In today's CMU Daily: Luminate's 2023 stats; BPI CEO Jo Twist; Bauer local radio stations; AI updates + approved and industry one liners.

CMU's virtual masterclass Music + AI In 2024 takes place on Tuesday 20 Feb. Attendees can access the session live on Zoom and then on-demand via the CMU learning platform. Click here for information on all of the upcoming CMU online masterclasses and to book your place. 

India’s streaming growth explodes to hit over one trillion streams, Gen Z pull back on streaming subscription spend

Music data company Luminate has published its annual ‘Year-End Music Report’, breaking out a wide range of stats and data to illuminate our understanding of modern music consumption.

By a wide margin, the “wow” stat from this year’s report is that India’s streaming market nearly doubled in 2023 - gaining nearly 464 billion new streams, to hit more than one trillion streams in total - 80% growth in a single year. Apart from being a mind-bogglingly huge number, one trillion is, of course, a million million - or one followed by twelve zeroes: 1,000,000,000,000. 

The USA, unsurprisingly, tops the chart of countries ranked by streaming volume, adding 184 billion new streams over 2022. 

With almost 2.5 trillion streams between them, the USA and India massively outperform the other eight countries Luminate includes in its top ten list of countries by streaming volume - which are Mexico, Indonesia, Germany, Japan, UK, Canada and France. Those countries - combined - represent “just” 1.889 trillion streams between them, meaning streams across those top ten markets gross to 4.373 trillion streams. 

The numbers relating to streaming volumes presented by Luminate relate to all streams - premium and ad-supported, on both audio-only and audio-video platforms. So, for example, these numbers include data from YouTube and Meta, as well as services like Spotify and Apple Music.  

That said, Luminate does provide a global comparison for audio streams vs audio + video streams. At a global level there were 7.1 trillion audio + video streams, of which 4.1 trillion were audio. While the ratio of AV streams to audio streams will vary from country to country - and in some cases significantly - this provides a useful ‘rule of thumb’ metric to apply to other data in the report: as a rough estimation we can say that around 57.7% of total streams are audio streams. 

CMU has performed additional analysis on these numbers, breaking out the total number of streams in each country by the average number of streams per head of population. Click here to read that analysis.

Unsurprisingly, as India sees exponential growth in streaming, Hindi language tracks are increasing in popularity as well. In 2021, English language tracks represented 67% of the top 10,000 global tracks, a number which has dropped by over 12% to just 54.9% in 2023, while Hindi tracks have more than doubled their share rising from 3.8% in 2021 to 7.8% today.

Focusing in on specific genres - Afrobeats, country, dance/electronic, US hip hop/R&B, K-pop and Latin - Luminate highlighted markets that offer particularly strong performance for those genres beyond their home markets. For example, Afrobeats tracks - outside the Middle East and Africa - perform particularly well in Luxembourg, Netherlands, France, United Kingdom and Portugal, while dance/EDM - outside the US - shows strong performance in Vietnam, Slovakia, Croatia, Malaysia and Hungary.

Catalogue consumption continues to drive significant numbers of streams, with just 48.3% of top 500,000 tracks in the US released in the past five years. To be more explicit, this means that the majority of the top 500,000 tracks in the US were released before 2018.

Meanwhile, Luminate says that it tracked 184 million total audio ISRCs in 2023, with an average of 103,500 new ISRCs delivered to digital service providers each day - and 96.1% of those came from non-major distributed content providers. While one of the music industry’s favourite lazy stat is “there’s just so much music, a billion tracks are uploaded to streaming platforms every minute”, it’s important to remember that one ISRC does not necessarily equal one track; what appears to be a single track on the consumer facing side of the music business can have multiple ISRCs associated with it on the back end. 

Notwithstanding, of those 184 million ISRCs, 45.6 million - nearly 25% - received no streams at all, while 152.2 million (or 106.6 million, excluding ISRCs that received no streams at all) were streamed 1000 times or less - potentially placing nearly 83% of the total streaming catalogue underneath the new ‘artist-centric’ monetisation threshold championed by Spotify, Universal and Warner, meaning under that model they would likely receive no money at all for their music. 

In fact, just 436,000 ISRCs - or one out of every 422 - managed to hit more than one million streams last year - a tiny 0.2% of the total catalogue.

Full Time Hobby Music // D2C Marketing Assistant (London)

terrible* // D2C Customer Service Representative (London)

terrible* // Logistics & Production Assistant (London)

Snapper Music // Press & Promo Coordinator (London)

Como No & La Linea // Director (London/Hybrid)

UK Music // Chief Executive (London/Hybrid)

The Ivors Academy // Chief Executive (London/Hybrid)

Deviate Digital // Digital Marketing Assistant (London)

ONE LINERS

Four Tet, Merlin, Music Venue Trust + more

DEALS 

Reservoir Media and PopArabia have jointly signed Lebanese artist Nancy Ajram and her publishing company In2Musica. “I’m THRILLED that In2Musica and I will be partnering with global companies like Reservoir and PopArabia, which have a history of advocating for artists’ rights and taking them around the world”, she says. “We’re looking forward to reaching even more fans across the world with our music through this publishing partnership”.

Believe has formed a new partnership with Mahogany - the label offshoot of the Mahogany Sessions YouTube channel. “We are hugely excited to be working with the incredible team at Believe”, says Mahogany MD James Gaster. “Thanks to their international reach, infrastructure and market-leading tech this partnership allows us to level-up our ambitions as we expand our offering to unsigned and emerging artists on a global scale, and we look forward to spotlighting some of the world’s most exciting new talents through distribution and content collaborations”.

APPOINTMENTS 

Merlin - the digital licensing agency for indie labels and distributors - has announced six new board members. They are: Golda Bitterli (Revelator), Jeffrey Chiang (Fluxus), Fer Isella (Limbo Music), Irina Lipczyk-Kolakovska (E-muzyka), Simon Wheeler (Beggars) and Megan Jasper (Sub Pop). Newly appointed board advisors are Jennifer Newman Sharpe (Exceleration) and Dorothee Imhoff (FUGA).

The Music Venue Trust has announced eight new patrons. They are: Jamie Webster, Hamish Hawk, Hannah White, Jeff Automatic, Reverend And The Makers, Noah & The Loners, Chroma and John Whittingdale MP.

Booking agency One Finnix Live has hired agent Bex Wedlake. Her roster includes Black Stone Cherry, GWAR, Haru Nemuri and The Subways. “This industry is based on human connection and innovation, qualities embraced and celebrated by the progressive team at One Fiinix Live”, she says. “In just three years they have built an agency that embodies expertise, professionalism and respect. I am THRILLED to be joining such an exciting and forward-thinking company and I look forward to immersing myself and my clients in a culture of inclusivity and elevation”.

RELEASES

Four Tet has released new track ‘Loved’, the first from an upcoming new album.

Bombay Bicycle Club have released new single ‘Fantasneeze’ featuring Matilda Mann. The track is taken from new EP ‘Fantasies’, which is out on 2 Feb. 

MGMT have released new single ‘Nothing To Declare’. Their new album ‘Loss Of Life’ is out on 23 Feb. 

Lynks has announced that they will release their debut album ‘Abomination’ on 12 Apr. Out now is new single ‘CPR’. 

Gruff Rhys has released new single ‘Bad Friend’. His new album ‘Sadness Sets Me Free’ is out on 26 Jan. 

Marika Hackman has released ‘The Yellow Mile’, the latest single from her new album ‘Big Sigh’, which is out tomorrow. 

Yasmin Hass has released new single ‘Maybe’, which was produced by The 1975’s Ross McDonald. 

William Doyle has shared ‘Now In Motion’ from his upcoming album ‘Springs Eternal’, which is out on 16 Feb. 

@ have shared new single ‘Webcrawler’. New EP ‘Are You There God? It’s Me, @’ is out tomorrow. 

Káryyn has released new single ‘Anthem For Those Who Know’. The track was co-produced by Hudson Mohawke. 

Jo Twist, CEO of the BPI looks back at 2023 and the challenges 2024 will bring

As we head into 2024, CMU has been sitting down with the bosses of many of the music industry’s trade organisations to talk about their work, the key challenges faced by their members, and what to expect in the year ahead. 

BPI CEO Jo Twist looks ahead at 2024 in the latest of our series of interviews with the bosses of the music industry’s trade bodies. She discusses the organisation’s successes in 2023, the challenges it faces in the coming year, and the continued evolution of the BRIT Awards

Bauer to phase out fifteen local radio brands as Hits Radio expands 

Another batch of long-standing UK local radio brands will disappear from the airwaves in April - some having been in use since 1974 - as Bauer Media further expands its Hits Radio franchise. 

“Today marks a brand-new chapter in the history of these local stations as they become Hits Radio”, says Bauer Media Audio UK CEO Simon Myciunka. “The stations’ transformation into a nationally recognised brand ensures that we will continue to provide our listeners with the content they love, seamlessly blending the best that local and national radio has to offer”. 

Commercial radio in the UK originally consisted of a network of independently owned local stations. However, through a long series of mergers and acquisitions, most of those stations ended up being owned by one of a small number of big media companies, including Bauer. 

As the big media companies built networks of stations across the country there was an increasing trend for those stations to share programming for portions of the day. Even more so as licensing obligations to air a certain number of locally made shows each day were relaxed. The networks also started employing centrally managed playlists and music policies. 

Initially the local brands were maintained, even when they aired lots of programmes made at a central national HQ. It was Bauer’s main competitor Global that first got rid of those local brand names to form a small number of quasi-national networks - such as the Capital, Heart and Smooth networks - arguing that in an increasingly competitive and online marketplace it no longer made sense operating and maintaining so many local brands. 

Bauer has followed the same strategy, but has been much slower in phasing out the local brand names. In recent years expanding its Greatest Hits Radio brand has been a priority, and now it’s the Hits Radio brand that is getting a big old extension. 

Fifteen local stations will start broadcasting as Hits Radio in April. Those stations are already carrying the same programming for most of the day, so it won’t really affect what listeners hear.

But station names that have been on the airwaves since the 1970s - like Hallam FM in Sheffield, Metro Radio in Newcastle and Radio City in Liverpool - or the 1980s - like Signal Radio in Stoke, Viking FM in Hull and TFM in Teeside - will be no more. 

Other affected stations include Gem Radio, Lincs FM, Pulse 1, Rock FM and Wave Swansea, and four Free Radio stations.

CMU GUIDE: AI + MUSIC

Artificial intelligence + the music business: CMU's guide to (nearly) everything that mattered in 2023

There was a lot of discussion in 2023 within the music community about how AI will impact on music creation, music marketing, and the music business more generally.

There are clearly opportunities created by AI, and many ways that AI technologies will enhance the business.

An increasing number of music creators and music companies are exploring and identifying way to capitalise on those opportunities, and figuring out which AI products and services may offer ways to enhance their work.

Read CMU's (very) deep dive guide to the deals, disputes and debates, lawsuits and lobbying, and innovation and exploration that informed the conversation.

Music industry welcomes proposed new laws to help performers protect their voices and likeness from AI clones

Organisations from across the music industry have welcomed proposals in both the US House Of Representatives and the state of Tennessee that seek to allow people to control their likeness and voice in the context of AI. 

That included the Human Artistry Campaign, whose Senior Advisor Dr Moiya McTier said: “The most unique and foundational aspects of any person's individuality should never be misappropriated or used without consent”. The new legislative proposals, therefore, are “a massive step forward in protecting people, culture and art”. 

The use of generative AI to generate voice clones has prompted increased debate in the last year about how artists can protect their voices. Copyright might help to an extent, but the copyright obligations of AI companies remain in dispute, plus many artists do not own the copyright in their music. That has put the spotlight on publicity or personality rights. 

It’s thought that these rights should allow artists to control - and, if they so wish, monetise - the use of their voice and likeness. However, quite how publicity rights work and what specific protection they provide varies around the world, and in the US from state to state. 

As a result, the American music industry has been increasingly calling for a new US-wide federal law that clearly states that artists can control both their voice and their likeness. Which is exactly what the No AI FRAUD Act introduced into the House yesterday would do. It states that "every individual has a property right in their own likeness and voice". 

Although a particular priority for the American music industry, these rights - which, of course, also allow people to control the use of AI to generate images and videos that feature their likeness - are important for performers across the entertainment business. And, indeed for citizens in general, given the use of voice clones and deepfakes can impact on a person's reputation as well as their ability to monetise their creativity. 

Similar laws have already been proposed in the US Senate under the banner of the NO FAKES ACT. Meanwhile, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee yesterday unveiled updates to his state's existing personal rights law which will specifically protect the voices of performers. 

The latter proposals are titled the Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security Act - because, you know, in abbreviated form that makes it the ELVIS Act. 

Introducing that act, Lee stated: “From Beale Street to Broadway, to Bristol and beyond, Tennessee is known for our rich artistic heritage that tells the story of our great state. As the technology landscape evolves with artificial intelligence, we’re proud to lead the nation in proposing legal protection for our best-in-class artists and songwriters”.

Approved: Astrid Sonne

With her new album ‘Great Doubt’ due on 26 Jan, Astrid Sonne returns with the latest track from it, ‘Boost’. 

Straddling a range of styles from instrumental hip hop to baroque classical, ‘Boost’ stands out from, and also comfortably links, previously released tracks ‘Do You Know’, ‘Staying Here’ and ‘Overture’, which came out late last year. 

"I made ‘Boost’ lying in my bed”, says Sonne. “It’s a quite energetic track coming from a not very energetic place. There's a sense of release to ‘Boost’ and a feeling of not caring too much, which can be good sometimes when you need to seek out new settings”.

She will be playing UK shows supporting ML Buch in February and March, including two performances at the ICA in London on 27 and 28 Feb.

Listen to ‘Boost’ here.

US Congress told to clarify AI training is not fair use and the market can sort out everything else

If US Congress could just clarify that training a generative AI model with existing copyright protected works is not fair use, then the free market can deal with any other challenges posed by AI in the context of the media and entertainment industries. That was the message of Roger Lynch, CEO of magazine publisher Conde Nast, at a Congressional hearing yesterday. 

“We believe that a legislative fix can be simple”, Lynch told a session on AI and journalism staged by the US Senate’s Subcommittee On Privacy, Technology And The Law. Lawmakers, he went on, should clarify “that the use of copyrighted content in conjunction with commercial Gen Al is not fair use and requires a licence”.

The copyright industries, including the music industry, are adamant that any AI firm that trains a model with existing content must get permission from relevant copyright owners. But many tech companies argue no such permission is required because AI training is covered by exceptions in at least some copyright systems - or, under US law, constitutes fair use. 

Not so, Lynch insisted. Fair use, he said, is “designed to allow criticism, parody, scholarship, research and news reporting” and is not “intended simply to enrich technology companies that prefer not to pay”. And crucially “the law is clear that it is not fair use when there is an adverse effect on the market for the copyrighted material”.

“Big tech companies claim that getting permission for the use of copyrighted content isn't practical, but it is”, he added.  “There are a great many situations where multitudes of rights owners license multitudes of users in efficient ways. In music publishing, ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, GMR and others fulfil this role”. 

Also referencing other rights organisations, and content aggregators like the Shutterstock and Getty image libraries, he concluded: “I am confident that the free market can generate efficient licensing solutions once the Gen Al companies acknowledge the need to licence”. 

It remains to be seen if there is any appetite in Congress to clarify fair use in this way. Although, according to Law360, committee member Josh Hawley did raise concerns about the “expansive view of fair use” coming from the AI companies. He added: “If their reading of fair use prevails, fair use is going to be the exception that swallows the rule. It's the mouse that ate the elephant. We're not going to have any copyright law left”.