Music Ally just released Stuart Dredge’s “42 Trends of 2019,” a comprehensive end-of-year report for the music biz. With the digital ink barely dry on the virtual page, Stuart sits down with podcast host Dmitri Vietze to explore 5 overarching megatrends that emerged from his work on the report—and his predictions for 2020. Stuart is uniquely placed to reflect back on the year in music: he writes Music Ally’s daily newsletter, a herculean task that gives him a granular view of music industry trends as they shift like sand dunes.
Get the report from Music Ally here, then follow Stuart and Dmitri along on a wild ride through the coming of age of the global digital music industry (and how markets like India, China, Africa, and Latin America are driving innovation and ripping up rule books) to the state of AI music generation, from gaming and Esports to AR (and why you shouldn’t write off VR just yet). How are legal and licensing frameworks shifting in response? Is music listening changing in a shifting audio landscape that includes podcasts, high res streaming, and smart speakers? Why do analysts predict the death of the record label every time an indie artists forges a new path? What trends get Stuart excited—or terrified—for 2020?
The conversation takes many turns, so here's a road map:
1. 2019 as a turning point for the GLOBAL digital music industry.
India
China
Africa
Latin America
2. Expanding the definition of what music formats have commercial implications
AI
Gaming and Esports
AR/VR
social music (Tik Tok, Resso, Aux)
3. A new emerging legal and licensing framework for music
MMA/MLC
European Copyright Directive
publishers versus labels
4. Shifts in the audio landscape, and how music listening is affected
podcasts
smart speakers
hi-res audio
5. The industry played musical chairs
Consolidation (among distributors, but also acquisitions by DSPs)
Streaming Pecking Order
Bundling
Catalogs Changing Hands
6. What Stuart is most excited or curious about for 2020
AI Music reaching the masses
The Music Industry confronts climate impact head on
How an increasingly global music industry could become embroiled in geopolitical issues
Listen to the full episode here on our website, or wherever you pod your favorite casts.
Let us know what you think! Tweet @MusicTectonics, find us on Facebook and Instagram (yes, we're on Instagram now!), or connect with podcast host Dmitri Vietze on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
The Music Tectonics podcast goes beneath the surface of the music industry to explore how technology is changing the way business gets done. Weekly episodes include interviews with music tech movers & shakers, deep dives into seismic shifts, and more.