According to CISAC (International Confederation of Composers’ Societies), royalty income from global song rights holders increased by 7.6% last year to a new high of 11.75 billion euros ($10.9 billion, based on 2023 average exchange rates). Collectors Association trade organization. Growth was driven primarily by two categories: digital collections rose 9.6% to €4.52 billion ($4.18 billion), while live and background music royalties grew 21.8% (largely driven by the concert business), exceeding pre-pandemic levels in 2019 lump sum.
The big collecting societies have all had their glory days, but CISAC’s report provides unparalleled insight into a complex but important part of the music publishing industry. (CISAC includes other collecting societies outside the music industry, but publishing accounts for the majority of these royalties, which in turn is more important to music than other industries. CISAC lists music royalties, but its figures only include those paid through CISAC member societies (rather than direct transactions. ($4.18 billion)) last year—even though last year’s 9.6% growth rate was lower than in any of the previous four years. Digital currently accounts for 38.5% of the collection, more than any other category.
Radio and live concert collections and background music were the other two main sources of revenue, accounting for 28.7% and 26.1% respectively. (Background music, for example, is music played in public places, restaurants, shops or bars.) Television and radio royalties fell 5.3% to 3.37 billion euros ($3.11 billion) after rising sharply last year. They have remained fairly stable over the past five years.
Live and background musical figures have become more complex due to the disruptions of the pandemic. Revenue in these categories grew to 3.06 billion euros ($2.82 billion) last year, driven largely by the return of live music revenue, which in some regions may lag behind live music events. What’s more, this is a 12.7% increase from 2019.
Most of the CMOs’ business is concentrated in Europe and the United States; CISAC has one category for Western Europe and another for the United States and Canada. Collections in Western Europe rose 8.2%, while collections in the United States and Canada rose 7.8%. Overall, Europe accounts for more than half of the collection association’s total revenue, with the United States and Canada combined accounting for another 27.1%. Royalties in the Asia Pacific region declined 0.3%, primarily due to currency fluctuations in Japan, which would have otherwise achieved 6.8% growth. The fastest growing region is Latin America, which grew by 26.2% and has grown by 108.2% over the past two years, although it only accounts for 5.9% of the total market. For years, senior executives have seen huge potential in Africa, but its growth has remained very slow – between 3.2% and 0.6% of the total market.
CISAC’s general collection also grew by 7.6%, reaching 13.09 billion euros ($12.1 billion), also a record high, of which digital collections grew by 9.6%, reaching 4.62 billion euros ($4.3 billion). (This includes collecting societies for other media, such as writing and visual arts collecting societies found in many countries in Europe.)
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