It has been a strange time for industries throughout the pandemic and like many, music publishing has had to adapt. Last year we wrote a blog post about possible income streams throughout Covid-19 and how to survive in these challenging times. Now we are getting back to some form of normality, it raises questions what developments we should expect to see in this sector of the industry.
According to a Mordor Intelligence report, the Music Publishing market was valued at $4813.9 million in 2020 and is expected to reach $7265.02 million by 2026, so it is a vital sector of the industry, and one that is ever changing and important to keep up with.
Taking inspiration from other areas of the industry, here are some predictions for the next few months:
- A key market: Latin America. Streaming has undoubtedly increased during the pandemic, but the market which has seen the most growth is Latin America. If this is an area of interest to you, it’s worth doing research into the trends and charts over in Latin America. Genres such as reggaeton, salsa and rumba have always been popular, but Spotify compile the charts in each country which you can listen to no matter your own location. Use these as inspiration to write your own tracks that may fit in well with the music scene in Latin America. Whilst master copyrights will be collected by your distributor, most streaming platforms also pay for the performance and mechanical royalties, so it’s important to be registered with a PRO to collect these.
- Livestreams/virtual performances. The copyrights involved in livestreamed performances remain a grey area, with some arguing that it involves synchronisation, and others classing it as a broadcast. PRS advise a licence is needed if you are communicating work to the public on your website. This includes the Online Live Concerts Licence, which can be purchased from their website. If you are using YouTube or Facebook, you should already be covered by the licences held by these platforms. It is also worth noting that this licence will only cover the composition, so a licence will also be needed for the recording. This can be purchased through PPL. Livestreams are a great opportunity to connect with fans which may be difficult to do so during the current climate as we wait for the return of ‘normal’ gigs. So engaging with your audience as much as possible to build connections, and using them as a means of directing online traffic to other sources of income, such as your streaming profiles, will benefit any musician.
- Music synchronisation. Whilst we saw some downtime during the pandemic due to the pause in filming of many TV series and films, this industry has now started up again. With this comes the need for music. Heavy investment has been fed into the industry on a global scale, with the German government alone investing an extra €45 million into the film industry. Pitching your track to music supervisors can be time consuming, which is the benefit of working with a publisher such as Anara Publishing, we have strong connections and relationships with the sync industry all over the world, so you never know where your song may be used! A recent success story includes Anara Publishing landing a sync licence with Apple in India for an advert to launch their new online store.
Whilst the future is never certain, there are positive developments in the industry to look forward to. At Anara Publishing we are excited for what the future holds and creating as many opportunities as possible for our clients.