The record-breaking Music Matters 2017 presented by Tencent will see a huge focus on streaming and how the technology has permanently altered the industry.
The complex predictive algorithms behind the seemingly simple playlists are now enabling personalization, garnering unprecedented engagement and therefore, generating revenues in billions.
In its Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2017-2021 report, PwC predicted that Internet streaming will become the largest source of global recorded music sales in 2017 as revenues from services including Spotify and Apple Music surpass sales of CDs and vinyl records for the first time.
The report goes on to say that streaming revenues will rise an impressive 37 percent to $9.1billion in 2017, driven by further adoption of streaming around the world.
Streaming is one of the hot topics to be debated at All That Matters (ATM), Asia’s leading music, sports and entertainment industry festival, which is taking place until Sept. 13 at The Ritz-Carlton Millenia, Singapore.
Part of the award winning ATM festival and now in its 12th year, Music Matters 2017 boasts 12 keynotes, 35 speakers new to the event, plus a stellar line-up from the music industry’s glitterati including Cussion Pang (CEO, Tencent Music Entertainment Group), Lyor Cohen (Global Head of Music, YouTube), Hartwig Masuch (CEO, BMG), Alex Zhu (CEO, Musical.ly), Charles Caldas (CEO, Merlin), Joshua Burke (Global Head of Music Sourcing, The Coca-Cola Company), Jeremy Wineberg (Co-founder, Heard Well), Norman Halim (Group CEO, KRU Music), Paras Sharma (SVP and GM, Viacom International Media Networks), T. Jay Fowler (Director, YouTube), Tom Windish (Senior Executive, Paradigm Talent Agency), and Will Page (Director of Economics, Spotify), attendees will have the opportunity to hear from, and pose questions to, some of the leading players who are driving the industry.
Streaming has led to the growth of the music industry in markets that were not necessarily viewed as profitable or mainstream in the past. According to Charles Caldas, CEO at Merlin, the emergence and global growth of streaming services has created a truly global marketplace for its labels, regardless of where they are from.
“Not only are we seeing labels from the West discovering significant new audiences in South America, Asia and Russia, we are equally seeing labels in South America and Asia finding audiences in the West. We are only just starting to understand the impact of this global marketplace, but we feel strongly that for our labels, the streaming market is delivering revenues from previously untapped markets, and opening the market to new players in a way that is unprecedented in the music business,” he added.
According to the IPFI Global Music report, year-on-year streaming revenue saw a growth of 60.4 percent in 2016 driven by the 112 million users of paid music streaming subscriptions. Growth in streaming more than offset a 20.5 percent decline in downloads and a 7.6 percent decline in physical music revenue over the same period.
Record companies have continued to fuel this revenue growth through ongoing investment, not only in artists, but also in the systems supporting digital platforms, which has allowed for the licensing of over 40 million tracks across hundreds of services.
Jasper Donat, co-founder & CEO of All That Matters organizer Branded, said, “The music business has recorded one of the most stellar comeback stories of all time and Music Matters will be celebrating its renaissance. From almost zero to digital hero the music industry is driving the entertainment agenda, causing other media and entertainment industries to sit up and take notice.”
“The Music Matters conference is presented by Tencent and this year showcases the game-changers in China plus the global streaming platforms that have driven growth alongside multi-national brands,, we’ve got the entire music ecosystem covered and fully expect their cousins in sport, online entertainment and gaming to learn a lot from the music programme this year,” he added.