The next Music Network meeting starts at 4pm and will finish at 5.30pm on Thursday 31st July 2014 in Room 435 at Birmingham City University, Millennium Point, Curzon Street, Birmingham, B4 7XG.

Anyone involved in Music in the region is welcome to attend, its free and there will be tea and coffee provided.

Read minutes from previous meetings here: https://birminghammusicnetwork.com/category/minutes/

Robin Valk writes a blog called Radio To Go. He has published an ebook called Survivors and it contains some interesting stories about local bands and artists. Here’s the link to the Amazon page for Robin’s ebook http://tinyurl.com/n8fwutp

The Great Music Industry Power Shift – June 4th, 2014

“The long drawn out demise of recorded music revenue is well documented, as is the story of artists, labels and managers all trying to make sense of a world in which music sales can no longer be counted upon. But the contraction of recorded revenue has occurred at the exact same time that the live music sector has undergone a renaissance. The net effect, when coupled with publishing revenue holding its own and the growth of albeit modest, merchandise revenue, is that the global music industry has largely held its own, contracting by just 3% between 2000 and 2013 (see figure). Compare and contrast with the 41% decline in (retail) recorded music revenue over the same period. Indeed it is the 60% growth in live revenue that has done most to offset the impact of declining music sales.”

Recorded music is still the main way people interact with music: Whether it be on the radio, YouTube, Spotify, an iTunes or a CD, the vast majority of consumers spend the vast majority of their music consumption time with the recorded product not the live product. In fact just 15% of people regularly go to gigs. And even for these consumers live is, in terms of total time spent, just a small fraction of their music consumption. So labels are faced with paradox of making less money from artists yet those same artists still needing the recording in order to drive live and merch income. This is why we ended up with 360 deals.”

Much of the market growth didn’t make it down to artists: The live music value chain is an incredibly complex one with multiple stakeholders taking their share (ticketing, secondary ticketing, venues, booking agents, promoters, tax, expenses etc.). The share of live revenue that artists make from live has declined every year since 2000. The impact on the total market is that total artist income (i.e. from all revenue sources) has declined every year too since 2009.”

IFPI and RIAA 2013 Music Sales Figures – There are positive signs but overall they make for troubling reading. Total sales were down 3.9%. Based on 2012 numbers the trend suggested that 2013 revenues should have registered a 2% growth, so that is a -6% swing in momentum. Digital grew by 4.3% which was not enough to offset the impact of declining CD sales, which has been the story every year since 2000 except last. Download sales declined by 1%. Continued competition from apps and other entertainment, coupled with subscriptions poaching the most valuable download buyers is finally taking its toll. Subscriptions up by 51%: An impressively strong year for subscriptions but not enough to make the digital increase bigger than the physical decline on a global basis nor in key markets, including the US. Read it all in full here

The Death of the Long Tail: MUSICIANS MUST READ: 1% of Artists earn 77% of the income…..

Birmingham Music Network: https://birminghammusicnetwork.com Facebook Twitter

The Music Network organises a NETWORKING EVENT on the last Thursday of each month, for the benefit of music related businesses in the West Midlands region. If you have any involvement in music, come and talk about what you’re up to and meet some new people. These Networking events are about all things music in the region. They’re about helping you to teach yourself how to do it, by yourself, for yourself and encourages you to share the knowledge with others so they can do the same. If you are a musician, a student, someone who works with musicians, represents musicians, has involvement with the music industry, or are looking to make new contacts…..the meeting will be useful.

If you have news to report, a presentation to give, an event to promote, any new points for discussion, a pitch to make, business cards or flyers to hand round, an appeal for help, advice or guidance or even if you just want the free tea and biscuits and some serious discussion…you are invited.

You can also post in by email any news or press release information for inclusion on the website and for distribution through the mailing list and RSS feed. More details on the website.

Please pass this invite on to Musicians you know or anyone else who you think may benefit.

I have updated the Music Strategy page here, there are a number of interesting articles on the subject of Music, Birmingham and what can be done to inspire, develop and promote music from the region. Some of the opinion pieces are really worth reading and there are a few videos to watch too. If anyone would like to contribute any other articles for inclusion, please send an email with further details, files, or links to mark at birminghammusicnetwork.com.

CREATIVE NETWORKS updated Schedule:

2014

31 July – NO CN EVENT
Birmingham Music Network Room 435 & Birmingham Screen Image Network Room 436, both 4pm–6pm

Aug – NONE