Music Business

Psy’s “Gangnam Style” has already become YouTube’s most watched video, but this morning the smash hit hit one billion views, making it the first video on the Internet to reach the marker, according to Billboard. The K-Pop smash hit has tallied up 6.5 million views a day, far surpassing the 813 million views Justin Bieber’s “Baby” has accumulated. Bieber’s clip gets about 300,000 views per day, meaning it won’t reach a billion until late 2014.

With a reported rate of $2 per 1,000 views on YouTube, “Gangnam Style” has generated $2,000,000 from the site alone. Psy has also pulled in nearly $4 million in digital downloads, with more than 3 million singles sold for $1.29 a pop, and $50,000 from streaming services. [RollingStone]

Who made the biggest, most disruptive impact on the music industry in 2012?  Here are ten to consider…

(1) Jeff Price, former CEO, Tunecore.

Balls, he’s got ‘em.  Fights, he picks ‘em.  Results, he sometimes gets ‘em.  And in an industry mired in hugely complicated and logjammed issues with endless doubletalk, that’s pretty good.

There were a few plum headbutts this year.  Prior to getting fired from the company he started, Tunecore’s Jeff Price was unabashedly confrontational with huge companies like Amazon and Grooveshark, not to mention Tunecore itself.  Price remained unafraid to call out deeply-entrenched machines (ie, Amazon’s songwriter payout structures), question endless subterfuge (ie, Grooveshark’s resistance against paying mechanicals), and even call bulls–t on your favorite music industry trade magazine (ie,Billboard). Check out the rest after the jump! [DigitalMusicNews]

(2) Daniel Ek, CEO, Spotify.

Let the artists eat cake?  Well, if streaming is the future, Ek’s Spotify is now extremely well positioned to be your bakery.  Ek is all about growth, and in 2012, Spotify reached 5 million subscribers, 1 million in the US, and a $3 billion valuation.  Be very afraid of this man.

(3) Ellen Shipley, songwriter.

She co-wrote an 80s smash hit, and in 2012, crystallized a discussion around internet royalties.  After receiving 3.1 million plays over a three-month span on Pandora, Shipley received an astonishingly-paltry $39, and soon put it all in a WTF post.  That continued to put Pandora’s fight for lowered artists royalties in a different light, especially with top executives like Tim Westergren and Tom Conrad cashing tens of millions in stock.  Other writers, including Desmond Child and Kara DioGuardi, were soon sharing similarly-despressing stats on Capitol Hill.

(4) Brian Zisk, SF MusicTech Summit.

If overbloated, dinosaur conferences are holding on for dear life, Zisk is serving a smaller, scrappier business.  SF MusicTech Summit is not only affordable to attendees and sponsors, it’s packed every time.  The future is smaller, and Zisk is creating a conference that fits.

(5) Daniel Glass, Glassnote Records.

If Glass won’t share his secret sauce, maybe someone will buy it.  In 2012, Glassnote Records continued to smash concepts of what an indie can accomplish, with Mumford & Sons the biggest success story.  That is percolating rumors of an acquisition in 2013, though the more interesting story might surround Glass’ next breakthrough artist.

(6) PSY

No, PSY probably won’t deliver another ‘Gangnam Style,’ especially if all that anti-Americanism catches up with him.  But in 2012, PSY redialed expectations around virality by creating the biggest video in YouTube history, and that rarely ubiquitous cultural landmark.

(7) Axel Dauchez, CEO, Deezer.

Deezer isn’t in the US, yet, though CEO Axel Dauchez is very carefully considering that entrance.  Even so, Deezer has 3 million subscribers, $130 million in financing, and different take on low-rent, freebie access.  If you’re Spotify, Deezer is now a problem.

(8) Rich Bengloff, President, A2IM

He’s getting millions from Congress to fly indie artists around the world.  Any questions?

(9) Scott Borchetta, President & CEO, Big Machine Label Group.

Borchetta’s had a deliciously disruptive 2012.  Big Machine is now inking some groundbreaking, direct licensing deals with major radio conglomerates, and chipping away at a decades-old legacy of extreme radio royalty complication.  He’s also shown the chutzpah to thumb his nose at Spotify, while maximizing revenue through deals that emphasize full album sales.

(10) Jimmy Iovine & Dr. Dre

Iovine and Dre already upended the white earbud, but in 2012, they pounced on MOG.  That sets the stage for a potentially disruptive shakeup on the software side in 2013, one that challenges not only fast-rising services like Spotify, but also a sea offidelity mediocrity.

Anyone who thinks investment in music is ‘drying up’ clearly hasn’t looked at the numbers.  Because with less than two weeks left in 2012, investment in music-related startups and companies has reached $619.3 million, a near-34 percent gain over 2011. [AlLindstrom]

Warner Music Group on Thursday posted improved fiscal fourth-quarter financials and said full-year growth in digital recorded music outweighed continued declines in physical sales. “We had a very productive year,” said CEO Stephen Cooper. “Warner Music Group performed well and is positioned to capitalize on the industry’s more stable recent trends. Among our important achievements, we grew global digital and physical Recorded Music sales on an aggregate basis, for the quarter and the fiscal year.”

Quarterly revenue of $731 million rose 2 percent over the year-ago period. WMG’s loss narrowed to $18 million, or $10 million when adjusted for certain items, from $103 million, or $42 million.

For the full fiscal year ended Sept. 30, revenue of $2.78 billion was down from $2.87 billion a year earlier. WMG’s loss of $112 million narrowed from $205 million a year earlier.

For the fiscal year, “growth in digital revenue more than offset physical revenue declines in the company’s recorded music business,” WMG said. “However, this net growth was more than offset by declines in artist services and expanded rights revenue, recording music licensing revenue and music publishing revenue.”

Total digital revenue for the year grew 12.8 percent and represented 33.3 percent of total revenue, compared to 28.6 percent in the prior year.

[AlLindstrom]

Your top 10, via Forbes:

1. Britney Spears ($58 million)
2. Taylor Swift ($57 million)
3. Rihanna ($53 million)
4. Lady Gaga ($52 million)
5. Katy Perry ($45 million)
6. Beyoncé ($40 million)
7. Adele ($35 million)
8. Sade ($33 million)
9. Madonna ($30 million)
10. Shakira ($20 million)

Anybody else surprised by Sade being in the top 10? Anyway, congrats to everyone on the list, particularly Britney Spears, who had a platinum album, a successful tour, and a TV gig to grant her the distinction of Forbes Music Queen this year. [AlLindstrom]