IFPI Digital Music Report 2010 - Music how, when, where you want it

 
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IFPI Digital Music Report 2010 - Music how, when, where you want it
IFPI Digital Music Report 2010
    Music how, when, where you want it
IFPI Digital Music Report 2010 - Music how, when, where you want it
Contents
 3. Introduction

 4. Executive Summary: Music – Pathfinder In The Creative Industries’ Revolution

 8. The Diversification Of Business Models

10. Digital Music Sales Around The World

12. In Profile: Pioneers Of Digital Music

18. Competing In A Rigged Market – The Problem Of Illegal File-Sharing

20. ‘Climate Change’ For All Creative Industries

24. Graduated Response – A Proportionate, Preventative Solution

28. The World Of Legal Music Services

30. Consumer Education – Lessons Learned
IFPI Digital Music Report 2010 - Music how, when, where you want it
Music How, When, Where
You Want It – But Not
Without Addressing Piracy
By John Kennedy, Chairman & Chief Executive, IFPI

This is the seventh IFPI Digital Music          in new artists, we have to tackle mass            legislation to curb illegal file-sharing.
Report. If you compare it to the first          piracy. Second, we are progressing towards        Another clear change is within the music
report published in 2004, you can               an effective response. The progress is            sector itself. It was, until recently, rare
see a transformation in a business              agonisingly slow for an industry which does       for artists to engage in a public debate
which has worked with the advance               not have a lot of time to play with – but it is   about piracy or admit it damages them.
of technology, listened to the consumer         progress nonetheless.                             In September 2009, the mood changed.
and responded by licensing its music                                                              Lily Allen spoke out about the impact of
in new formats and channels.                    On page 20 of the Report, Stephen                 illegal file-sharing on young artists’ careers.
                                                Garrett, head of the production company           When she was attacked by an abusive
In 2009 globally, for the first time, more      Kudos, refers to a “climate change” in            online mob, others came to her support.
than one quarter of record companies’           the creative industries. That expression
revenues came from digital channels.                                                              The mood of change is clearly reaching
Fans can acquire tracks and albums                                                                governments. In 2009, legislation
in ways inconceivable a few years              “To continue to invest in                         requiring ISPs to tackle P2P piracy was
ago – from download stores, streaming                                                             adopted in France, South Korea and
sites, subscription services, free-to-user       new artists, we have to tackle                   Taiwan. These countries established in
sites, bundled with their broadband or a         mass piracy.”                                    law that it is appropriate for those who
mobile phone handset.                                                                             persistently violate copyright, despite
                                                                                                  repeated warnings, to face a proportionate
It would be great to report these               captures the way the debate over digital          and effective sanction. This sets a
innovations have been rewarded by               piracy has evolved. You hear it around            tremendous precedent in the protection
market growth, more investment in artists,      the world: this is no longer just a problem       of intellectual property rights online. In
more jobs. Sadly that is not the case.          for music, it is a problem for the creative       the UK, as in France, it is understood that
Digital piracy remains a huge barrier to        industries: affecting film, TV, books and         government has a key role in protecting
market growth. The slump in sales and           games. In this arena, the music industry          content on the internet. Even in the most
investment in three major music markets         is the pathfinder of the creative industries,     competitive, innovative and market-driven
outlined in the Report testify to this and      pioneering with new offerings for the             industries, the market itself can only
are a warning to the rest of the world.         consumer. In 2009, Rupert Murdoch                 operate under the effective rule of law.
On the positive side, we have built a           said that the content kleptomaniacs
US$4.2 billion digital business full of         should not triumph and Microsoft spoke            This Report points the way to an optimistic
consumer-friendly services. On the              out against piracy, ready to ban players          future for the music industry – great
negative side, our global sales fell by         from Xbox live if they had modified their         offerings for consumers, more investment
around 30 per cent from 2004 to 2009,           consoles to play pirated discs – no three         in artists, economic growth and more jobs.
the growth of our digital sales is slowing      strikes procedure needed!                         Yet we are nowhere near that future today,
and even the success stories reported                                                             and we will not get there without a secure
in this publication will struggle to survive    The thinking behind the debate has                legal environment where creative work is
unless we address the fundamental               also crucially changed. It is about the           rewarded and copyright theft is effectively
problem of piracy.                              future of a broad base of creative industries     deterred. To unlock the enormous
                                                that have huge economic importance                potential of digital music, we have to
Some ask, ‘why not give up the fight?’          and employ vast numbers of people.                address piracy both on P2P networks
The answer is straightforward – first, we       This is one of the reasons why the French,        and in other forms. That is where, today,
cannot afford to. To continue to invest         UK and other governments are set on               we look to governments for action. n

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IFPI Digital Music Report 2010 - Music how, when, where you want it
Digital Music Report 2010

Executive Summary: Music – Pathfinder In The
Creative Industries’ Digital Revolution
“Our aim is not simply to be digitally savvy – our aim is to be consumer savvy.”
  Elio Leoni-Sceti, Chief Executive, EMI Music

 A diversifying industry                                                                        New business models
 The music business is continuing to            “Our vision is music availability              Record labels are making music
 lead the creative industries into the            everywhere, at any time                       available in an unprecedented
 digital revolution. In 2009, for the first                                                     number of ways. A few years
 time ever, more than a quarter of the            and in any place. But the                     ago, an album would have been
 recorded music industry’s global revenues        biggest question is how do we                 delivered in just a few formats.
 (27%) came from digital channels – a             monetise it in an environment                 Today, albums come in hundreds
 market worth an estimated US$4.2 billion                                                       of formats and products.
 in trade value, up 12 per cent on 2008           of widespread piracy?”                        For example, Beyoncé’s
 (IFPI). In the US, the world’s largest music     Eric Daugan, Senior Vice                      I Am... Sasha Fierce album
 market, online and mobile revenues               President, Commercial Strategy,               is available in more than
 now account for around 40 per cent of                                                          260 different products in
 music sales. Consumer choice has been            Warner Music International EMEA               the US including music
 transformed as companies have licensed                                                         videos, mastertones,
 more than 11 million tracks to around           “Our aim is not simply to be digitally         ringback tones and
 400 legal music services worldwide.             savvy – our aim is to be consumer savvy.       audio tracks.
                                                 We know that people want to consume
 Fans today can access and pay for music         music digitally, so we need to be digitally    Over the past couple of
 in diverse ways – from buying tracks            aware, have digital capabilities and           years, music companies
 or albums from download stores, and             marketing ability,” says Elio Leoni-Sceti,     have partnered with
 using subscription services, to using           Chief Executive, EMI Music.                    ad-supported services
 music services that are bundled with                                                           such as Spotify, Deezer,
 devices, buying mobile apps for music,          In the digital era, the music industry         MySpace Music and
 and listening to music through streaming        is diversifying its business models and        We7, ISPs such as
 services for free.                              revenue streams. The à-la-carte download       TDC in Denmark, Terra
                                                 model, pioneered by iTunes, remains the        in Brazil and Sky in the
 Music companies have licensed advertising       largest revenue source in the online sector    UK, mobile operators such
 –supported services to attract non-payers       and has more than 100 million accounts         as Vodafone, handset makers
 and file-sharers, struck groundbreaking         across 23 countries (Apple). Recent            such as Nokia and Sony Ericsson,
 deals with major ISPs, developed                innovations in the à-la-carte sector include   and online video channels such as
 partnerships with device manufacturers          the introduction of variable pricing, which    Hulu and VEVO.
 and established a new platform for              has increased the conversion of track
 high-quality music videos aimed at mass         purchases to album sales, as well as the
 audiences. All of these initiatives are         launch of the iTunes LP and the rollout of
 experimental and innovative, and all are        DRM-free downloads internationally.
 predicated on the simple principle of
 meeting the needs of the music fan.

                                                                      4
IFPI Digital Music Report 2010 - Music how, when, where you want it
Executive Summary

Access and bundling                                                                           Barriers to growth
Despite this progress, the challenge is        “We’re much closer to the utopia,             The digital music business still faces
to take digital music to the commercial          where we’re extracting €1 out of             many barriers to its growth. These include
mass market and “monetise” existing              a million consumers as opposed               lack of marketing by services in some
behaviour. There is huge untapped                                                             countries, problems with publishing rights,
consumer demand and potential for                to €10 out of a thousand.”                   consumer reluctance to make online
           growth. Research conducted by         Rob Wells, Senior Vice                       payments and the complex challenge
             Capgemini found that 70 per         President, Digital, Universal                of creating services that are user-friendly
             cent of all music consumed                                                       to different consumer groups.
             in the US, UK, France and           Music Group International
             Germany came through digital                                                     Transcending all these obstacles,
             channels, while revenues           “Music access” is seen as a compelling        however, is the problem of digital piracy.
             from digital platforms in those    legitimate alternative to piracy. Music       Numerous indicators, outlined on page
             countries accounted for only 35    is bundled with services and devices,         18 of the report, confirm digital piracy
             per cent of industry revenues.     or offered at no cost to the consumer         is choking revenues, new services and
             One way of realising this          on an advertising-supported basis.            investment. Surveys also confirm the
             growth potential is to generate    This low “average revenue per user”           simple proposition supported by focus
             value from the behaviour of        and high volume approach is seen              groups and anecdotes everywhere –
             the vast number of people          as one of many hybrid revenue models          that the majority of consumers who
             who currently do not pay for       rather than a single model for the future.    illegally download, rather than use the
             music they consume.                                                              many legitimate alternatives available
                                                Convergence of services across                today, do so because of the lure of “free”.
           In the US, only 18 per cent          devices is also a major theme in
           of internet users aged 13            digital music. This is helping break          A variety of third-party research
           and over regularly buy digital       down the interoperability barriers that       conclusively indicates that the net
               music today (NPD Group).         have limited the consumer appeal of           effect of illegal file-sharing is reduced
                  In Europe, digital            some services and restricted the growth       purchasing of music. This is despite the
                     adoption is even           of the digital business. Each year            obvious fact, also borne out in research,
                        less widespread –       the consumer is getting a better deal         that some file-sharers are often also
                         only 8 per cent        as it becomes easier to transfer and          buyers of music.
                         of internet users      use music across multiple screens
                         in the top five        and platforms. In 2009 for example,
                         EU markets             mobile applications brought streaming        “In order to take the business
                         frequently buy         services Spotify, Deezer and others            to the next level and capture
                         music digitally        to devices like the iPhone, allowing a
                         (Forrester).           premium service offering portability.          the enormous potential that’s
                                                This convergence of services and               still untapped, we need new
                                                devices, opening up new revenue                services to truly break through
                                                channels is expected to accelerate.
                                                                                               to the mass market. To do that,
                                                                                               an attractive user interface,
                                                                                              a strong value proposition
                                                                                              and a clear marketing message
                                                                                              are essential, as is an effective
                                                                                              way of curbing piracy.”
                                                                                               Thomas Hesse, President,
                                                                                               Global Digital Business, U.S.
                                                                                               Sales & Corporate Strategy, Sony

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IFPI Digital Music Report 2010 - Music how, when, where you want it
Digital Music Report 2010

Piracy hits investment                       Digital Music: Charting Change
The crippling effects of illegal file-
sharing are clear. Overall music sales                                                    2003                 2009
fell by around 30 per cent between
2004 and 2009. The worst-affected             Licensed music services              Less than 50         400+
markets are countries where, despite          Catalogue available                  1 million            11m + tracks
the industry’s efforts, legitimate digital
services have had little chance to take       Industry’s digital revenues          US$20m               US$4.2 billion
root. In Spain where legal problems
have frustrated the ability to take action    % of industry’s revenues             Negligible           27%
against piracy, sales fell by around 17       from digital channels
per cent in 2009 and the market is
now about one third of its level in 2001.
In Spain and elsewhere the victim
has been investment in local acts.
The number of local artist album sales
fell by 65 per cent between
2004 and 2009. In France,
the number of local repertoire
album releases plummeted
from 271 in the first half of
2003 to 107 in the same
period of 2009. In Brazil, local
full priced artist album releases
by the five biggest music
companies slumped 80 per
cent between 2004 and 2008.

Salvador Cufi, Chairman of
indie label Musica Global,
based in Girona, Spain, says
“We have made a great effort
to digitise our catalogues
and to create new business
models for the internet – but
there is no way in today’s
market that we can make
those investments profitable.
It is a very sad situation that
we can no longer invest in
new artists in the way we
would like.”

Eric Daugan, Senior Vice                                                                        260+: Number
President, Commercial                                                                           of different products
Strategy, Warner Music International
EMEA, says “Our vision is music                                                                 Beyoncé’s I Am...
available everywhere, at any time            Research by Harris Interactive in the
and in any place, but the biggest            UK shows that although P2P remains                 Sasha Fierce was made
question is how do we monetise it in         the major piracy problem, the illegal              available in during 2009
an environment of widespread piracy?         distribution of music through other
One way is to come up with products          channels grew considerably in 2009.
that people want to consume, and
that is our responsibility. But if these     Unlicensed download sites, news
products and services are to flourish        groups, specialised search engines,
we also need help from governments           forums, blogs and cyberlockers were
and ISPs.”                                   all significant channels for infringement.

                                                                 6
IFPI Digital Music Report 2010 - Music how, when, where you want it
Executive Summary

“There have to be sanctions, ISPs have to be involved and there
  needs to be back-up legislation. I would have preferred a purely
  commercial solution to achieve this, but sadly it doesn’t look
  as if that is going to happen. That is why there needs to
  be the encouragement coming from legislation.”
  Martin Mills, Chairman, Beggars Group

 Case studies, creative industries           education alone, while it has effectively
 There are indications, in Sweden            raised awareness of the legal and
 and South Korea, of the positive            ethical issues around unauthorised
 impact of a strengthened copyright          downloading, does not change
 environment on curbing piracy and           consumer behaviour. Good legitimate
 enhancing legitimate sales.                 music offerings and meaningful
                                             deterrence are vital in this process.
 Case studies in this report show
 improved music sales in those countries     Legislation, ISP cooperation
 in 2009, though sustained action will be    The music industry and other creative
 needed to maintain this progress.           sectors around the world are seeking
                                             to engage ISPs in curbing digital piracy
 Digital piracy rose sharply on the          on their networks. In most countries,
 agenda of all creative industries in        this requires help from governments in
 2009. With the rapid advance of             establishing a consistent and effective
 technology, games manufacturers,            response from the entire ISP community.
 film and television producers and           The most widely considered approach
 book publishers are now facing the          so far is a graduated response model,
 same challenges felt by the music           involving escalating warnings to infringers
 industry at the start of the decade.        culminating, as a last resort for those
 Simon Renshaw, artist manager, says         who refuse to stop, in he sanction of
 “What I worry about is that we are          temporary account suspension. The
 heading into a world where copyright        graduated response is a proportionate,
 has no value and where there’s              effective way to curb piracy.
 no incentive for anyone to provide
 patronage and support for the creators      IFPI first called for ISPs to cooperate
 of intellectual property.”                  in a graduated response system in
                                             2005. Five years later, voluntary
 Consumer education                          means have largely failed to progress.
 Consumer education has a vital role         A number of governments however,
 to play, and the music industry is          including France, UK, New Zealand,
 currently involved in more than 70          South Korea and Taiwan, have enacted
 awareness programmes across the             legislation to require such cooperation
 world. It is clear however, that consumer   or are in the process of doing so. n

“A decade’s worth of music file-sharing and swiping has
  made clear that the people it hurts are the creators...
  and the people this reverse Robin Hooding benefits are
  rich service providers, whose swollen profits perfectly mirror
  the lost receipts of the music business.”
  Bono, singer-songwriter, in the New York Times, January 2010

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IFPI Digital Music Report 2010 - Music how, when, where you want it
Digital Music Report 2010

The Diversification Of Business Models

“We are shaping our own future by finding new ways of getting music
  into people’s lives.”
  Lucian Grainge, Chairman and CEO, Universal Music Group International

 Downloads continue to grow                     consumer demand for
 A-la-carte download services account for       content such as video
 the majority of online revenues and saw        is increasing network
 steady growth. Three key developments          costs. Music and other
 in 2009 were: the roll-out of more DRM-        entertainment content
 free services, continued growth in digital     help ISPs reduce ‘churn’
 album offerings and the introduction of        and retain customers as
 variable pricing.                              well as generating new revenues.

 Music companies have expanded their            TDC’s PLAY service was the first
 licensing of DRM-free à-la-carte services      ISP music service to
 internationally. Fans can now transfer         launch. Today it offers
 their purchased music files to different       TDC’s broadband, mobile
 portable players when they buy from            and cable customers in
 virtually any online service. Digital album    Denmark unlimited music
 sales grew faster than single track            streaming from a catalogue
 purchases in many markets. Variable            of 6.1 million tracks at no
 pricing, by which catalogue music is           additional cost. TDC’s online customer        Vodafone for example is active in more
 discounted relative to new top charting        churn was reduced by 50 per cent, for         than 20 countries, offering both à-la-carte
 tracks, helps increase the conversion of       those who used TDC Play.                      and unlimited subscription services. In
 track purchases into album sales.                                                            April 2009 Vodafone Spain launched
                                                In the UK, home entertainment company         an unlimited music subscription service
 The launch of iTunes LP – a deluxe digital     Sky launched Sky Songs in October             bundled with an overall mobile service
 format – boosted demand for premium            2009 offering consumers unlimited             which attracted more than 100,000 users
 albums which account, on average, for 65-      streaming of more than four million tracks    shortly after launch.
 70 per cent of the sales of a major digital    with packages of 10-15 downloads per
 album release. Artists from Bob Dylan to       month. This new offering is powered by        Music subscriptions bundled
 Jay-Z are engaging fans in this new way.       music service Omnifone.                       with devices
 Premium album downloads often outsell                                                        Mobile handset manufacturers Nokia
 regular versions. During the first week of     In Brazil, Terra Networks, part of            and SonyEricsson started offering
 sales through iTunes in Europe, the deluxe     the Telefonica Group, launched Sonora         unlimited music services bundled with
 version of Michael Bublé’s Crazy Love out-     in 2006. The service offers unlimited         mobile phones in 2008. The global
 sold the standard version by a ratio of 3:1.   music streaming through a “tethered”          reach of these players brings enormous
                                                subscription service with a fee bundled       opportunities. Nokia is the biggest
 ISP and mobile partnerships                    into the ISP bill. In February 2009 Sonora    mobile device manufacturer in the
 Internet service providers (ISPs)              launched a new service tier – 20 hours        world selling more than 450 million
 are increasingly looking to become             of music streams per month, free-to-          phones every year.
 commercial partners of music                   consumer on an ad-supported basis.
 companies. They can add value to               The new offer attracted more than three       Nokia’s Comes With Music (CWM)
 the ISPs’ offers at a time when their          million users in less than one year. Mobile   expanded widely into international markets
 traditional broadband market is close          operators also increasingly offer added-      in 2009, launching in 11 countries.
 to saturation in many markets and              value content.                                The service has enjoyed particular

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IFPI Digital Music Report 2010 - Music how, when, where you want it
The Diversification Of Business Models

                                                 signed-up to date. Unlimited streaming        deal with YouTube in September 2009
“The key for all of us in the                   is free on a computer and is advertising-     that created a feature-rich experience
  industry is to continue to                     supported. Portable access through a          for fans accessing music related-content
                                                 mobile application with no advertising        from Warner Music artists, including a
  experiment, to be somewhat                     is available for €9.99 a month. Spotify       high-quality premium player, enhanced
  agnostic in our approach.”                     has reached an agreement with Swedish         channels and links to artist websites.
  Ron Werre, President, EMI                      ISP TeliaSonera, allowing its customers       The agreement also allowed the record
                                                 to pay for the premium service on their       company to sell advertising alongside
  Music Services                                 broadband bill.                               videos that use its music across
                                                                                               multiple channels.
                                                     Another service operating a similar
                                                     model is Deezer, a web-based              Thomas Hesse, president, Global Digital
                                                     service which users can access on         Business, US Sales and Corporate
                                                     any computer without the need to          Strategy, Sony Music Entertainment,
                                                     download software. It offers music        says “VEVO was created to improve
                                                     streaming and personalised web            the experience for both customers
                                                    radios and has attracted more than         and advertisers with a new premium
                                                  16 million users to date, including          environment dedicated to viewing
                                                  10 million in France. Advertising-           professionally produced content.”
                                                  supported models have shown some
                                                  success in migrating users unwilling         Hulu is another service offering
                                                  to pay for music and who have mainly         music videos and live concerts
                                                  used illegal file-sharing services.          online. MySpace Music has also
                                                  According to GfK, six out of 12              extended its service to launch
                                                  Swedish users of Spotify reported            MySpace Music Videos.
                                                  in July they had stopped or cut
                                                  down on their file-sharing activity          Direct to consumer
                                                  since using the service.                     Labels also work to support artists in
 success in Latin America. In Mexico,                                                          direct-to-consumer sales of music,
 there were 10 million downloads in the            iTunes announced in late 2009 that          merchandising and concert tickets.
 first six months of the service’s operation      it was purchasing Lala, in a move            Warner Music started to take artist
 and Brazil is now CWM’s top-selling             that industry commentators said could         websites in-house in 2008 and now
 territory. “Comes with Music is a strategic     lead to the company becoming involved         operates them for around a quarter
 move to transform the company from a            in the streaming market.                      of its European roster. In Spain, the
 handset manufacturer into an internet                                                         company runs artist Alejandro Sanz’s
 services company. Music is obviously an         Monetising music videos online                official site, signing up around 80
 important pillar out of all the services that   Music video is a leading growth area          per cent of his fan club to premium
 we’re launching”, says Adrian Harley,           in digital music, driven by the success       membership for €38.99 a year.
 Nokia Music Manager, Brazil                     of streaming services. According to a         The site’s monthly unique user
 and Southern Cone.                              study by Jupiter Research in 2009, sites      numbers soared by 300 per cent
                                                 such as YouTube dominate digital music        since Warner began to work with
 Other types of device partnerships              activity in Europe with nearly one-third of   Sanz on it, with the artist blogging
 include Dell’s bundling of the                  all internet users (31%) watching music       four or five times a day to help generate
 subscription service Rhapsody with its          videos online.                                an active online community. n
 computers in the US and with Napster
 in the UK for a limited period.                 In December 2009, Universal Music
                                                 Group and Sony Music Entertainment
 The rise of streaming services
                                                                                                   1/3: Nearly a third
                                                 partnered with YouTube and the Abu
 A key development in 2009 was                   Dhabi Media Company to launch VEVO
 the growth of advertising-supported             in the US and Canada. The service has
 services that offer music streaming at          also signed an agreement with EMI                 of European internet
 no cost to fans. The “upselling” of users       Music. The service is focused on the              users watch music
 to premium services is critical to the          ad-supported distribution of professional
 long-term success of these companies.           music videos online through the VEVO              videos online
 Spotify is one of the highest-profile           channel within YouTube, through VEVO.
 of such services. More than seven               com and other online destinations. In a
 million users across six countries have         separate move, Warner Music signed a

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IFPI Digital Music Report 2010 - Music how, when, where you want it
Lady Gaga                                                                                                                                                          Jason Mraz

                                                                                                                                                 Black Eyed Peas
            Digital Music Sales Around The World

            Music companies’ global digital revenues      Top 10 Digital Songs 2009
            grew by an estimated 12 per cent in
            2009 totalling US$ 4.2 billion in trade
                                                                    ARTIST                                        TITLE                                            SALES
            revenues. Digital channels now account          Lady Gaga                         Poker Face                                                           9.8m
            for 27 per cent of music sales, up from         Black Eyed Peas                   Boom Boom Pow                                                        8.5m
            21 per cent in 2008 (IFPI). The music           Jason Mraz                        I’m Yours                                                            8.1m
            sector is generating far greater value from     Lady Gaga                         Just Dance                                                           7.7m
            the online and mobile market than any
                                                            Black Eyed Peas                   I Gotta Feeling                                                      7.1m
            other sector in the creative industries,
                                                            Taylor Swift                      Love Story                                                           6.5m
            with the exception of electronic games.
            Music companies’ revenues from digital          Beyoncé                           Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)                                     6.1m
            channels are now proportionately more           Soulja Boy Tell’Em                Kiss Me Thru The Phone                                               5.7m
            than double that of the film, newspaper         Kanye West                        Heartless                                                            5.5m
            and magazine industries combined.               Britney Spears                    Circus                                                               5.5m
                                                          Source: IFPI. Chart includes online single tracks, audio and video mastertones, ringback tones and full track downloads
            Despite this success, the increase in         to mobile. Period of 12 months to November 2009. Sales are rounded. Combines all versions of the same song.
            the music industry’s digital sales is not
            offsetting the sharp decline in sales of      Global Digital Revenues Share
            physical formats. Overall, global music
                                                          35
            sales fell for the tenth year running
            in 2009. Full year figures were not
            available at the time of going to press,      30
            but digital and physical global sales
            in the first half of 2009 were down           25
            12 per cent, excluding performance
            rights income (IFPI).                         20

            In the largest digital music market,                        32%
                                                          15
            the US, within the space of eight                                                  27%
            years digital revenues have gone from
                                                          10
            practically zero to accounting for around
            40 per cent of the US music market
                                                           5
            (RIAA). iTunes is now the biggest music
                                                                                                                     5%                    4%
            retailer in the US, accounting for 25                                                                                                                      2%
            per cent of the overall music market,          0
                                                                        Games            Recorded music              Films             Newspapers                   Magazines
            followed by Walmart, Best Buy and
            Amazon (NPD Music Watch).                     Sources: IFPI, PWC Global Entertainment and Media Outlook

                                                                                    10
Taylor Swift

                                                                                               Beyoncé
In Asia, around a quarter of the music        A study by Jupiter Research in March                       Globally, single tracks crossed the
business is now composed of digital           2009 highlighted some reasons for                          1.5 billion mark for the first time,
revenues, set against a backdrop of           Europe’s digital lag:                                      up an estimated 10 per cent on 2008.
sharply falling physical sales (IFPI).                                                                   Digital albums grew an estimated
Digital sales in China, Indonesia,            n The impact of music piracy – there                      20 per cent, double the rate of single
South Korea and Thailand now                     are 29.8 million frequent users of                      tracks. Today, around 20 per cent
account for more than half of all                file-sharing services in the top five                   of albums sold in the US are digital
music sales. South Korea has seen                EU markets alone and other forms of                     and around 15 per cent in the UK
the benefits of a stronger copyright             piracy are growing. Trends indicate a                   (RIAA, BPI).
environment and there has been                   north-south divide, with Italy and Spain
strong growth in MP3 subscription                showing considerably higher piracy                      The best selling single track of 2009
services (see page 26). Japan, the               levels. Paid digital music services have a              was Lady Gaga’s Poker Face, selling a
biggest market in the region, was                fundamental problem in competing with                   total of 9.8 million units. By comparison,
hit by mobile piracy and economic                widespread illegal downloading.                         the best-selling digital single track
downturn, seeing CD sales fall by                                                                        in 2008, Lil Wayne’s Lollipop, sold
more than 20 per cent in the first            n Europe’s higher taxation levels compared                9.1 million units and in 2007 Avril
half of 2009, while digital sales                to the US, different royalty structures and             Lavigne’s Girlfriend sold 7.3 million
were flat.                                       a fragmented rights landscape makes                     units (IFPI).
                                                 pan-European licensing a resource-
Strong downloading demand helped                 intensive and complicated process.                      Global mobile music revenues fell in
Australia become one of the few                                                                          2009, hit by piracy, lack of operator
developed music markets to achieve the        n High-street retail consolidation started                support for music services in some
“holy grail” of overall growth in the first      earlier in the US. This drove active                    markets and saturation of the
half of 2009, as the rise in digital music       music fans online earlier, both to                      mastertones sector. On the other
sales offset a small decline in revenues         online CD retailers such as Amazon                      hand, single track mobile downloads
from physical formats. Digital album             as well as digital stores.                              were stable and ringback tones
sales nearly doubled in the first half of                                                                continued to grow thanks to strong
2009, representing almost 8 per cent of       n The $0.99 à-la-carte model has been                     sales in the US, Japan and India.
overall album sales, and digital albums          better suited to the US compared to the
are proving especially popular in the            fragmented European market given the                    Music subscriptions continued, and
early days after a title’s release (ARIA).       comparatively low margins, which favour                 are expected to grow, account for
Some local artist releases, for example          large players and economies of scale.                   more than 5 per cent of digital sales
those by Australian artists Eskimo Joe,                                                                  in 2009 (IFPI). Services such as
Hilltop Hoods and Paul Dempsey, saw           Latin America closely follows Europe                       TDC PLAY, Nokia Comes With Music,
digital album sales of between 15 and         in terms of digital share, with nearly                     Spotify Premium and Vodafone drove
20 per cent of total first week sales.        15 per cent of revenues coming from                        this growth. Despite still accounting
                                              digital channels. Brazil is the biggest                    for a modest share of overall digital
Europe continues to lag behind in             digital market in the region and saw                       revenues, advertising-supported
digital adoption, with only around            the successful development of services                     revenues are also expected to
15 per cent of sales coming from              including Nokia Comes With Music and                       show strong growth in 2009. n
digital channels. In 2009 however,            Terra Sonora in 2009. Mexico saw the
Europe was the fastest growing region         introduction of the iTunes store in August
in terms of digital sales.                    2009 – the first in the region.

                                                                   11
Digital Music Report 2010

In Profile: Pioneers Of Digital Music

                                                           People thought after six months that they had
  Music To The Household                                   nothing to show for the money they had spent.
  Neil Martin, Business Development                        And who are we to determine how people should
  Director, Sky Songs                                      enjoy music? If people want to buy music in bursts,
                                                           we want their business.”
  The UK home entertainment company Sky’s music
  service, launched in partnership with all major and      Sky has invested heavily in editorial support for the
  many independent record companies in October             site. “You can’t just dump people in front of 150 years’
  2009, is the most high-profile tie-up to date            worth of repertoire and leave them to get on with it.
  between the music industry and an ISP.                   You need to help people explore and discover new
                                                           music otherwise they will be hit by choice paralysis.”
  “Sky is synonymous with premium content and
  great hi-tech driven solutions. We’re also known         “We understand this through our work in television,
  for our pioneering work in launching and growing         where schedulers provide choice that ensures people
  subscription services where people are happy             watch more than two or three of the 600 channels
  to pay for content. We therefore had skills in           available on the Sky platform. With Sky Songs,
  the company that were relevant to launching a            editorial can lead people to
  digital music service” says Neil Martin, business        explore certain genres or tracks.
  development director.                                    The other day, the most visited
                                                           page on the service was a playlist
  Sky Songs is part of the company’s broader move          of the greatest-ever funeral
  to multi-platform delivery, which includes the           songs, something that was driven
  launch of Sky Player on Xbox and mobile TV on the        by a piece of editorial.”
  iPhone. “The way people use media is changing.
  A mainstream audience is now comfortable with            Sky believes the increased
  enjoying content on different media – their phone,       adoption of digital services will
  their PC and their TV.”                                  be driven by the quality of the
                                                           user experience offered. “When
  The service offers music fans unlimited streaming of     we sold Sky Plus (a personal
  more than four million tracks and the opportunity to     video recorder service), we didn’t
  download an album or 10 individual tracks for £6.49      sell the technology, we sold what
  per month or 15 tracks for £7.99 per month. Users        it enabled you to do. Now it is in
  have the option of signing up for one month only.        25 per cent of UK homes. You
                                       “Subscription       don’t sell bits and bytes, you
                                        services that      sell the user experience. People
                                        locked people      enthused about Sky Plus to
                                       into long           their friends at parties or
                                       contracts without   down the pub. We want to
                                      the option of        generate such advocacy for
                                      downloading          Sky Songs because of the
                                      were not popular.    quality of the service.” n

                                                               12
In Profile: Pioneers Of Digital Music

Replacing Piracy
With Partnership
Jonathan Benassaya, CEO of Deezer

Deezer is a France-based ad-supported music
streaming service. It has made the migration from
being unlicensed and illegal to being a valued
partner to the music industry. “In the US, start-ups
usually begin in a garage; in Paris my partner started
out in the music business in my kitchen – launching
a website called blogmusik.net” says Jonathan
Benassaya. “He soon received letters from bodies
representing rights holders saying the service was
                            illegal and must be shut
                                down. He did that and then I sat down with him and the
                                rights holders to see if we could work out a way forward.”

                               The result was Deezer, a licensed and legal website that
                               users can access anywhere using a browser. The service
                              offers on demand music streaming, web radio and a smart
                              radio tool similar to Last.fm or Pandora. Once users have
                              listened to their own playlist a number of times they tend to
                              switch to web radio to find out about new hits or the smart
                              radio tool to discover new tracks. Deezer also offers a free
                              mobile application for its web radio service. For the on-
                              demand portable feature users pay €9.99 per month.

                              The company has gone from three people in August 2007
                              to 45 people to date. “Our focus is on profitability instead
                              of international expansion. That’s why we’ve done a huge
                              job in France trying to optimise everything - from the
                              music rights to the cost structure. We’ve grown from
                              100,000 unique visitors to 16 million across Europe,
                              including almost 12 million in France.” n

                               13
Digital Music Report 2010

                                                       Around 65-70 per cent of the music accessed on
                                                       Spotify is back catalogue rather than new releases,
                                                       with the service functioning highly effectively as
                                                       a music discovery tool. “Ultimately, it’s
                                                       because the platform is so quick and
                                                       it’s so easy to listen to whatever music
                                                       you want within three seconds.”

                                                       Spotify’s primary objective is to migrate
                                                       illegal file-sharers to its service, shifting
                                                       15-25 year old music fans to a legal
                                                       model that puts money back into the
                                                       creation of new music. The service is
                                                       also attracting music fans over the age
                                                       of 30 and this demographic has a much
                                                       higher conversion rate from Spotify’s
                                                       free service to its premium offering.
  Spot & Identify
  Daniel Ek, CEO of Spotify                            “If you take one per cent of all the radio
                                                       advertising and display advertising
  Spotify today offers registered users free access    revenue and put it into the digital music
  to more than 6.5 million tracks to stream, while     market then you have the equivalent of
  premium services enable fans that pay a monthly      16-20 per cent of the UK digital music
  fee to listen to music on their mobile handsets      market. So it’s not impossible to build
  and to strip away the advertising that supports      an advertising-supported service that
  the free model.                                      delivers revenues for the music industry,
                                                       but ultimately it’s the mix between this
  “In 2006 when we started working on the project,     model and paid models that will help
  the company was just me and a colleague.             grow overall revenue.”
  We quickly hired another four guys. When we
  launched in October 2008 we had around 40            Spotify is planning international
  people on the staff. Right now, there are about      expansion. The company is partnering
  110 people working for the company.”                 with tom.com, the biggest internet portal
                                                       in China, which also has established
  “When I launched Spotify, I felt there was an        partnerships with handset manufacturers
  inconsistency between how people consumed            and telecoms. “Chinese people are very
  music and the way the business model worked.         used to paying for mobile
  We are now using technology to bridge a business     content. That’s something
  problem and make it more accessible for              that’s been proved over
  consumers to get music. At the same time,            and over.”
  the protection of the content is important so that
  the revenues derived flow back to the artists.”      In the US, Spotify’s
                                                       goal is to increase the
  Ek believes that the digital music business in       number of subscribers
  Europe can grow at least fourfold in the next        to a music service
  few years. “We’ve been focusing on the user          by a factor of five.
  experience. Our aim has been to do something         “This is obviously a huge
  that consumers love and then figure out how to       task and might take a couple years to reach.” n
  monetise it.”

                                                           14
In Profile: Pioneers Of Digital Music

The Pioneer ISP
Tejs Bautrup, Music Manager,
TDC Play

TDC was the first ISP worldwide to offer a free-
to-user music access service. Customers can         The company has seen competitors enter the
access the service through their computer at        market in Denmark, but these all offer standalone
home or their mobile phone if they are on the       subscriptions for around US$14 per month, while
TDC network.                                        the TDC service is free to customers and also offers
                                                    unlimited streaming. “We think that the launch
By November 2009, the company reported that         of TDC PLAY has had some impact on piracy in
more than 140 million downloads had been            Denmark. A third-party survey last year suggested
made using the service, the equivalent of 2.5       that 40 per cent of PLAY customers said they have
downloads a second since launch. The hundred        stopped engaging in music piracy.”
most popular artists accounted for 35 per cent
of all downloaded tracks and 50 per cent of the     “We were the pioneers in offering this type of
tracks available had been downloaded in the first   service for consumers and we are proud of that.
year of launch.                                     We have had people from around the world asking
                                                    about how it can be imitated. This is a genuinely
“The Danish market has a high rate of customer      new way of looking at the online music market.” n
churn in the broadband market. TDC PLAY
has allowed us to reduce our churn among our
broadband customers.”

                                       15
                                       33
Digital Music Report 2010

                                                there’s a significant opportunity to
                                                build a large and global audience,
                                                perhaps the largest audience around
                                                music there’s ever been.”

                                                Music videos and related content are
                                                embedded in YouTube, but will also be
                                                available on VEVO’s own website and
                                                through many other platforms. There
                                                is a huge potential audience. Some
                                                450 million people a month worldwide
                                                visit YouTube and more than 60 per
    A New Take On                               cent of them consume some form of
                                                music programming. The site became
    Music Videos                                the largest music video network on the
    Rio Caraeff, CEO Of Vevo                    web when it launched in December
                                                and will roll-out to key territories
    VEVO is a new concept created               worldwide this year.
    in partnership between Google’s
    YouTube, Universal Music and                “Music videos are largely the same
    Sony Music. The organisation has            as they have been for the last 30
    also signed a multi-year licence with       years. They don’t reflect the transition
    EMI Music. With three of the four           from being primarily consumed
    major record labels on board and            on television, a linear medium, to
    partnerships with independent music         the internet, which is a two-way
    companies including The Orchard             communication platform.”
    and INgrooves, VEVO offers 85 per
    cent of the music videos available          The company is focused on
    on the market and is looking to sign        advertising and integrated brand
    future deals with additional music          sponsorship. Caraeff brushes off
    companies. It aims to create a better       fears that such revenue may not be
    music video experience for fans and         available in tight economic times.
    a more attractive online environment        “Online video advertising grew by 300
    for advertisers.                            per cent last year, with brands looking
                                                for more premium content than is
    “The idea behind VEVO is for music          currently available.”
    companies to be more responsible
    for their destiny. We’re not trying to      “We will be producing new original
    protect old business models, we’re          programming and we will be licensing
    only focused on what’s best for the         in content that’s never been made
    music lover. If we can do that then         available before. Music video will form
    we will be interesting to artists, labels   the foundation of what is VEVO but it
    and advertisers. Doing things the old       won’t end at music videos, it will just
    way is clearly not working. We think        grow from there.” n

                                                              16
In Profile: Pioneers Of Digital Music

                                                           Brazil is the number one market for Nokia Comes
               From Handset                                With Music. By the end of the third quarter of
               Makers To                                   2009, Comes With Music had claimed around
                                                           10 per cent of the digital music market in Brazil.
               Music Providers                             This success is partly put down to the fact that
               Tero Ojanpero, Executive VP                 the phones are not sold there without premium
               Of Services, Nokia                          CWM music service. Availability of licensed local
                                                           repertoire is also important - Nokia secured a
               Nokia Comes With Music (CWM) was            catalogue of six million tracks including 200
               one of the most high-profile launches       Brazilian independents and more than 2,000
               of 2008 and 2009 saw it roll out to         international independent labels.
              13 countries around the world.
                                                           Ojanpero says: “Each market is unique and
“We are optimistic about the digital music business        you need to align different things: the service
and how it can expand. We want to make music               needs to be great, you need a great mobile
discovery as simple as possible and remove                 device, a good approach to the market and
obstacles” says Tero Ojanpero. “CWM is a service           channel support from the retailers and operators.
that’s part of your handset – you get unlimited            Only by aligning all of those things can you can
downloads and you keep them forever. That’s the            get a scalable model.” n
special selling point, and there is no other service
with these terms available in the marketplace.”

                                                           Top100.cn is
A Legitimate Foothold                                      licensed by
                                                           the majors
In China                                                   and 10,000
Gary Chen, CEO Of Top100.cn                                independent
                                                           labels to make
China’s digital music landscape remains dominated          four million
by mass-scale copyright infringer Baidu and other          tracks available.
“deep link” infringing distributors. However, a very       The company
small legitimate sector is battling to gain a foothold.    currently
Top100.cn is the streaming and downloading service         facilitates five
behind the Google music search in China, launched          million music
in March 2009. The company aims its service at             streams and downloads daily.
the 217 million online users in China that stream or
download music illegally. “We are the first licensed       “It is a labour intensive task to add extra tracks
service to really exploit this user base and take on the   to the service. We have 60 full-time and 30 part-
pirate services.”                                          time staff working on this. We have to wait for
                                                           clearance to use tracks and only distribute them
Gary Chen thinks he can take on pirate                     when they are officially released. Pirate services
services by offering a better user experience.             do not operate under those restrictions.”
“We provide access to music for free in just two
clicks, compared with the three clicks it takes on         The service places cost-per-click advertising and
unlicensed sites. We offer 100,000 Chinese tracks          targets international brands that want to reach
alone, representing virtually all the local repertoire     younger consumers in China, now the world’s
ever digitised and licensed.”                              second largest advertising market. n

                                                 17
Digital Music Report 2010

Competing In A Rigged Market –
The Problem Of Illegal File Sharing
“We can no longer invest in new artists in the way we would like.”
  Salvador Cufi, Chairman of indie label Musica Global

 Piracy – The impact on sales                   relationship between file-sharing and sales    increased their file-sharing activity
 Music companies and legitimate music           of sound recordings.” Research from            in 2008 did so “because it’s free”.
 services are trying to build their online      Harris Interactive in 2009 among 3,400         In Norway, research by Norstat in 2009
 business in a rigged market deluged by         online consumers aged 16-54 in the             also found the most cited reason for
 unauthorised free content. The growth          UK highlighted that nearly one in four         illegal downloading from P2P
 of illegal file-sharing has been a major       P2P file-sharers (24%) typically spend         services was “because it’s free”.
 factor in the decline in legitimate music      nothing on music, while also finding an        Further studies came to broadly
 sales over the last decade, with global        overlap of legal and illegal downloading       the same conclusion in Japan
 industry revenues down around 30 per           among some file-sharers.                       and Belgium in 2009 (IFPI).
 cent from 2004 to 2009. In virtually
 every country of the world, spending on         Jupiter Research study in five
                                                A
 recorded music has fallen since illegal        European countries among 5,000
 file-sharing became widespread.                internet users aged 15 and over in 2009
                                                found that, although there is an overlap
 All but a few of the independent surveys       between the habits of online music
 confirm that the net impact of illegal         buyers and file-sharers, most illegal file-
 file-sharing is to reduce spending on          sharers “do not buy music and are nearly
 legitimate music. Most academic studies        half as likely as music buyers to buy CDs
 exploring the dramatic fall in sales           in a high street shop or from an online
 of recorded music conclude that the            store.” The study also finds that the net
 damage caused by illegal file-sharing          effect of illegal file-sharing is negative.
 is a major factor in the decline.              “Although it is possible that file-sharing
                                                functions as some sort of discovery tool
 These include Norbert Michael (The             for those digital music buyers that also
 Impact of Digital File-Sharing on the          file-share, it is reasonable to assume that
 Music Industry: An Empirical Analysis,         their spend would be higher if they were
 2006), Rob & Waldfogel (Piracy on the          not file-sharing. The overall impact of file
 High C’s, 2006) and Alejandro Zenter           sharing on music spending is negative.”
 (Measuring the Effect of File Sharing
 on Music Purchases, 2003).                     The lure of free
                                                A separate body of research helps
  2006 study by Professor Stan Liebowitz,
 A                                              explain why illegal file-sharing is having
 File-Sharing: Creative Destruction             this impact on consumer behaviour,
 or Just Plain Destruction? concludes:          confirming the main driver of piracy to
 “The papers that have examined the             be not better choice or quality, but the
 impact of file-sharing can be categorised      “lure of free”. Researchers GFK found
 by result and by methodology. By results       that “because it’s free” was the main
 the classification is quite simple. There is   answer given among over 400 illegal file-
 one study (Oberholzer and Strumpf, 2004)       sharers in research unveiled in Sweden
 that claims to find a zero impact but it       in July 2009. A study by Entertainment
 has been frequently discredited. All the       Media Research in the UK found that
 other studies find some degree of negative     71 per cent of those who admitted they

                                                                    18
Competing In A Rigged Market

                                                                                                The Spanish legitimate music
It is the “free-to-user” appeal of illegal                                                      market is now only one third

                                                      1 in 4:
file-sharing that creates its unfair                                                            of its size in 2001 and fell by
advantage over legitimate music                                                                 around 17 per cent in 2009 alone.
services, whose cost base, including                                                            Local artist album sales in the
payments to artists and copyright                     P2P file-sharers                          Top 50 declined by 65 per cent
holders, cannot compete with the free                 typically spend                           between 2004 and 2009.
illegal alternative. This, more than any
other factor, explains why the growth                 nothing on music                        n In Brazil, music sales fell by more
of an innovative and entrepreneurial                                                             than 40 per cent between 2005 and
legitimate music sector is being stunted                                                         2009, with a disastrous impact
in the absence of an effective response                                                          on investment in local repertoire.
to digital piracy.                                                                               In 2008 there were only 67 full
                                                Live performance earnings are                    priced local artist album releases
The impact on local talent                      generally more to the benefit of                 by the five biggest music companies
Illegal file-sharing has also had a very        veteran, established acts, while                 in Brazil – just one tenth of the
significant, and sometimes disastrous,          it is the younger developing acts,               number (625) a decade earlier.
impact on investment in artists and local       without lucrative live careers, who              This has been particularly
repertoire. With their revenues eroded by       do not have the chance to develop                damaging in a market where
              piracy, music companies have      their reputation through recorded                70 per cent of music consumed
              far less to plough back into      music sales.                                     is domestic repertoire.
              local artist development. Much
              has been made of the idea that    Clear evidence of this impact can             New forms of piracy emerge
              growing live music revenues       be seen in markets including France,          Although P2P file-sharing remains the
              can compensate for the fall-off   Spain and Brazil.                             most damaging form of piracy due to
              in recorded music sales, but                                                    the volume of files shared by users,
              this is, in reality, a myth.      n In France, there has been a striking       the last two years have seen a sharp
                                                   fall in the number of local repertoire     rise in non-P2P piracy, such as
                                                   albums released in recent years.           downloading from hosting sites,
                                                   In the first half of 2009, 107 French-     mobile piracy, stream ripping, instant
                                                   repertoire albums were released,           message sharing and downloading
                                                   60 per cent down on the 271                from forums and blogs.
                                                   in the same period of 2003.
                                                   French artist signings have also           According to a study by Jupiter
                                                   slumped by 60 per cent, from               Research in 2009, about one in
                                                   91 in the first half of 2002 to 35         five people across Europe’s top
                                                   in the same period of 2009.                markets (21%) are engaged in
                                                   Overall investment in marketing            frequent unauthorised music-sharing.
                                                   and promotion by the French music          P2P piracy is still the biggest single
                                                   industry fell nine per cent in the first   source of this, with around two-thirds
                                                   six months of 2009. It is estimated        of music sharers file-swapping on
                                                   that 25 per cent of the French internet    P2P networks despite the increase
                                                   population currently download music        in non-network file-sharing.
                                                   illegally from P2P networks or other
                                                   sources on a monthly basis (Jupiter        Research by Harris Interactive in
                                                   Research, 2009).                           the UK shows that, although P2P
                                                                                              piracy is the single biggest problem
                                                n In Spain, a culture of state-tolerated     and did not diminish in 2009, the
                                                   apathy towards illegal file-sharing        illegal distribution of infringing music
                                                   has contributed to a dramatic slump        through non-P2P channels is growing
                                                   in the music market. Spain has the         considerably. The research showed the
                                                   worst online piracy problem of any         biggest increases in usage for overseas
                                                   major market in Europe. Today, P2P         unlicensed MP3 pay sites (47%) and
                                                   usage in Spain, at 32 per cent of          newsgroups (42%). Other significant
                                                   internet users, is more than double        rises included MP3 search engines
* By
    the five                                       the European rate of 15 per cent           (28%) and forum, blog and board
 biggest music                                     (Jupiter Research, 2009).                  links to cyberlockers (18%). n
 companies

                                                                   19
Digital Music Report 2010

‘Climate Change’ For All Creative Industries

“We are in danger of creating a world where nothing appears to have any value at all,
  and the things that we make...will become scarce or disappearing commodities.”
  Stephen Garrett, Chief Executive, Kudos

 Piracy’s impact on the                     business and you’re going to start
 creative sector                            seeing piracy of novels and reference
 For years digital piracy has been a        books.” Renshaw passionately believes
 problem most associated with music.        that the stakes involved go far wider         The cost of digital
 Today, however, creative industries        than the music industry. “What I worry        piracy for creative
 including movie, publishing and
 television, regard “monetising” the
                                            about is that we are heading into a
                                            world where copyright has no value and
                                                                                          industries
 online world and addressing digital        where there’s no incentive for anyone to      n Major film release Wolverine
 piracy as their greatest challenges.       provide patronage and support for the            was illegally downloaded
                                            creators of intellectual property.”              100,000 times in 24 hours
 “The music industry was hit first, but
 now with increased broadband you           He says the world has transformed,            n Six out of 10 music file-
 have a situation where all the creative    for both young and established artists           sharers in the UK also illegally
 industries are at a tipping point” says    and the economy of jobs and activity that        download films
 Simon Renshaw, Los Angeles-based           surround them. “We’re dealing with this
 manager of a long list of major artists    every week – everything that you can afford   n Illegal distribution of TV
 including the Dixie Chicks. “You can see   to do around a record is greatly reduced         content is growing faster than
 it in the collapsing DVD market; you can   and that also means that everything that         music and movie piracy
 see what’s going on in TV, newspapers      you’re spending with video companies,
 and magazines. And now we’re seeing        with hotels, with airlines, with graphic
 the same thing in the book publishing      artists, make up - everything’s reduced,

                                                               20
‘Climate Change’ For All Creative Industries

maybe by 70 per cent. The money is
not there anymore. And if there are no     “We have to find a way of funding our future and not pretend
rock stars the whole industry and the        that new revenue models are magically going to rescue us as
people working in it suffer.”                the world of recorded music is destroyed by piracy .”
Movie and TV piracy grows                    Björn Ulvaeus, singer-songwriter, formerly of ABBA
The movie industry is also seeing the
impact of digital piracy. The MPA,
representing movie studios, estimates     downloading of his company’s shows,
that illegal streaming and                such as the acclaimed series Spooks,
film downloads now account for            is threatening the future of TV and film
40 per cent of its piracy problem         companies. He calls this a moment of
by volume. Case studies around            “climate change of the entertainment
blockbuster movies show how top films     industries” across the creative sector.
now suffer from the same digital piracy   “We are nurturing a generation who
problems as popular albums. Pre-release   are growing up to believe not only that
copies of Wolverine                                              everything is free
were downloaded                                                   but that everything
100,000 times in                                                  should be free.
24 hours after a leak
in April 2009. In              US$1.4                             And the problem
                                                                  with that is what
2008, seven million
copies of Batman:
                               trillion:                          we do - making
                                                                  music, television
Dark Knight were                The value of the                 programmes and
downloaded on                                                    films - is incredibly
BitTorrent. This has            entertainment and                expensive. We
a ripple effect across          media industry                   are in danger of
the industry, on                                                 creating a world
investment                      in 2009 (PWC)                    where nothing
and jobs. In the US                                              appears to have
alone, the film                                                  any value at all,
and television                                                   and the things that
industries are estimated to employ 2.5    we make, which do have real value,
million people, according to MPA.         will become scarce or disappearing
                                          commodities. And that’s also threatening
The problem is highlighted by Judy        hundreds of thousands of jobs –
Craymer, producer of both stage and       not the fabulously wealthy or
film versions of Mamma Mia, the UK        the fat cats – these are drivers,
film industry’s biggest ever box office   electricians, carpenters,
success. “It is clear that the technology ordinary working people.
that has so badly damaged the music       The combination of piracy
business is now fast catching up with     and recession is a pretty potent
movies and TV – and it’s a frightening    job killer.”
prospect. Creative film making needs
the revenues that come from sales of      Garrett sees the solution as a
works – but these are now being eroded    combination of “monetisation” and
as they are downloaded rampantly          legislation engaging ISPs in curbing
across the world. There is virtually      piracy. “The music industry blazed an
no perception of risk in this activity,   impressive trail and is probably ahead
even if most people know, as they         of all the creative industries in terms of
do, that stealing other people’s work     finding ways of monetising the products
is illegal and wrong.”                    of their labours. That said, it clearly has
                                          an enormous piracy problem. So we
The television industry also raised       have to do our best to plug the gaps
the alarm over digital piracy in 2009.    and curtail illegal activity.” The impact
Stephen Garrett, executive chairman of    of film piracy is being felt worldwide.
television company Kudos, says mass       In the UK alone, a 2009 report by

                                                               21
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