Even though it’s become a dominant (if not the dominant) force in music accessibility, the long-term viability and commercial placement of streaming is still up in the air, and everybody you talk to picks a different side.
But what few would have expected was streaming to be responsible for a rise in online revenue for music publishers, let alone indie publishers. In 2016 that revenue surged by 60%, and streaming was the reason for the payout.
Still want to point the finger at streaming for stealing artists’ money? Indie publishers saw their best online revenue in years thanks to the growing medium.
The figures come from IMPEL, who licenses 46 independent music publishers across Europe and America, covering material from David Bowie, Ed Sheeran, Mark Ronson, The Weeknd and more.
Jane Dyball, CEO of IMPEL said:
“IMPEL is a major player now in the digital space. By uniting their repertoire and pro-actively engaging with the digital community the independent publishers are operating on a par with the majors.”
“IMPEL is growing in all directions and 2017 is going to be a ground-breaking year for us.”
The rise was mainly caused by the revenue garnered from huge artists, like the two babes pictured above, signed to independents (SONGS Music Publishing and and Allido respectively).
It’s interesting to see independents, under the banner of IMPEL or otherwise, come up against the world’s biggest majors considering their longstanding dominance. Hopefully the upwards trend continues.
How will artists release their music in the digital age? Read: Saying goodbye to the walrus: Is 2017 the beginning of the end for the album format?
