Digital continues to pump up the music

Though analogue fans may mourn the loss of physical mediums like CDs, going digital may have saved the industry, according to data by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).

Its chief executive Frances Moore says the move to digital is turning around the fortunes of the music industry, which is seeing its third year of growth after suffering a decline for 15 years.

IFPI’s latest figures show 8.1% revenue growth globally in 2017, with the biggest winner being streaming with a 41.1% increase, though downloads and physical sales suffered a dip of 20.5% and 5.4%, respectively.

Music revenue was divided into five categories: physical sales, streaming, digital downloads, performance rights and synchronised revenue.

Performing rights is the profit artistes make when others perform their music in public such as at concerts, or if a radio station or TV channel plays their music.

Synchronised revenue is earned when visual media like movies, advertisements and videogames use an artiste’s music.

globally, digital music via streaming and downloads accounted for more than half (54%) of the industry’s revenue, or about uS$9.4bil (RM38.28bil) in 2017.

Malaysian users too spend more on digital music compared to physical products, though streaming has yet to catch up with digital downloads.

Moore says the industry is still on the mend, making just 68.4% of what it used to at its peak back in 1999.

The rising revenues are mainly driven by the 176 million users with paid subscriptions globally – in 2017 alone, 64 million new users signed up for a subscription.

Though the industry’s revenue is recovering, this does not mean artistes themselves are making more money.

By going through labels and aggregators artiste could in reality be earning only a small percentage of the streaming profits.

Asked how much artistes are paid per stream, Spotify head of communications (Asia) Benjamin Chelliah declines to answer. he says Spotify does not engage musicians directly, as it only works with music labels and aggregators.

“There is a process. We trust the labels and aggregators to deal with the process and ensure that everything is legal and everyone gets paid,” he says, adding that Spotify is in contact with all local major and indie labels.

It has been reported that royalties average 0.397 cents (1.6sen) per stream as of 2018. According to The Trichordist, artistes’ rights blog, the best paying streaming sites in the united States are Napster at 1.682 cents (6.9 sen) per play, Tidal at 1.284 cents (5.2 sen), and Apple Music at 0.783 cents (3.2 sen).

Spotify places eighth in the list, though still well ahead of google’s YouTube which pays only 0.074 cents (0.3sen) per play.

however, pay rates could vary based on country and contract, meaning Malaysian artistes may be getting different rates.

Spotify also has the largest number of subscribers, meaning it may still pay more in total, if not per play.

End to piracy?

As Spotify celebrates its fifth anniversary in South-East Asia, it claims to have flattened the playing field and opened artistes to a world of paying listeners.

“Looking back to 2013, it was very messy with everyone downloading illegally, whether that was safe, accessible or even legal. In fact, 95% of digital music was downloaded illegally then,” says Chelliah.

Malaysia was one of the first countries in the region to get the service along with hong Kong and Singapore. In comparison, the Philippines got Spotify in 2014, Indonesia in 2016, Thailand in 2017, and Vietnam in 2018.

he reveals that 30% of Malaysians are using music streaming services and on average spend 148 minutes a day listening to Spotify. This snowballs into some 7.5 billion minutes of music listened or 2.9 billion songs played annually.

“When we first launched, listeners were looking at Spotify for pop music, thinking we just import music,” he says, adding that local listeners now also tune in to indie, K-pop and jazz.

In fact, K-pop fans make up one of the biggest groups, racking up over 1.4 billion hours of streaming, usually from official soundtracks of the latest dramas.

With over 35 million songs on the service, Spotify began creating playlists in 2015 to help listeners discover music based on commonAnd ly searched keywords like commuting, exercise and driving.

“Playlists are essentially sound tracking your life. Not just your personal life, but a country’s culture too,” says Chelliah, adding that each country has its own dedicated music editors to

curate playlists.

how many editors does Malaysia have? Just one.

Chelliah won’t reveal the music maestro’s identity, but he or she is usually from the industry or a former music journalist.

he says that this editor is not like a radio disc jockeys (DJ) who chooses what he or she believes to be hits.

“Music is more democratic now, the mainstream is defined by fans, the true listeners: they dictate what playlist is needed and what should be on the playlist,” he says.

users’ listening data highlights which songs are most popular according to genres or moods, and forms the pool of choices that editors construct a playlist from.

Local playlists include Malaysia Boleh! for the recent election, hazed & Confused for the hazy season and, of course, a festive playlist for each of Malaysia’s many holidays.

Some playlists are so popular they can boost the number of plays into the millions, like how the Early Noise and Rap Caviar playlists gave indie Malaysian musicians Tabitha Tan and AlexTBh their big breaks.

Talitha Tan’s most played song, Okay has been streamed 1.7 million times, while AlexTBh’s Stoop So Low has hit 7.66 million.

Chelliah says Spotify also gives musicians access to a well of data through the Spotify for Artists dashboard that lets musicians see who is listening to their music, where they’re from and even their age.

“This lets them know where their next concert should be or how to reach out to their fans.

“Spotify is a two sided market place: artist on one side, fans on the other, you need both to make it great,” he says.

Playlists are essentially sound tracking your life. Not just your personal life, but a country’s culture too. Benjamin Chelliah