Beggars Group chairman Martin Mills has revealed that more than a fifth of the label group’s digital revenues came from streaming music in 2012, with Spotify its biggest single source of streaming revenues.
The Guardian reports that 22% of Beggars’ digital revenues came from streaming services, and that ‘the majority of its artists earn more now from track streams than track downloads’ – bolstered by the company’s decision to pay artists 50% of streaming royalties.
The article also has some numbers on how much indie labels are making from YouTube streams specifically, with Cooking Vinyl saying it gets $5k per million views on Google’s video service ‘under certain circumstances’ – those circumstances being related to the kind of ads being shown around videos.
The label’s YouTube views doubled between February and November 2012, while its revenue more than doubled. “We’re anticipating YouTube becoming our most important revenue stream in the future,” claims Cooking Vinyl’s Richard Leach.
Both sets of figures should bolster awareness that while year-end CD and download unit-sales figures tell part of the story of the music industry’s growth, streaming – both audio and video – must be factored in to get a truly accurate picture.
Tools: platforms to help you reach new audiences
Tools: Kaiber
In the year or so since its launch, AI startup Kaiber has been making waves,…