1
Music Industry Study and Facts
The global music industry is a 50 billion-dollar business despite constant shifts in the way music is enjoyed by fans—music lovers are still here!
According to Nielsen, 2015:
The Year-end Music report recently released by Nielsen details an unprecedented music consumption pattern in the United States. Sales of albums in every format except one are down from 2015. Digital songs downloads are also down. Despite this, total music consumption went up by 3%. The reason is not far-fetched. The music business was overtaken by on-demand streaming. Not surprising, just long overdue.
On-demand audio streaming accounted for the largest share of total audio music consumption with a slice that consumed 38% of the pie. For the first time, on-demand audio streaming bested digital music sales. Overall music streams (audio and video) increased by 39.2% year-over-year. Audio streams which increased by a whopping 76.4% from 2015 to 2016 account for most of that gain. There was a 7.5% increase in Video streams.
Sales of albums and songs boozed up in contrast by 2016. Downloads of digital songs were down 25% from 2015. Album sales (CD, cassette, vinyl and digital) in its entirety were off by 16.7%. There was a drop in digital album sales by 20.1% and a drop in CD sales by 16.3%. The Mass market went down by 24.5% while chain stores, which nosedived by 21.4%, counted the biggest losses in terms of physical album sales.
The fancied album format remains the CDs accounting for approximately 52.3% of sales. The second most popular format is the digital with 41% of album sales followed closely by vinyl with 6.5% sales.
The music industry’s sole bright spot for sales in 2016 is the Vinyl LPs even when they accounted for a small proportion of album sales. Their sales increased by 10% from 11.9 million units sold in 2015 to 13.9 million units in 2016. There was an outstanding production of year-over-year increase in sales by Vinyl LPs for the 11th consecutive year.
The star of the music consumption show in 2016 was on-demand streaming. On-demand music streaming was measured by Nielsen through the combination of audio and video streams from Spotify, YouTube, Apple, Google Play, Amazon, Rhapsody Song, Tidal, Soundcloud, Xbox Music, Slacker, Tidal Video, Medianet, Aol Radio and Disciple.
431.7 billion music streams abound in 2016. That amounts to an average of about 1.2 billion streams per day or 49.3 million streams every hour. That’s roughly estimated as 3.7 streams per day for every man, woman and child in the US. There were 251.9 billion audio (690.1 million daily) and 179.9 billion video (492.9 million daily) streams in 2016, breaking out audio and video.
Money was continually raked in by the music industry in 2016 because the loss in sales was offset by income from subscription streaming services. A report by BuzzAngle states that on-demand streams from paid subscriptions increased 124% from 85.3 billion in 2015 to 191.4 billion in 2016. There was an increase of 14.3% by Ad-supported on-demand streams. Subscription accounts streams up to approximately 76% of on-demand audio streams.
Talk about the on-demand cat that got out of the bag in 2011 when Spotify launched in the US, growing into a lion that is now the king of the music industry jungle (Murnane, 2017)!
Music Lifestyle
According to Music 360—2015 report (Nielsen, 2015), Nielsen’s fourth annual study of US music listeners, 91% of the national population listens to music, spending more than 24 hours each week tuning into their favorite songs. While total listening figures are roughly the same as last year, how we access and engage with music is changing (Nielsen, 2015).
In looking at the report data, 75% of Americans listen to music online in a typical week, up nearly 12% from last year. And online listening trends are having a significant impact on our on-demand listening habits. While Americans streamed more than 164 billion on-demand tracks across audio and video platforms in 2014, they streamed 135 billion in the first half of 2015 alone—up more than 90% from the same period last year (Nielsen, 2015). And Americans’ music listening isn’t just becoming increasingly digital, it’s becoming more mobile. In fact, 44% report using smartphones to listen to music in a typical week, a 7% increase over last year, while listening on our desktop computers less (Nielsen, 2015).
Radio continues to be the number one source of music discovery in the United States, with 61% of respondents saying they find out about new music from AM/FM or satellite radio, a 7% increase over last year. Word of mouth is also important, particularly for teens: 65% say they discover new music through family and friends, well above the average of 45% (Nielsen, 2015).
Americans are also discovering more music at live events. 12% of respondents say they discover music through live events, up more than 70% from last year. Americans are so engrossed in live events that they now spend more than one-half of music-related expenditures on them each year, and 50% of Americans say they’ve attended a live event in the last year (Nielsen, 2015). And what would the music year be without festivals? Eleven percent of Americans claim to have attended a music festival in the past 12 months, with Millennials comprising 44% of all festival-goers. Most attendees choose festivals based on the lineup, and about two-thirds choose based on proximity to where they live and price of tickets (Nielsen, 2015).
Today’s Celebrity Culture
Celebrity culture is alive and well. 19% of people say that they would “give anything” to meet their favorite music artists, though exactly what that might be is anyone’s guess! Fans in the United States (33%), UK (32%) and Spain (30%) are the most obsessed with this idea, while consumers in China, Hong Kong and Hungary aren’t ready to do anything special to meet their favorite music stars. Only 7% each would even make an attempt, the lowest among all markets surveyed (Siemer & Associates, 2013).
16% were excited about the idea of going on weekend getaways with their favorite musical artists and fellow fans, including access to a few concerts during that time, but not everyone was impressed with the idea. Those indicating they were “very interested” in this were the Americans (44%) and Brits (39%), while only 2% of those in Hungary and 3% in Hong Kong would be interested (Siemer & Associates, 2013).
“The rise of artists’ own websites, along with their use of social media like blogs, Twitter and Facebook, have gotten music fans even closer to their favorite stars,” says Steve Garton, global head of media research for Synovate.
We’re also living in fame-obsessed times, so the media helps fuel the frenzy. However, in many eastern markets, while things like celebrity endorsements can work quite well, if done right, a certain amount of pragmatism sets in. People think, yes, my favorite singer is gorgeous and sings songs that capture my feelings now, but they’re not going to help me get a promotion in my job. In Hong Kong and China, there is a pop culture. But it remains a means to an end, not an end in its own right.
(Rise Artist, 2016)
When respondents were asked which music “extras” they’d be willing to pay for, their answers suggest that Western markets overall are more interested in paying for exclusive items such as access to exclusive unreleased MP3s, members-only web content, private gigs, etc.
Americans topped the charts as most willing to pay for more access to and information about their favorite music stars. More than two-thirds of Americans say they’d pay for the following: text alerts about upcoming shows and tickets availability (70%); access to “members only” exclusive Internet gigs (67%); a “queue jumper” feature, including guest list entry and an upgrade for “all access” to areas (67%); access to a “members only” section on an artist’s website (67%).
According to Bob Michaels, Senior Vice President of Consumer & Business Insights for Synovate in the US, “Americans are willing to pay for these ‘rights,’ because they want to be part of the inner circle. While anyone can go online and get a song, paying for unreleased music or special access to the member-only section of an artist’s website makes fans feel that they ‘know’ the artist and are getting something that only really dedicated fans have. It’s like having a front row seat every day.”
Mobile Music
The advent of MTV in 1981 ushered in a whole new way for musical artists to connect with their fan base, and TV still remains a key medium for consumers to watch music videos. But the computer and mobile phone are becoming strong contenders. When asked how they watched music videos over the past month, more than half of those surveyed (57%) say they watched them on TV, while 46% watched them on the computer. Another 16% used their mobile phones, which was highest in India (38%), Philippines (23%) and China (20%).
Mick Gordon, Managing Director for Synovate in India, said:
It’s not surprising that 38% of Indians have watched music videos on their mobile. A fully loaded mobile phone is a basic in India—the market is growing phenomenally, adding millions of mobile phone subscribers every year.
73% of Indians polled say they have watched music videos on TV. In India, it’s still the Bolly wood music that is most popular; ditto for music videos. Lately we’ve seen some migration of Hindi pop stars into Bollywood music as standalone albums of Indian pop stars do not have the wide-reaching acceptance that Bollywood does. And among the youth and certain urban pockets, western music is very popular. That accounts for the popularity of MTV and Channel 5 in India.
China, at 16%, ranked the highest globally for “paid for music apps on my mobile phone,” compared to only 8% of people globally. This activity was also popular in Korea (13%), India (9%) and the UK (8%). The global average for “paid to download a music track to my computer” was 14%, topped by Korea (49%) and the UK (26%).
Robert Alleyne, Research Manager for Synovate in the UK, said:
The scores of less than one in ten people globally paying for music apps on their mobile is not really surprising because, despite mobile capturing many headlines recently, penetration is still relatively low. That said, I would expect this proportion to grow over time. While older mobile users may not be so open to downloading music and music apps via mobile, young tech-savvy consumers have done this for some time now. And as gadgets such as the iPhone reduce the need for people to carry separate music players and mobiles it will continue to grow.
Licensing and ownership of mobile music is also important to bear in mind. If I download a song on my mobile, do I then have the right to transfer that to my PC, burn it to a CD, or transfer it to my MP3 player? The vast majority of consumers would believe they had the right to do so; however, many of the licensing agreements restrict what people do with the music they download using their phones.
Although I do expect the numbers on this to grow in the UK, I would envisage a faster growth in people streaming music on their mobiles. If I can stream any song I want while on the move, why would I need to own it?
(Synovate, 2016)
Downloading and Streaming
Despite what some may think, the record store is not dead. Even with the rise in digital music, many still want to own music in its physical form. In the past month, almost one-third of people bought a music CD at a store, while 11% purchased one online. While this is good news for music retailers, there is still an underbelly of counterfeit CDs and illegal downloading that physical and online retailers are competing with. The music industry has made considerable effort to attach stigmas to illegal music downloading, which may be working in some markets.
11% of people surveyed globally confessed to purchasing bootleg/counterfeit/pirated music CDs, topped by the Philippines (41%), Brazil (21%) and China (14%) (Synovate, 2016).
Almost one-third (29%) admitted to downloading a song from the Internet without paying for it. This is highest in China (68%), Korea (60%) and Spain (46%). And 19% used a file-sharing program, topped again in China (37%) and followed by Spain (31%) (Synovate, 2016).
Robert Alleyne, Research Manager for Synovate in the UK, said:
For a long time downloading illegally was easier and faster than downloading legally but not anymore. Consumers have taken to these new legal services. They don’t want to break the law; however, with credit card-only payment methods (remember, a large proportion of music sales, especially singles, are made by those under 16 who cannot use a credit card) and DRM—digital rights management/formats, meaning the song I downloaded in Microsoft’s music store could not be played on my iPod—some consumers were almost forced to download illegally.
(Synovate, 2016)
Jesus Caldeiro, head of client relationships for Synovate in Brazil, said:
The belief of artists’ rights is not as entrenched in Brazil as in other markets. Instead, music is perceived to be a common good, an intrinsic part of Brazilian identity and therefore belonging to everyone. Because of this, Brazilian artists themselves are being very active in promotion of free sharing of music via creative common licenses and other models.
(Synovate, 2016)
Most people purchase their music legally, and legal mobile downloads are beginning to take off. 8% of consumers globally have paid for music apps on their phone, rising as high as 16% in China and 13% in Korea, while 14% globally have paid to download a full-length mobile music track. Yet again, Korea (30%) and China (27%) lead this globally (Synovate, 2016).
Darryl Andrew, CEO for Synovate in China, said:
In China, we conducted a study a few years ago on digital music. From that we learned consumers were literally asking businesses to help them get access to music via their mobile phone… and guess what, that is exactly what China Mobile did. They added this to their service options, i.e., had customers pay a few Yuan more on their mobile phone bill enabling them to download music. Smart!
(Synovate, 2016)
Mick Gordon, managing director of Synovate in India, said:
Indians are clearly passionate about music, but downloading a full song on their mobile phone is still a low 13%, and online music downloads are just 6% due to lower levels of Internet penetration in Indian households. Buying a music CD in a physical store is still more acceptable and enjoyable to Indians.
(Synovate, 2016)
Music streaming is also a big fan favorite as one in five people globally, topped by Korea at 60%, streamed their favorite songs in the past month from the growing number of legal music streaming services, such as Hype Machine, Seeqpod, Imeem, We7 and Spotify.
Musical Merchandising
Leveraging an artist’s current reputation and image, or developing a new one, through merchandising can mean big money for the artist and the companies working with them. An overall 16% of people globally bought a live music/concert DVD in the past 12 months, topped by the UK at 25%, while 16% bought ringtones/wallpaper via their mobile, topped by Koreans at 66% (Synovate, 2016).
Even though just 11% globally say they bought clothing and other merchandise with musical artists on it over the past month, this rose to an astonishingly high 23% in Korea.
According to Soojeong Min, research project manager for Synovate in Korea:
In general, Koreans love music. This goes back to our history of having “Nodongyo,” a song for working. Our ancestors sang while farming to forget about the harshness of work. So, I guess our love for song and singing started from then; it’s kind of a national heritage.
Also, we have “Norebang,” which is similar to karaoke, and it is very much a part of Korean culture. I’m guessing the reason Korean adults like music and singing so much is that we don’t have many other types of “playing aspects” to our culture, such as card games and board games and barbeques, for adults in our culture. In addition, our high Internet penetration allows Koreans easy access to download songs at fairly low prices.
(Synovate, 2016)
Advertising Is OK
So what about all the advertisements shown on music downloading and streaming websites? They’re no problem at all for most consumers, especially if they offer something in return. 44% of people globally are happy to view or listen to ads, if it lets them download free music, while 41% are OK with viewing ads if they can get access to free music streaming (Synovate, 2016).
In fact, many are even willing to share information about themselves to gain access to free music. Almost one quarter of people globally would provide personal information in exchange for access to free music downloads, topped by the UK (38%), and Australia and Korea (37% each). Most hesitant would be those in Hungary (90% are unwilling) and Hong Kong (89%) (Synovate, 2016).
An overall 23% say they would share their personal information for access to free music streaming, topped by Australia (36%), India (35%), Philippines and the UK (31% each).
The markets most unwilling to share their personal information in exchange for free streaming were Spain and Hong Kong (88% each) (Synovate, 2016).
Steve Garton, global head of media research for Synovate, said:
I think this shows how careful listeners in these markets are—and clearly some already know how to get music for free anyway. There is concern about what will happen to their private information if they give it to a third party, so companies need to be really considerate about privacy and explicit with consumers on how they plan to use the information.
(Synovate, 2016)
Figure 1.2 Competitive Pricing
Evaluating Your Fans, Artists and Overall Brand
Product endorsements and promotions/competitions that feature musical artists are one of the quickest ways to establish an artist’s brand, and the study indicates that consumers support this.
Almost one-third (30%) of people globally look out for competitions or promotions that feature their favorite artists and bands (topped by China at 49%), while 43% agree that “If brand sponsorship is the only way an artist can make money, they think they should do it (even if they have to compromise)” (Synovate, 2016).
Garton said:
It seems like Hong Kong has the most committed fans in the world in one respect. They are the highest group, at 59%, that say they’ll support their favorite performers who use brand sponsorship, if that is the only way these artists can make money.
(Synovate, 2016)
However, 47% of people globally don’t think this is a good idea, with Hungarians the most opposed, at 63%, to the possible suggestion of musical artists “selling out”(Synovate, 2016).
Respondents were also asked if they are more likely to buy a product that is endorsed by their favorite artist/band. Overall, almost one-third of people globally (31%) agreed with this, topped by Korea at 52% and China at 38% (Synovate, 2016).
Darryl Andrew, CEO for Synovate in China, states that “Chinese consumers are always actively seeking brands associated to music icons and suggests for marketers to focus in on celebrity endorsements in raising the profile of your brand” (Synovate, 2016).
There is also a bit of ‘Pavlov’ conditioning involved. Consumers in China and across the world expect to see celebrities endorse and promote products, and in many cases they lap it up—they love the exposure for their favorite pop icon. So, it’s a no-brainer, but marketers still have to know what consumers’ hot buttons are.
(Synovate, 2016)
Current Trend Predictions in Today’s Music Market
What should be expected in the upcoming years with various changes and trends in the music industry? This is a multi-dimensional question, given that the music industry delivers outstanding changes almost daily; despite that, this is a question that must be answered in order for professionals to chart courses moving forward. The mainstream music industry is usually viewed by publications territorially, not globally even though the industry is global. Below are music industry predictions by Martin F. Frascogna, an Entertainment and International Attorney:
1. Stakes Will Be Held in Artists by Companies
The adoption of the Apple advertising model by most companies who use relatively unknown musicians in product campaigns will lead to a change in partnership expectations. This, in turn, will lead to companies expecting 360° deals just like the labels. If Nike, for example, makes the collective decision to break an artist by dropping their tunes in an upcoming commercial, Nike will now expect to have a percentage stake in digital and physical sales for X amount of time. It’s an all-locked-up partnership now that businesses clearly understand the parallel between advertising and music (Music Globalization Report, 2011).
2. Major Labels Will Adapt to Industry Changes
The present adaption to industry changes by major labels will continue. Apple, Spotify and Amazon along with other rivals will be the change agents. The new creations are bent on making it clear to labels that digital music and the vehicles of delivery are not a fad. Because of this, you ignore apps at your own peril. Control is retained by those who hold the money; and unfortunately (or fortunately), major labels still control the money. This means their funds will be redirected, fighting digital warfare will stop, and major money will begin to be pumped into app and other tech development to break their roster. Expect more interface between gaming and music using Top 40 artists (Music Globalization Report, 2011).
3. Shelf Space With Big Box Retailers (Reduced)
Ample reductions to their physical music shelf space by Walmart, Best Buy and Target have already be made. This will not stop. Instead of carrying the standard Top 40 albums, trends indicate the big box stores will endorse only exclusive partnerships and carry heritage acts who have a long sales history (Music Globalization Report, 2011).
4. Big Box Retailers Outside of the United States (Increased)
Australian, Asian and some remote European stores dominate physical sales as buying trends for US retailers taper off to low levels. The reason is simple. Several contributing economic factors abound, but it primarily points to the fact that the vital relationship between nontraditional retailers and musicians has yet to explode in overseas territories. This will lead to a continuation of traditional sales methods (i.e., big box stores) (Music Globalization Report, 2011).
5. Revival of Artist Development
The label vengeance against poor industry figures has historically begun to invest less and less into developing musicians in order to sustain long-term careers. You, therefore, hear quick-famed one-hit wonders and/or mainstream artists only on the radio. Labels will leap into the breach by increasing their annual budgets with the help of new corporate sponsor partnerships. Labels will once again focus on developing sustainable careers instead of one-hit wonders by investing in new technology and other nontraditional marketing methods. A&R (artist and repertoire) will also, likewise, become cognate, which will lead to an increase in music industry jobs (Music Globalization Report, 2011).
6. Mainstream Impacts Will Be Generated by New Genres
By taking sunken, underground beats and spinning them into mainstream success through licensing contracts, the UK has turned out to be the latest genre-maker. This may not be historic at the moment, but it sure does indicate there is a potential trend to accept non-mainstream genres for advertising campaigns (Music Globalization Report, 2011).
7. The European Market Will Even Out
Musicians of European extract have made the largest dip in the global market. European-bred artists make up over a quarter of the group that now controls the Billboard charts like American groups once did. European musicians have more crossover appeal in the States, in most cases, than in their homelands. However, year-end statistics revealed that markets evened out, meaning European musicians are gaining popularity in their home countries because of their success abroad. What this means is that European musicians no longer need American fans to be successful, so touring and marketing efforts will remain close to home (Music Globalization Report, 2011).
8. Traditional Managers Will Have to Adapt or Get Weeded Out
Managers and their models will also be forced to adjust just as labels have been forced to adapt. How managers manage groups, break bands, pitch musicians to labels and generate exposure, also known as management models, must readjust.
The reason is not far-fetched. This worked when groups wanted to sign with labels. The progression was visible—obtain a local/regional following, secure radio airplay in that given area, then use these statistics to negotiate with labels. Presently, nobody wants a romance with labels. Musicians have become their own labels. Managers must come to terms with this. Getting an act signed used to be the management payoff. Now managers must find different revenue streams to be successful (Music Globalization Report, 2011).
9. Entertainment Attorneys Must Adapt
It’s remarkable that anyone can be more hardheaded than label executives, but entertainment attorneys take the cake. Attorneys have somehow figured out they could continue charging the same astronomical hourly rates given the economic landscape, and further, musicians today feel as if they don’t even need attorneys. Undeniably, artists need entertainment attorneys on their creative team more so than everyone else, especially one who understands the new industry playing field and is able to work within a given budget (Music Globalization Report, 2011).
10. The Australian Market Continued Dominance
The music world was dominated by Australia closing out 2011 and this trend is expected to be maintained in the upcoming years. With a strong indie label market, solid distribution outlets and a fanbase that goes bananas for live music, Australia will further separate themselves from the flailing world economy (Music Globalization Report, 2011).
11. Canada Gathers Momentum
One of the next big markets is predictably Canada. This is because the American music market is leveling out in terms of accepting international musicians; labels have yet to make a solid spring into actually signing international acts. With this said, Americans will fill this void very conservatively. In contracts with international acts that labels can’t afford to groom, American labels will look to their neighbors up north. Unfortunately for many Americans, Canada is considered “foreign” (musically speaking) and American fans have a fascinating attraction to Canadians. Blend that with unique radio pockets, talented musicians and potentially strong tour venues due to their close proximity to the American border, and you’ve got a stew of success for the upcoming years (Music Globalization Report, 2011).
12. Indie Label Opportunity Matures
The focus of all music companies will be on streamlining their efforts. This entails smarter processes, innovative policies, and keeping low overheads. From the onset, independent labels typically have had to function with these elements in place; their ability to stay adroit will allow for continued growth opportunity. As business partnerships continue to thicken between content owners and brands, smaller labels will be able to adapt quickly and profit at lower revenue thresholds. This creates a strategic advantage that, if managed properly, will see upward trends on indie label balance sheets (Feinberg, 2011).
13. Critical Mass Reached by Streaming Services
Consumers seem to accept renting over owning content. Companies such as Spotify and Rhapsody have dominated this sector of the market and are capitalizing on it. With utmost good timing, savvy marketing and clear messaging that crisply communicates the benefits, a streaming music provider can easily blaze a trail in this race (Feinberg, 2011).
14. “Free” Continues Evolving
“Free” has unarguably been a highly debated concept. One side states that the awareness and data capture free can be converted to sales over time. This is a threat to the opposition who feels that free devalues content and sets the wrong precedent. The truth may lie somewhere in the middle, but it is clear that with the volume of free content (legal and otherwise) one has to be giving something away simply to stay competitive. There is nothing new about this line of thinking, but it has finally suffused the companies and artists at the top. The majors and superstars have relaxed their policies on free (especially when paired with data capture) and that trend will continue. This will happen in parallel with efforts to find techniques to convert free to paying—a critical element to make this model work (Feinberg, 2011).
15. The Essential Toolkit Thickens
There is an almost endless supply of new technology and techniques for digital marketers to try. Despite this, many have either faded away or a best-of-breed front-runner has emerged over the past 18 months. We will see this trend continue in the upcoming years as it becomes clearer which technologies and techniques provide real value. In years past, it became easy (and essential) to track true performance metrics; marketers now have multiple tools to evaluate effectiveness based on conversion, data capture, sentiment and engagement. This analysis is helping define where to focus efforts—and that is helping digital music marketing become a more precise practice (Feinberg, 2011).
Topspin, Bandcamp, Nimbit, Rockdex, NextBigSound, Rootmusic, SoundCloud, Buzzdeck, Artist-data, Mozes and the ever-essential Google Analytics are companies with momentum in the digital marketing toolkit space. Let’s also not forget the mainstays—Twitter, Facebook and email-marketing platforms such as ExactTarget, Mailchimp and Constant Contact (Feinberg, 2011).
16. The Debate About Net Neutrality Continues
The net neutrality discussion (particularly at the government level) has continued unabatedly and the positions and arguments haven’t changed much. The FCC approved rules that enable mobile carriers to regulate application use on December 15, 2011. Many members of Congress have already stated they will fight this by creating a new law. This debate is still far from over; expect heated discussion all year long (Feinberg, 2011).
The music industry is still building strategies and systems to forestall the steep declines it is suffering from. Innovation and experimentation are the key words moving forward. Most people have accepted the fact that we cannot force consumers to behave as they did in the past. Instead, we must seek to better understand our audience, foster stronger communication and be willing to take leaps of faith on a regular basis (Feinberg, 2011).
TV Trends
Long-term stability and growth in US entertainment discretionary spending depends heavily on the development of new ways of delivering films, television shows and music to consumers. Successful new delivery systems generally should spur growth in demand for these types of entertainment products from distributors. Although cable television and home video have substantially increased both the demand for and the economic value of programming, these delivery systems are relatively mature. More than 80% of US homes subscribe to cable or satellite TV services (Stephens, 2016).
Longer Hours
Collectively, in this age of telecommuting and the home office, as we progress steadily wayward of the 9-to-5 employment status quo, television executives have recognized and sought to exploit non-conventional time slots, finding a profitable viewership base even in late night hours. Conventional wisdom brought about the term prime time—7:00 pm to 10:00 pm—assuming the dated event of the 6:00 pm dinner hour. The prime-time slot, once a finite line, was the revenue jewel of television broadcasting. The slot is still king, though society, cable broadcasting and the $1.99 movie rental have substantially blurred the line (Stephens, 2016).
Airtime Availability
With thousands of national, regional and local television stations, and with extended programming hours, airtime is readily available. The growth of cable television, satellites and super-stations has brought television broadcasting a long way since the time when CBS, NBC and ABC had predominant exclusivity of the airwaves. Cable advertising networks, once the home of sometimes less than glossy, municipal or regional commercial spots, now reach millions of potential consumers and are replete with major advertisers and national ad campaign spots. The end result is that smaller advertisers have an abundance of options and available airtime with national consumer viewership. This has changed the face and scope of television advertising dramatically (Stephens, 2016).
Coverage
Some 98% of all US households have at least one television set. In this electronic age, TV has surpassed all other media as our primary source of information and entertainment. Television is no longer “just for entertainment”; it hasn’t been for quite some time. Even those US consumers who previously watched very little television, preferring instead the intimacy or knowledge exuded from a good book or the evening paper, now find it difficult to ignore the tube. There are enormous amounts of quality, informative and content-rich hours of television programming available for their discerning consumption. Television simply covers it all in this day and age (Stephens, 2016).
New Trends/Platforms of Music Video Promotion
Music videos have become a valuable promotional tool for the music industry. At a time when television viewing continues to rise in the US, people somehow are finding time to watch more Internet videos as well, most likely at the same time. According to Adam Lella of comScore, Inc., some 182 million Americans watched nearly 41 billion online videos in May, up 5% from the previous month, according to newly released data from ComScore Video Metrix (Lella, 2013).
According to Dawn Chmielewski in an article for the LA Times (2013), Google sites—primarily YouTube—ranked as the top online video property in the US, with nearly 155 million viewers clicking in. That’s twice the number of people who watched videos on Facebook (60 million) and nearly triple AOL’s video viewers (54 million), according to ComScore. When it comes sheer numbers of video views, Chmielewski points out that Google dominated there as well. Google and YouTube generated almost 14 billion videos viewed in May, ComScore reported. AOL ranked a distant second with 839 million views, followed by Facebook with 727 million (Chmielewski, 2013).
Vevo has replaced MTV among most viewers, or should I say the new generation. Chmielewski states that among YouTube channels, Vevo continues to cement its reputation as the MTV for the new generation—with some 50 million viewers watching 561 million music videos in May 2013 (Chmielewski, 2013).
According to Chmielewski (2013):
Internet videos provide fleeting moments of diversion for a broad swath of the connected population. Almost 85% of the US Internet audience watched online videos in May. The average length of an online video, about 5.6 minutes, may reveal something about the nature of our attention spans.
While platforms like YouTube, Vimeo and Ustream (live streaming) are the most popular video platforms for musicians and recording artists, artists need to examine other platforms such as 45 Sound, Cull TV and Vydia in saturating their brand into the marketplace (Soso Active, 2012).
- 45 Sound uses its state-of-the-art editing technology to transform poor audio sound to studio quality. The platform is user-friendly, in which all you have to do is upload your video and audio in which they will transform your video. The service is free (Soso Active, 2012).
- Cull TV is what MTV used to be before reality TV became so popular. Cull TV is a great platform that promotes videos by breaking indie artists through their YouTube and Facebook timeline integration. This platform is well designed and extremely easy to use. Just sign in via your Facebook account and you will automatically receive a recommended video list based on your and your friends’ Facebook activity. Cull is always looking to partner with indie artists in promoting via their online platform. Cull TV is poised to be the MTV of the online generation.
- Vydia helps artists of all levels monetize and distribute their visual content in one easy-to-use platform. This is by far my favorite platform for video content in reaching the masses worldwide! You can target MTV Jams, BET, Music Choice and more and in addition choose specific destinations as the US, Europe, Australia or Japan, etc. This platform lets you generate revenue for your audio files on YouTube and VEVO using their audio to video creation tool (Soso Active, 2012).
YouTube (the Ultimate Video Promotion Platform)
As everything else is changing in the music industry, so is the music video promotions platform. Your next stop: YouTube.com.
YouTube Stats now include how often videos are viewed in different geographic regions and how popular they are relative to all videos in that market over a given period of time. The lifecycle of a video is tracked, including how long it takes for a video to become popular, and what happens to video views as popularity peaks.
YouTube reaches 4 billion video views daily, up 25% from May 2011 according to DailyTech.com.
YouTube is a video-sharing website, initially created and owned by three former PayPal employees in 2005, but was purchased by Google in 2006 for $1.65 billion. It currently operates as a subsidiary of Google and offers a wide range of user-generated video content.
Since the explosion of mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, YouTube has gained some serious viewership. In fact, Google recently announced that the site streams 4 billion online videos every day.
YouTube has been moving up in the Internet video ranks by adding 100 original programming deals. Even the talent on the site is being taken seriously, with some making six-figure incomes.
YouTube Statistics
As of right now, YouTube has more than 1 billion users registered on its website. This number makes up 33% of all Internet users worldwide. YouTube already has over 80 million videos uploaded to their website and each day, many millions of hours of video are watched on there. These videos have gotten billions of views and the number only keeps growing. The average demographic for YouTube users, whether they’re on a mobile phone or normal laptop, is 18 to 49 years of age. In fact, this age group watches YouTube far more than any television network on cable in the United States (YouTube, 2016).
A recent statistic actually showed that the average YouTube watcher now spends roughly 60% more hours each year watching videos than they did in previous years. This increase in YouTube video watching continues to grow as viewing videos becomes easier with mobile devices. Since March of 2014, there have been 40% more users per year on YouTube each day. Also, year after year, there are 3 times more YouTube users visiting the homepage of the website when they first arrive on there.
A study from 2016 shows that 80% of all the views on YouTube are coming from users who are not in the United States. Since YouTube created localized versions of their website in over 70 countries, this has certainly helped increase its viewership. YouTube also has its website content available in 76 various languages. This makes it accessible to roughly 95% of the total worldwide population which uses the Internet (YouTube, 2016).
Mobile
People primarily go on YouTube and spend a lot of time watching videos per session. When they use their mobile device to watch videos, they are spending over 40 minutes on average per session. This has a year-over-year increase of over 50%.
As for the number of hours per session on mobile, the year-over-year increase is 100%. In all, over 50% of YouTube users are watching videos on their mobile devices. The mobile revenue generated on YouTube has a year-over-year that doubled (Perez, 2016).
Promotional Strategies of Music Videos
1. Get on YouTube
Getting on YouTube should always be in the form of a professional video or as simply well-done footage of one of your live performances. (It’s not as difficult as you think. Hire a film student to shoot your video for you, as it will cost just a fraction of the price of a professional director yet produce some good results.) Ensure it’s of a high enough quality or the effort could actually amount to nothing for you. Content is key, but good content is everything (Moore, 2013). Poor quality is anathema these days. Even iPhones with their amazing video features should allow you to put together an impressive HD live video. Do you know of a new movie coming out that has gained a lot of buzz? Try posting clips of the movie set to one of your best songs. Quite a number of bands take this approach in setting their own music to clips of upcoming films. A thousand new listens and many new fans are often the end result. Ensure you build those relationships as well. Other similar sounding bands and music outlets should be commented upon. Favorite their videos and sign up for their channels. Always be building your network! (Moore, 2013)
2. Start Up Your Own YouTube Channel
A great way to attract people to your music, and to create and expand a thriving community, is to have your own YouTube channel. You can add your favorite videos by others within your YouTube channel. As those videos are viewed, your channel becomes visible, this translates to the fact that YouTube users are able to click through to see what else your channel has to offer. This is a perfect reason to expand your brand (Moore, 2013).
3. YouTube Channel Distribution
The website www.Blanktv.com, which caters to rock, punk, alternative and metal music videos, is one of the most popular curators, amongst others, who have a YouTube channel. Curators re-upload artists’ music videos to their own YouTube account, leading to many more views for the artist as a result. YouTube channels are quite far-reaching, and it would take some searching to find them. Searching terms such as independent music, music videos, unsigned as well as genre terms like metal, alternative and hip hop, while using the channel filter is a good start. The more you show up within YouTube, the more potential for your music to be bounced around and to show up in search results (Moore, 2013).
4. Optimize and Tag
A proper label and tag on your YouTube video is key. When it comes to the impartial YouTube’s search function, accuracy is more important than hype. The video title, description and tags should ideally contain repeat words, with the band name appearing in all three. Just a few comments are permitted on YouTube, so remember to include everything relevant to your video that people may search for, even similar bands that appear in your bio, for example (Moore, 2013). Don’t also forget to include your full website’s URL, sales page and contact information in the info section, as well as including your full bio and band information. A detailed description of your YouTube video is a big part of how people find you (not just on YouTube, but on Google as well) and how fast your video goes viral, but most bands skip this step. Being thorough with your title, video information and tagging is called “optimizing your metadata” (Moore, 2013).
5. Vimeo
Vimeo describes itself as: “a respectful community of creative people who are passionate about sharing the videos they make. We provide the best tools and highest quality video in the universe.” It’s apt. Vimeo has long been a hub for artists and video directors, and it’s generally free of much of the low-quality distractions that pollute YouTube’s search results (Moore, 2013). Their moderators also actively keep a close eye on the comments for anything offensive or out-of-line, so the community remains generally sanitized and free of excessive shenanigans. Channels and groups within Vimeo are quite easy to search for, and communicating with the users in charge is also easy. Admirably, Vimeo has member forums where you can get involved and cross-promote with others. Basic accounts allow up to 500 MB of storage (Moore, 2013).
6. Muzu TV
Muzu.tv is an Irish website where people actively seek out independent music videos. It features music videos from artists the world over. It has quite an active following and also pays artists 50% of ad revenue on their content. That’s a novel idea (Moore, 2013).
7. Promoting Music Video Through Blogs
This point is a clear one, but music blogs don’t just review albums. Typically, they rarely review albums in contrast to other things. Chances are you will see more music videos than anything else whenever you visit just about any music blog. In fact, it would be a challenge to find a music blog that didn’t post music videos (Moore, 2013). Therefore, saying you don’t know where your music video could be promoted is akin to saying you can’t find the Internet. Because people are more visually focused now than ever before, a music video is not only essential to have; it should be the biggest part of your promotional strategy. Spending two hours writing an in-depth review of your album is harder for a blogger than posting your music video embed code. Give bloggers the choice. Most video views for new artists being discovered happen from blog exposure versus just being seen on YouTube (Moore, 2013).
8. DMDS
The highest-quality new music and music videos are delivered by DMDS Music. DMDS is a trailblazer amongst music distribution companies and is used by professionals for music promotion, radio promotion and music video distribution. It helps in promoting your music and videos to broadcasters, radio programmers, journalists and other industry influencers anywhere in the world. The starting cost is around $150 and above per station, per a one-time submission. DMDS Manager App can also be used to upload broadcast-ready video files and deliver to streaming sites, video pools and TV broadcasters like MTV, VH1, BET, MuchMusic, etc. via their preferred submission service (Moore, 2013).
9. Vydia
Vydia is probably one of my favorite platforms for promoting your music videos in various networks such as MTV, BET, Music Choice, VH1 and others. In addition, this platform can get your video on closed circuit televisions in food courts, fitness centers and hundreds of retail locations. Vydia is the ultimate one-stop for music video distribution (Vydia, 2016).
Through a simple a DIY-style format, you can select from over 30 different television, online, on-demand networks, and retail outlets to submit music videos to. Keep in mind, they cannot guarantee that your video will get airplay at every network you submit it to; however, using this platform gives you the best possible chance. One major plus is that every video submitted to the major networks through this system will be viewed, considered and given feedback either way. Costs per each submission start at $20. I love the fact it is à la carte, in letting me pick and choose which network to use (Moore, 2013).
10. MondoTunes
MondoTunes offers a one-time fee of $249.99 per music video for video distribution. Are you getting paid for your video streams and views? Most artists reach one or two sites without receiving any royalties. With the fee of $249.99 per music video submission, MondoTunes gets your music video on iTunes, Vevo, YouTube, Myspace, Muzu.TV, Vidzone and more! Get paid for every download and stream! No monthly or annual fees (MondoTunes, 2016).
References
Chmielewski, D. (2013). Americans Watched 41 Billion Online Videos in May. latimes.com. Retrieved 27 September 2016, from www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-americans-watched-41-billion-online-videos-in-may-20130614-story.html
Feinberg, J. (2011). 6 Predictions for the Music Industry in 2011—MediaShift. MediaShift. Retrieved 27 September 2016, from http://mediashift.org/2011/01/6-predictions-for-the-music-industry-in-2011018/
Lella, A. (2013). comScore Releases May 2013 U.S. Online Video Rankings. comScore, Inc. Retrieved 27 September 2016, from www.comscore.com/Insights/Press-Releases/2013/6/comScore-Releases-May-2013-US-Online-Video-Rankings
MondoTunes. (2016). Music Distribution Pricing and Services | Cost Selling Music Online. Old.mondotunes.com. Retrieved 27 September 2016, from http://old.mondotunes.com/pricing-and-services/
Moore, J. (2013). Self-Promote and Distribute Your Music Video. Independent Music Promotions. Retrieved 27 September 2016, from www.independentmusicpromotions.com/self-promote-distribute-music-video-if-must/
Murnane, K. (2017). The US Music Industry Crossed a Threshold in 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2017, from www.forbes.com/sites/kevinmurnane/2017/01/18/the-us-music-industry-passed-a-milestone-in-2016/#73acce6140da
Music Globalization. (2011). 11 Music Predictions for 2011. Musicglobalization.com. Retrieved 27 September 2016, from http://musicglobalization.com/2011/01/03/11-music-predictions-for-2011/
Nielsen. (2015). Music 360—2015 Highlights. Nielsen.com. Retrieved 27 September 2016, from www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/reports/2015/music-360-2015-highlights.html
Perez, S. (2016). YouTube Gets Its Own Social Network with the Launch of YouTube Community. TechCrunch. Retrieved 27 September 2016, from https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/13/youtube-gets-its-own-social-network-with-the-launch-of-youtube-community/
Rise Artist. (2016). About Us. Riseartists.com. Retrieved 27 September 2016, from http://riseartists.com/
Siemer & Associates. (2013). Digital Music Industry Report. Retrieved from www.siemer.com/research/
Soso Active. (2012). 3 Music Video Platforms Every Musician Should Know About. SoSoActive.com. Retrieved 27 September 2016, from www.sosoactive.com/3-music-video-platforms-every-musician-should-know-about/
Stephens, M. (2016). History of Television—Mitchell Stephens. Nyu.edu. Retrieved 27 September 2016, from www.nyu.edu/classes/stephens/History%20of%20Television%20page.htm
Synovate. (2016). Synovate Survey: One Third of Americans Would “Give Anything” to Meet Their Music Idols; Many Ok with Sharing Personal Info for Free Music Downloads: Synovate. Pitchengine.com. Retrieved 27 September 2016, from https://pitchengine.com/pitches/6435afd1-6d73-4816-90a8-b2235f33712f
Vydia. (2016). Music Video Submissions - Powered by Vydia. A Music Video Company-Submit Music Videos to All the Major Networks. Music Video Promotion Company—Submit to MTV, Jams, BET, YouTube and More. Retrieved 27 September 2016, from www.musicvideosubmissions.com/about-us-2/
YouTube. (2016). Statistics—YouTube. Youtube.com. Retrieved 27 September 2016, from www.youtube.com/yt/press/en-GB/statistics.html