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Music Industry News 2021
by Alex Cosper

Springsteen, ZZ Top Sell Music Rights

The emerging strategy in the music industry of established artists selling the rights to their music continues in late 2021 with Bruce Springsteen and ZZ Top. Springsteen struck a deal with Sony Music Entertainment reported to be at least worth $500 million for his catalog. This amount is about 30 times what the singer/songwriter earns in annual royalties. ZZ Top also announced in December 2021 they were selling their publishing catalog to BMG and investment firm KKR for $50 million.

Other artists who have sold their catalogs the past few years include Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Madonna, Stevie Nicks, Tina Turner, Motley Crue and Red Hot Chili Peppers. The current capital gains tax in the United States is 20 percent, but the Biden Administration has stated it wants to raise the tax to 43.4 percent for individuals who earn over $1 million.

Monkee Michael Nesmith Dies at 78

Singer/songwriter Michael Nesmith, who gained fame in the 1960s on the TV show The Monkees, died at the age of 78 on 12/10/21 in Los Angeles of natural causes. Nesmith wrote lesser known songs for the band such as "Listen To The Band," "Mary Mary" and "Salesman." His most famous song was "Different Drum," which was Linda Ronstadt's first hit with the band The Stone Poneys. Nesmith performed with Micky Dolenz at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on 11/14/21. Dolenz is now the sole surviving member of the original Monkees. Nesmith was the son of Bette Nesmith, who invented Liquid Paper in the 1950s. Michael was born in Houston, Texas and grew up in Dallas. He move to Los Angeles is the early sixties.

Crowd Causes 10 Deaths at Astroworld Festival

Ten concert-goers died and about 300 were injured from an out-of-control crowd at the Astroworld Festival at NRG Park in Houston, Texas on 11/05/21. The show featured headliner rapper Travis Scott and was promoted by Live Nation. Congress has created a committee to investigate the tragedy. Victims who died in the young crowd ranged from ages 9 to 27. Many of the victims suffered from inability to breathe. Security began receiving injury reports around 9:30 pm, a half hour into the rapper's set. The show ended at 10:12 pm. Some fans are questioning why Scott didn't stop the show earlier as the crowd created chaos. Due to the tragedy, Travis Scott was dropped from the high-profile Coachella Festival in Southern California slated for April 2022.

Rolling Stones Drummer Charlie Watts Dies at 80

Charlie Watts, one of the world's most famous drummers of the past several decades, died in London August 24th at the age of 80. Earlier in the month Watts had surgery related to his heart and was temporarily replaced in The Rolling Stones by TV musician Steve Jordan. Watts was born on June 2, 1941 in Wembley, England. He joined The Rolling Stones in 1963 and remained with them until his death. Influenced by jazz, his free-flowing style contributed to the band's innovations through different eras. Watts was also known for his love of fashion and was named by GQ in 2011 as one of the most stylish musicians of all time.

Rihanna Turns Into a Billionaire

Singer Rihanna was reported to reach billionaire status in early August 2021 by various media outlets including Forbes. Her net worth is estimated to now be $1.7 billion, according to Forbes, but not because of her music. The majority of her wealth comes from her beauty line of products called Fenty Beauty, which she launched in 2017. Fenty Beauty is a partnership with French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH and retailer Harvey Nichols. Forbes estimates the value of Rihanna's company to be worth $2.8 billion in which she has accumulated $1.4 billion. The rest of her earnings come from music. To date the recording artist has had over 30 top ten singles in the U.S. including 14 chart-toppers.

UnitedMasters Offers Indie Acts $1 Million Advances and Real-time Streaming Payouts

UnitedMasters has disrupted the music industry with perhaps the best deal for independent artists in history. The music distributor provides musicians with finance tools such as beatBread, which is partnering with the distributor to offer indie artist advances from $1,000 to $1 million. This app helps track music streaming data. CEO Peter Sinclair of beatBread has told the press it has a shared vision with UnitedMasters to empower indie musicians with capital without sacrificing artistic freedom. Earlier in the year UnitedMasters received $50 million in funding led by Apple. In 2017 the company raised $70 million in funding led by Alphabet/Google.

Artists Who Died First Half of 2021

Here are notable recording artists who died from January through June 2021 with their year of birth in parentheses. B.J. Thomas (1943), Lloyd Price (1933), DMX (1970), Michael Stanley (1948), Bunny Wailer (1947), Johnny Pacheco (1935), Chick Corea (1941), Mary Wilson (1944), Jim Weatherly (1943), Perry Botkin Jr. (1933), Jimmie Rodgers (1933), Phil Spector (1939), Ed Bruce (1939). Since June other deaths have included rapper Biz Markie (1964) and Z.Z. Top bassist Dusty Hill (1949) and country singer Tom T. Hall (1936). Walter Yetnikoff (1933), who ran CBS Records from 1975 to 1990, died on August 9th.

Global Music Report Puts 2020 Music Revenue at $21.6 Billion

The global music trade association The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) issued its Global Music Report 2021 on musical consumption for 2020. For the sixth year in a row, global music revenue has grown, as it increased by 7.4 percent to $21.6 billion. The revenue for recorded music comes streaming, downloads and physical sales. Streaming subscriptions grew by 18.5 percent, spiking to $13.4 billion. Meanwhile, physical revenue fell by 4.7 percent. The fastest growing global market for music is Latin America, up 15.9 percent with streaming accounting for 84 percent of revenue. Total global paying music subscribers hit 443 million. Despite the decline of physical sales, vinyl revenue rose by 23.5 percent while CDs fell by 11.9 percent.

Entercom Switches Name To Audacy

Entercom, the second largest radio chain in America behind iHeartMedia, announced on Tuesday, March 30 it was changing its name immediately to Audacy. The new name reflects the direction the company is moving toward promoting podcasting and online streaming. Additionally, Audacy has entered a partnership with Demi Lovato for a podcast series to launch in May. The company has also recently ventured into sports betting with a BetMGM partnership. The company's ticker symbol switches from ETM to AUD beginning Friday, April 2. Entercom was founded in 1968 and has grown to own 230 radio stations across 47 market.

Local Venues Begin Returning to Live Music

Music venues across the nation began opening up for live music again starting in mid-March. New Orleans was one of the earliest major cities to bring back live music. By Friday, March 26 many major cities including Los Angeles and San Francisco had returned to live music while New York City planned to resume concerts beginning in April.

Sony Music Announces Purchase of Paul Simon Song Catalog

Sony Music Publishing announced on March 31 it had acquired the Paul Simon song catalog, which began in the sixties. Simon is one of several legendary artists who have agreed in the past year to sell their music to a large music company, along with Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Stevie Nicks. Some of the songwriter's most popular songs were recorded for Simon & Garfunkel such as "The Sound of Silence," "Mrs. Robinson" and "Bridge Over Troubled Water." The duo sold over 100 million units then Simon had a long successful solo career with hits such as "Kodachrome," "Loves Me Like a Rock" and "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover."

Grammys Sink to All-Time Low TV Ratings

The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards show was broadcast on CBS March 14 to a smaller TV audience than last year. The show pulled in 9.2 million viewers, according to Nielsen, compared with 2020 figures of 18.7 million. The 53 percent decline marked the smallest Grammys audience so far in its history. In the 18-49 target demographic the show's rating fell to 2.1 compared with 5.4 in 2020. These numbers reflect both TV and online viewing. The show was hosted by Trevor Noah and featured performances by Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, Billie Eilish and Megan Thee Stallion. NPR reported the full list of nominees and winners.

RECORD OF THE YEAR: Billie Eilish - "Everything I Wanted"
ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Taylor Swift - Folklore
SONG OF THE YEAR: Songwriters Dernst EmileII, H.E.R. & Tiara Thomas - "I Can't Breathe"
BEST NEW ARTIST: Megan Thee Stallion
BEST POP SOLO PERFORMANCE: Harry Styles - "Watermelon Sugar"
BEST POP VOCAL ALBUM: Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia
BEST ROCK ALBUM: The Strokes - The New Abnormal
BEST ROCK SONG: Songwriter Brittany Howard - "Stay High"
BEST ALTERNATIVE MUSIC ALBUM: Fiona Apple - Fetch The Bolt Cutters
BEST R&B ALBUM: John Legend - Bigger Love
BEST R&B SONG: Songwriters Robert Glasper, Meshell Ndegeocello & Gabriella Wilson - "Better Than I Imagined"
BEST RAP ALBUM: Nas - "King's Disease"
BEST RAP SONG: Songwriters Beyonce, Shawn Carter, Brittany Hazzard, Derrick Milano, Terius Nash, Megan Pete, Bobby Session Jr, Jordan Kyle Lanier Thorpe & Anthony White - "Savage"
BEST COUNTRY ALBUM - Miranda Lambert - Wildcard
BEST COUNTRY SONG - Songwriters Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby & Lori McKenna - "Crowded Table"

Jazz Legend Chick Corea Dies

Grammy-winning jazz recording artist Chick Corea died of cancer on Feb. 9 at the age of 79 in Tampa Bay, Florida. His first album Tones for Joan's Bones was released in 1968. Over the span of his long career he released over 75 studio albums. In March the musician was given two Grammy Awards for Best Improvised Jazz Solo for the track "All Blues" and Best Instrumental Jazz Album Trilogy 2. Throughout the ceremony's history he's been nominated over 60 times and received 25 Grammy awards.

Vivendi to Spin Off UMG by Yearend

Vivendi SA announced Feb. 13 it plans to spin off its profitable music division Universal Music Group later this year as an IPO on the Euronext stock exchange. Tencent Holdings Ltd. recently doubled its stake and now owns 20 percent of UMG, while Vivendi owns the rest. Following the announcement ratings specialist Moody's changed its outlook on Vivendi from stable to negative. UMG is currently the world's largest music company worth $36.4 billion (30 billion euros).

While UMG has been profitable during the pandemic, Vivendi's advertising and publishing revenue has declined. The French conglomerate first announced its intentions to sell the music division about a year ago. The Tencent-led group supports going public as shareholders meet Mar. 29 to discuss the plan.

Music Streaming Services Generate $424 Million in Licensing Fees

The nonprofit organization Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) announced on Feb. 16 it had received over $42 million in licensing fees from various music streaming services. Apple Music contributed the largest share at over $163 million. The next biggest share came from Spotify, which paid over $152 million, followed by Amazon's payment of over $42 million. These fees were characterized by the MLC as "accrued historical unmatched royalties from digital service providers."

Hipgnosis to Expand Shares and Catalogs

Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited said in its Jan. 21 prospectus it will issue up to 1.5 billion new shares and plans to keep on acquiring ownership of valuable song repertoires of proven recording artists. As of last September, the company's music catalog was valued at $1.59 billion after acquiring the rights to music of several legends. Neil Young recently sold 50 percent of his song catalog to the firm.

GSU to Offer Music Industry Degree

Not many campuses in America offer music industry degrees, but Georgia Southern University's Department of Music plans to launch such a program in the Fall of 2021. The coursework will revolve around traditional music programs along with music technology, management, live sound, recording and more. GSU is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music.

Sub Pop Opens New Retail Store in Seattle

Sub Pop Records is known around the world as a music label that spearheaded the Seattle rock explosion of the 90s led by Nirvana. The label announced in January it has added its second retail store in Seattle to sell band merchandise such as vinyl albums, shirts and hats. Sub Pop's original airport location opened in 2014, as the new flagship location is at 2130 7th Ave.

Taylor Dayne Performs at Trump's Mar-a-Lago Resort

Singer/songwriter Taylor Dayne, who had a string of pop hits in the late 80s and early 90s, performed a New Year's Eve show at President Trump's Florida resort property called Mar-a-Lago. Trump throws an annual party at the mansion. The 58-year-old singer faced criticism from fans on Twitter to which she replied, "I'm saddened by all this .. I try to stay non-political and non-judgmental and not preach." Dayne deleted the tweet shortly afterward.

See 2020 Music News


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