Licensing Revenue Boom For Artists In 2012

Music licensing revenue streams are leading revenue growth in the recording industry, with performance rights revenues the fastest growing sector in 2012.

Released last night, the International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry [IFPI]'s Recording Industry In Numbers 2013 report has revealed that performance rights revenues grew by 9.4 percent globally to a total of $943 million – six percent of total recorded music revenues.

Despite the growth the report says there is still a lot of untapped potential for performance rights revenue. The US, China and Japan don't have a public performance right and IFPI argued, “Rates paid by third party business are still too low in many countries, not compensating artists and producers fairly for their music.”

In Australia, the sixth biggest music market in the world, the PPCA are the performance rights music licensing company (and therefore the supplier of figures to IFPI) and the nation is ranked eighth globally in the value of performance rights collected. By comparison the local industry is ranked fifth for digital sales, sixth for physical sales and sixth for synchronisation. Performance rights accounted for six percent of recorded music sales' value locally last year, with digital at 47 percent, physical at 45 percent and synchronisation at two percent.

Today a representative from the PPCA told theMusic.com.au, “In 2012 PPCA distributed a record $29 million to registered Australian artists and [record labels], an increase of 13 percent on the previous year… There are currently over 1,200 licensors [artists and labels] registered with PPCA, with an increasing number of artists registering directly with PPCA under the Direct Artist Distribution.

“In addition there are also more artists who act as their own record label, and register with PPCA in that capacity. These numbers continue to grow as we pro-actively encourage more and more artists and labels to register with PPCA, in order to claim revenue when their music is used in a commercial context.”

In the report, which is available here, IFPI CEO Frances Moore said, “After more than a decade of decline, the industry is on the path to recovery, with global revenues increasing for the first time since 1999. At an international level, there is a renewed sense of optimism. This development has not happened by accident. The music industry has adapted to the digital world. Today, it provides consumers with the experiences they want and is successfully monetising music through a range of business models.

Once again she urged governments, internet service providers, advertisers and search engines to step in against internet piracy.

“Some of these are doing encouraging things; some are not doing nearly enough,” she said. “Moving the needle on intermediary cooperation in fighting piracy is a top priority for IFPI in 2013.”