New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ IFPI) - IFPI today publishes the Recording
Industry in Numbers 2010 (RIN), providing a comprehensive picture of key trends of today's music business. Highlights include:
Global recorded music revenues declined 7% in 2009
Some key markets saw a return to growth
Digital sales grew strongly in many markets
Piracy continued to erode legitimate music sales worldwide
Commenting on the new edition of the RIN, IFPI chairman and CEO John Kennedy says:
"The global music business is continuing to fight its corner, investing in talent and developing new business models despite the problems of a market rigged by piracy. Music companies are investing over US$5 billion a year in developing and marketing artists, licensing hundreds of services and adapting their distribution channels to meet changing consumer demand.
"Global music sales in 2009 fell by 7%. This is disappointing, but amid the decline there are some very positive points. No fewer than thirteen countries saw music sales grow in 2009, including important markets such as Australia, Brazil, South Korea, Sweden and the UK. Digital sales in some of those markets rose at very encouraging rates, reflecting the new opportunities of online and mobile channels. South Korea and Sweden in particular saw striking returns to growth, showing how an improved legal environment can help impact on legitimate music sales.
"Reducing piracy is critical if these improvements are going to translate into long term recovery for our global business. Here too there are encouraging developments. France and the UK, in particular, are leading the way with new legislation. There is a huge battle ahead, but also signs that the tide of opinion among governments is shifting as piracy's impact on the economy and jobs becomes clear. There is no doubt in my mind that growth is within reach for the music business - it depends, to a large extent, on how quickly governments can act to deal with piracy and, in doing so, tackle a market distortion that overshadows not just music but all the creative industries."
Highlights of the RIN 2010
Global recorded music sales
Global recorded music sales for 2009 show a mixed picture. Trade revenues to record companies fell by 7.2% to US$17 billion, with the world's two biggest markets, the US and Japan, making up 80% of the decline. The worldwide fall in revenues outside the US and Japan in 2009 was 3.2%. Physical sales fell by 12.7% globally.
There are key areas of market growth, however. Digital music sales rose by 9.2% to US$4.3 billion, more than ten times the digital market value in 2004. Digital channels now account for 25.3% of all trade revenues to record companies. In the US, digital sales account for nearly half - 43% - of the recorded music market. More than 30 countries saw double-digit growth rates in digital sales, and 17 markets, including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Singapore, Sweden and UK, saw digital sales grow by more than 40%.
There was a return to growth in 13 markets, including Australia, Mexico, South Korea, Sweden and the UK. Improving legal environments in the last two to three years in South Korea and Sweden - combined with the launch of popular legitimate services - helped both countries to market growth rates of 10% in 2009.
New licensing models progress
There are now more than 12 million tracks available from over 400 legal music services worldwide. They range from download stores such as Amazon or iTunes to video streaming sites such as YouTube and audio streaming services such as Deezer and Spotify. Some ISPs, such as Sky, TDC and Telia, have already partnered with record labels or digital retailers to deliver legitimate music services.
A recent study by Ovum in the UK suggests that if ISPs themselves offer music services, they could boost their revenues. The UK study, published in March 2010, suggested that ISPs could generate more than �100 million by 2013.
Key markets show impact of piracy
Spain (-14.3%) and Canada (-7.4%), countries with some of the world's weakest legal defences against piracy, show the sharpest falls, along with Italy, over a decade among the top 10 markets. Spain, where illegal file-sharing is more than double the average rate in Europe, has seen the biggest market fall, down 60% since 1999. Canada, practically the only government of a developed country not to have implemented international copyright treaties agreed over a decade ago, is a major source of the world's piracy problem. A disproportionate number of illegal sites are hosted on Canadian soil.
Research in March 2010 measured the economic impact of piracy on the creative industries. Tera Consultants suggest that the EU could lose 1.2 million jobs across the creative sector by 2015 if no effective action is taken to tackle piracy.
Peer-to-peer (P2P) piracy remains the most prevalent channel for illegal distribution of unauthorised content, accounting for more than 20% of internet traffic globally. In Latin America this increases to 35% and in Europe to 29%. (Sandvine, Global Broadband Phenomena 2009).
Susan Boyle tops global album sales
Susan Boyle had the best global selling album of 2009 with I Dreamed a Dream, which sold 8.3 million units. This figure was sharply up on the 6.8 million copies of Coldplay's Viva La Vida which topped the global album charts in 2008. The death of Michael Jackson, aged just 50, propelled three albums of his work into the global top ten. Two were compilation albums and the third was Thriller, his seminal 1982 album, widely believed to be the best-selling title of all time.
Top 10 global selling albums 2009:
Susan Boyle - I Dreamed a Dream
Black Eyed Peas - The E.N.D.(The Energy Never Dies)
Michael Jackson - This Is It
Taylor Swift - Fearless
Lady Gaga - The Fame
Michael Bubl� - Crazy Love
U2 - No Line on the Horizon
Michael Jackson - Thriller
Michael Jackson - Number Ones
Andrea Bocelli - My Christmas
Performance rights income
Global performance rights revenues - generated from the use of music by third party businesses in broadcast and public performance - have shown considerable resilience in the face of tough economic conditions, growing by 7.6% in 2009 to US$0.8 billion. This reflects an unbroken trend of growth since 2003, with performance rights revenues now accounting for 4.6% of record companies' trade revenues.
Broader music industry declines in value
The broader music industry, which takes in areas including radio advertising, live performance sales and the sale of audio equipment fell 8% to an estimated US$140 billion in 2009. Live music, songwriters' music copyrights and the performance rights market were the only sectors showing growth in 2009. Growth in live music revenues (up 4%) has slowed significantly in the last three years.
