News May 25, 2017

Global electronic music industry now worth US$7.1 billion, with more women in key roles

Senior Journalist, B2B

The global electronic music industry is now worth US$7.1 billion, 60% more than it was three years ago.

This was according to figures released this week by strategy specialist Kevin Watson’s 2016 IMS Business Report.

It is released, as usual, to coincide with International Music Summit Ibiza, May 24—26.

Industry growth has slowed down, although still a 3.5% growth from $6.9 billion in 2014. But it has “sustainable wide-scale appeal,” according to the report. It found that more people are going clubbing.

A survey found that the top three main drivers of the sector were considered to be: the successful sale of SFX assets, such as Beatport, to those who understand EDM; fairer revenue share with artists and labels by streaming services; and governments working with promoters and the EDM industry to develop appropriate legislation and regulation for EDM-focused venues.

Fourth ranked was a higher proportion of women in key roles within the electronic music industry, including DJs, artists, and promoters. This was considered the second biggest driver as ranked by female recipients.

The other three were a joined-up approach to reduce drug harm at EDM events, further promotion by mainstream media, and “more transparency and lower inflation in DJ and artist fees”.

Among its findings of the 2016 IMS Business Report were:

EDM is expanding strongly into new music markets as South America and China.
EDM is booming on Spotify, with 12 billion streams in the genre each month.
The highest number of EDM streams come from the US and UK, but Mexico and Brazil are also in the Top 10.
The biggest EDM music revenue growth was in Venezuela (up 79%) followed by China (64%).
Techno is now the best selling genre on Beatport, overtaking Tech House. Techno ranked #3 two years ago. Trance has fallen to #10.
Calvin Harris remained the world’s top-earning DJ in 2016 with an income of $63 million.
Millennials are 40% more likely to attend a DJ club event in the US.
DJs have grown their Soundcloud followers by an average of 33%, with David Guetta, who topped the list, up 60%.
Flume grew his fan base by 90% in the past 12 months, up 79% for Facebook, 68% on Twitter, and 91% on Soundcloud.
The most popular DJs are growing their Instagram followers 11 times faster than on Facebook.
Of the Top 20 EDM clubs the world, the most new entries were from Asia – four from China and three from Jakarta.
Across Europe, one in seven people has attended an EDM eventrecently.
In America’s DJ product market, the biggest growth was for Digital DJ controllers, with vinyl turntables second highest.