Global Music Publishing Collections Projected to Tank 35% in 2020

CISAC Prepares Sanctions for Embattled Spanish Collecting Society SGAE
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The International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC) has projected that global music publishing collections will fall by as much as 35 percent in 2020, for a total loss of $4.11 billion (€3.5 billion).

Paris-based CISAC made the less-than-encouraging prediction today, in its 2020 Global Collections Report. The 94-year-old entity based the forecasted dip in global music publishing collections upon the estimated losses of its 238 member societies (which span 121 countries) as well as “current information.”

Despite five consecutive years of growth – including all-time-high collections of $11.86 billion (€10.10 billion) in 2019 – the COVID-19 pandemic is on track to produce a roughly 20 percent ($2.35 billion) to 35 percent ($4.11 billion) decrease this year, per CISAC – potentially sending collections beneath 2015 levels. Building upon the point, the 50-page-long analysis emphasized that 2019’s overall growth was driven largely by the collections of already-substantial markets.

The U.S., for instance, which accounted for a 21.8 percent share of global music publishing collections in 2019, enjoyed a 13.6 percent year-over-year boost. But each of the other nations on CISAC’s top-10 list (save Switzerland, which took the 10th spot following Spain’s suspension and turned in over 22 percent growth) experienced comparatively modest growth even in pre-pandemic 2019. Germany (7.7 percent), France (3.1 percent), and the Netherlands (-1.1 percent) trailed the States, stacking 2019 growth rates against one another.

Royalties deriving from digital sources will “remain resilient,” the Björn Ulvaeus-led organization indicated, but the underlying assets are “still undervalued.” Moreover, digital sources accounted for 20.5 percent of 2019 royalties, second only to “Live & Background” (27.7 percent) and “TV & Radio” (37.3 percent), according to the 50-page-long analysis.

And predictably, given the unprecedented disruption that the pandemic has caused in the crowd-based entertainment sphere and, to a lesser but still significant extent, public establishments like bars, restaurants, and hotels, CISAC is anticipating a 60 to 80 percent decline in “Live and Background” global music publishing collections. Advertising cutbacks are contributing to a predicted 10 to 20 percent decline in TV and radio royalties, while CISAC specified that fans’ ongoing pivot to streaming will bolster the corresponding royalties.

Lastly, CISAC noted in its report that 2021 global music publishing collections “will remain below the level of 2019” both due to the continued impact of COVID-19 (including an expected mid- or late-year comeback for traditional concerts) and the fact that a number of 2020 payments “were made before the crisis started.”

About one month back, CISAC formally announced that it had overhauled the ISWC global-identification system for the first time since 2005. Ulvaeus stated in the same release that the new-and-improved system will “help put more money more quickly into creators’ pockets.”

3 Responses

  1. Dean Hajas

    As far as the ISWC is concerned, the only winners of this code are the Performing Rights Organizations referred to as “Not For Profit”.
    Copyright Action litigations cannot commence without proof of Copyright Ownership yet PRO’s continue to register music without a clue of the actual Copyright Authors, of ever taking a necessary audio sample to support the artists creations in metadata storage. In self-serving style, both Eric Baptiste and Jean Michele Jarre support their own convoluted “Orphaned Royalty” term, which lands chunks of money back in #ASCAP – Black Box Fund. Calling on Eric Baptiste and Jeff Price to identify the uncorrelated Royalties. Exactly how can Entandem or Audiam seek out Royalties to songs with no data base of audio samples…? How can they identify music licensing accurately without an audio sample, knowing that sub-Publishers add variance to 1000’s of tithes..? Further.. how can Entandem or Organizations like them identify public performances of music without having a functional mechanism in place requiring venues to track what songs are being played in the “License To Play’ Levies and Tariffs..(taxes). As far as I’m concerned, PRO’s are antiquated money laundering services currently in court (SOCAN) while denying that MINT Digital Licensing Services is a subsidiary of SOCAN in the Scott Scheer Action launched against SOCAN in New York Supreme Court. I personally sent tkbthe legal counsel of Jimmy Buffet and Jeff Price pg 34 of the 2016 SOCAN financial report that boasts the ownership and start up of MINT in 2016 wholly owned as a subsidiary of SOCAN. Oddly and funny enough in the Berkeley OEM music initiative however, and after 3 decades of abuse of music authors creations, SOCAN volunteers as a solution to the issue of unmatched Royalties yo providing the service of Copyright Authenticity.
    Just a bunch of thieves acting like saviours world wide. Bottom line.. the music industry would do much better to strengthen the ISRC code and abolish the abusive – manipulation bybthe Performing Rights Organizations world wide.