorded music sales (except synchronization royalties). The total recorded music revenue slightly decreased by 0.4 percent compared to 2013.

 

In the following long-term analysis of the recorded music market in the US, the digitization process in past fourteen years is also highlighted as well as the tremendous change in the digital music market segment.

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International Journal of Music Business Research – April 2012, vol. 1, no. 1

One might wonder if there is a need for an academic journal on the music business. Several high-profile trade publications on the music business are published regularly and in the torrent of academic journals one can find titles that focus on popular music, the creative industries, cultural economics and arts management. Nevertheless, there is a gap for a publication wholly dedicated to the academic research of music business and industry topics. The International Journal of Music Business Research (IJMBR) tries to fill this gap by providing a new platform for publication of articles on the phenomena of the music economy from different scientific perspectives.

The first issue of the IJMBR reflects a wide range of music business research topics that fit within the scope of the journal’s remit. In a theoretical piece, Patrik Wikström argues that the economic value created from recorded music is increasingly based on context rather than on ownership and that the focus of music distribution should shift from download and streaming to contextual models of music experience. The second paper is contributed by Pinie Wang, who highlights, in a historical analysis, the complex inter-relationship between the US media, advertising and music industries. Martin Kretschmer then addresses his contribution to the recent EU-copyright term extension for sound recordings, proposing that copyright interests should be transferable only for an initial term of 10 years, after which they will revert to the creator. This should lead to a remarkable decrease in orphaned work and should foster creativity and innovation.

Click here for the first issue of the International Journal of Music Business Research (IJMBR)

If you want to submit an article for publication in the IJMBR please send it to: music.business.research@gmail.com