Global royalty collections for song rights holders rose 7.6 percent last year to a new high of 11.75 billion euros ($10.9 billion, based on the average exchange rate for 2023), according to CISAC (the International Confederation of Societies of Writers and Composers). the Paris-based trade organization of collective societies. Much of the growth came from two categories: digital collections rose 9.6% to 4.52 billion euros ($4.18 billion), while live music and background music rights rose 21.8% — fueled by largely from concerts—to surpass the pre-pandemic total from 2019 .
The major collecting societies have all had good years, but the CISAC report offers unparalleled insight into a complex but important part of the music publishing business. (CISAC includes other collecting societies outside the music business, but publications represent most of these rights, which, in turn, are more important to music than to other businesses. through CISAC member societies and not direct deals.) No big surprises here: Digital has been the main driver of growth recently, more than doubling in five years from €2.06 billion ($1.90 billion) in 2019 to €4.52 billion ($4.18 billion dollars). ) last year — although last year's 9.6% growth was lower than in any of the previous four. Digital now accounts for 38.5% of collections, more than any other category.
Collections for broadcasts and live concerts and background music represent the other two main sources of revenue, accounting for 28.7% and 26.1% respectively. (Background music refers to compositions played in public, in restaurants, shops or bars, for example.) TV and radio royalties fell 5.3% to 3.37 billion euros ($3.11 billion) after from a significant jump in the previous year. They have remained fairly stable over the last half decade.
Live music and background music figures are more complicated due to the disruption caused by the pandemic. Last year those categories grew to 3.06 billion euros ($2.82 billion), fueled mainly by the return of live music revenue, which in some regions may lag behind live music events. More significantly, this represents a 12.7% jump from 2019.
Collecting societies do most of their business in Europe and the US. CISAC has one category for Western Europe and another for the USA and Canada. Western European collections were up 8.2%, while those in the US and Canada were up 7.8%. Overall, Europe accounts for more than half of the collective management company's total revenue, and the US and Canada together account for another 27.1%. Asia-Pacific rights shrank 0.3%, mainly due to currency fluctuations in Japan, without which the region would have grown 6.8%. The fastest-growing region is Latin America, up 26.2%—and up 108.2% over the past two years—although it only accounts for 5.9% of the total market. Africa, where executives have seen huge potential for years, is still growing very slowly – 3.2% to 0.6% of the total market.
CISAC's overall collections also rose 7.6% to €13.09 billion ($12.1 billion), also an all-time high, with digital up 9.6% to €4.62 billion ($4. 3 billion dollars). (This includes collecting societies for other media, such as writing and visual art, which many countries in Europe have.)
Bulletin board will follow this news with a more extensive analysis of growth areas, the future of various markets and how this business can grow in the coming years.
