2 Music Week 21.11.14 NEWS EDITORIAL


Let’s stop the navel-gazing and grab a coffee


This week, I was kindly asked by AIM to make a presentation at their excellent Indie Con event in London on ‘the five most exciting things happening in the music market today’. I struggled. That’s not because current market forces are dull - this is


probably the most disruptive period for the record business in history. It’s that, six years into the Spotify era, we all know the arguments inside-out. Now and again I just grow tired of the navel gazing about streaming, vinyl, sales and the ‘super-fan’. Things get a lot more ‘exciting’, a lot more optimistic, when


we look outside music for inspiration. A wonderful curmudgeonly statement from Noel Gallagher landed on Vice’s lap last week, in which he moaned: “It infuriates me that people are more willing to sit in a coffee shop and spend a tenner on two coffees… yet they will get physically angry with you for asking them to buy an album for a tenner that might change their life.” I see his logic, although it’s broadly dismissive of coffee’s


USP: a communal, affordable luxury that doesn’t greatly interrupt people’s days. It is considered a daily treat for millions. Ready? The UK coffee industry - that’s posh coffee from Costa,


Starbucks and the indie retailers they squeeze - is now worth £6.3bn a year. That’s around double the worth of the entire music industry; records, live, merch, the lot.


“The UK coffee industry is now worth £6.3bn a year. Can music learn anything from coffee’s unique appeal? Rough Trade certainly has”


Can music learn anything from coffee’s unique appeal? Rough


Trade retail certainly has - creating a welcoming environment in which people want to stay, talk, drink and treat themselves on their lunch break. They have grown every year since 2007 and expand into Nottingham on Monday. For all the irrelevancies, if you mine the coffee industry, you’ll


find many more positive sources of inspiration for music. Another good source of hope: the digital video market. Netflix and Amazon Prime have helped it grow 40% year-on-year in the UK in 2013, up to £621m - double the size of the digital music market. Key factors: the product’s tiered/’windowed’ release strategy and a reduced catalogue selection at an affordable price (£5.99). What about two industries who aggressively market things


music doesn’t, and should: according to research from the Co-Operative, the ethical consumer goods market (clothes, cosmetics) has doubled since 2001 to £1.8 billion. We buy its products because we like the idea of paying more to help those who are struggling. Hang on a minute… the average band is also fighting to make ends meet. Why can’t ethically-sourced music carry an inflated pricetag? And finally, the ‘premium’ headphone market is edging towards


a $10 billion worth - growing 10% year-on-year. Sonos speakers alone generated $535 million last year - double what the company took in 2012. High quality music is big business… except to the actual music business. No solid answers, just questions. But like some of the best


artists, perhaps the solution is to pinch the best bits of what others are doing - and make it work for yourself.


Tim Ingham, Editor Do you have views on this column? Feel free to comment by emailing tingham@nbmedia.com


Key to success? L


INDUSTRY ON BOARD FOR YOUTUBE STREAMING SERVICE


DIGITAL ■ BY RHIAN JONES


ast week YouTube finally revealed details of its long- rumoured video streaming


subscription service, YouTube Music Key, after securing a deal with independent label body Merlin. With all the major labels and


“hundreds of indies” on board, licensing negotiations came to a head as AIM CEO Alison Wenham praised parent company Google for “recognising the importance of the independent music sector.” Google came under fire in


June for offering what were said to be “highly unfavourable terms” to independent labels. However, Wenham has now said a “fair deal” has been met, with the final terms of Merlin’s agreement said to be substantially better than those in a contract leaked by Digital Music News in June. “As we have said all along


during this dispute, YouTube is a fantastic platform, which is hugely important to our members,” said Wenham. “Having a fair agreement in place that acknowledges the value of independent music companies both creatively and commercially is good for all involved. “We also continue to take


a keen interest in the EU Competition Commission’s ongoing investigation into Google’s wider activities and will always challenge any company when we believe there is abuse of


“The industry sees YouTube Music Key as an opportunity for them and their artists. Royalty rates are competitive” ANJALI SOUTHWARD, YOUTUBE


a dominant market position.” YouTube Music Key users


also get access to Google Play Music, all for £9.99 a month. Available first as an invite- only beta, the select number of invitees will receive an initial six months free after which a promotional price of £7.99 will kick in. A free ad-supported version is available. First arriving in the US, UK,


Italy, Spain, Portugal, Finland and Ireland, the mobile-based YouTube app for iOS and Android will now include mixes based on related content and listening history, top music videos by genre, and album playlists. Paid-for subscribers have access to an offline option so they can save videos to their phone to listen without internet connection,


and stream uninterrupted music in the background. YouTube’s music content partnerships boss, Anjali Southward, told Music Week: “The industry was very encouraging of this product, they really saw it as an opportunity for them and for their artists. I think that they see the benefit of the improved features that we have.” Royalty rates are “competitive” with the market and the majority always goes to rights-holders, added Southward. “It’s like anything in business, we want to make sure that artists and our partners are as excited as we are and we were able to resolve any issues.” Teenagers are “a big demographic” and there are plans for upsells to the subscription tier. Music Key’s arrival comes


at another interesting moment for streaming. Taylor Swift made headlines after removing her catalogue from Spotify and withholding her latest album, 1989. While her back catalogue and her new singles will be available on YouTube Music Key, 1989 won’t be featured in full.


Can Band Aid hit a million in a week?


The Band Aid 30 single, released to raise money for the fight against Ebola in West Africa, could sell a million units in a single week by Sunday. That would mean it instantly becomes the fifth biggest single of 2014 having already become the fastest-selling track of the year. According to the Official


Charts Company’s midweek sales flash on Tuesday, Do They Know It’s Christmas? clocked up an astonishing 205,000 sales after being available for less than two days. The track, which


features talents including Sam Smith, Guy Garvey, Ed Sheeran, Chris Martin, Rita Ora, One Direction, Sinead O’Connor and Clean Bandit, has been released via Universal’s Virgin EMI. Band Aid founder Bob


Geldof told reporters on Saturday that the release would not be liable for 20% VAT after he negotiated with the Treasury. The last Band Aid single, 2004’s Band Aid 20, has sold 1.17 million in the UK to date, according to Official Charts Company statistics – a figure the


new version could easily outstrip in the run-in to Christmas. Band Aid 30’s version was


premiered on the X Factor on ITV on Sunday night. Geldof told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme on Monday that sales of the new track had gone “bonkers”, claiming that “more than a million quid” had been raised five minutes after it became available. The track is currently available as a 99p download, with a £4 physical CD single due to go on sale at the start of next month.


www.musicweek.com


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