DiMA Year in Review
2023 was a huge year for music streaming and the success story is set to continue in 2024.
Over the last year streaming has broken down regional and cultural boundaries enabling artists to establish their careers and find new audiences across the world, strengthening the relationships between artists and fans. Streaming increasingly enables customization and personalization of music listening with the ability for subscribers to discover, rediscover, and engage with new and established music from every style, culture, and corner of the world. We have seen growth in subscribers, listening, and engagement, and tools that enable increased access to insights for artists such as artist marketing and creator dashboards.
2023 – A year of increased value
In the first half of the year streaming services generated 84% of all recorded music revenue according to RIAA’s mid-year report. More people subscribed to music streaming services in 2023 than ever before with an 11% year-over-year increase in subscriptions. Fans clearly value their music streaming services and the ability to control their experience—DiMA’s Streaming Forward 2023 Fan Engagement Report found that 91% of streamers say it’s important to have the ability to decide what to listen to and when. This increase in subscriptions and record revenues is only the beginning of what music streaming accomplished in 2023. In July 2023, Luminate reported that “on-demand music audio streams across the world crossed the one trillion mark in Q1 – marking the first year in history that milestone has been reached in just three months.” This finding shows listener’s appetite for listening experiences, and streaming’s ability to satisfy that appetite with tools for creators, tailored listening options for fans, and opportunities for artists.
Leading the modernization of the music industry
In the five years since the Music Modernization Act of 2018 (MMA) was signed into law, significant progress has been made in accomplishing the goals of that milestone legislation. DiMA continues to support the goals of the Music Modernization Act, and DiMA and its members worked actively to ensure that we continue to play our part. DiMA testified at a hearing before the US Congress, held by the House Judiciary Committee, about the MMA at 5 years discussing where progress made towards a fair, modern music ecosystem has been made and where continued improvements can be made.
A modern licensing system benefits songwriters, streaming services, and music publishers, and DiMA will continue working to ensure the goals of the Music Modernization Act are met.
Celebrating Streaming Discovery
Innovation was the name of the game in 2023, with 8.82% of revenue in 2020 from streaming services going to research and development, this was more than twice the investment level of the average industry. 2023 saw the results of this investment through new user experiences and creator tools that brough artists and fans closer together while also putting new music on a global stage.
DiMA celebrated the 50th anniversary of hip-hop in 2023, releasing a new report in conjunction with the anniversary, and hosting an event on Capitol Hill with leading executives at DiMA member companies and policymakers. DiMA’s Streaming Hip-Hop Music Forward 2023 Report found that Hip-hop listeners are early adopters, driven by discovery. Hip-hop fans are 25% more likely to use new features on streaming services than the average listener, and 78% of hip-hop fans cite music streaming as a primary source for music discovery. Personalized listening features are only part of the unique offerings these investments are producing.
We also saw artists continue to build global fanbases through discovery on streaming platforms. For example, country music’s growing popularity on streaming platforms has paved new pathways to success and engagement for country artists. DiMA’s Streaming Country Music Forward Report found that 76% of country music streamers listen to music daily, and nearly half of country music streamers have increased their listening frequency since they first started streaming, illuminating how country artists and fans have found a new wave of success with streaming.
Empowering Creators
DiMA continued its work to empower creators in 2023. In addition to the tools and access provided by streaming services themselves, DiMA supported numerous initiatives to ensure creators have access to information about the music licensing ecosystem and ensuring that their works are properly credited. DiMA continues to support the Credits Due initiative, which is focused on educating creators about the importance of proper music metadata.
DiMA also supported WIPO for Creators in the development of their new educational product, Creators Learn Intellectual Property (CLIP). This global initiative provides information about licensing, the music ecosystem, and other valuable tools to empower creators to navigate the often complex music business.
Looking Ahead to 2024
DiMA is proud of what the industry has achieved through collaboration, and continues to believe that the industry works best when we work together. DiMA is committed to building a transparent, opportunity rich music environment for everyone involved in the music industry, and we are looking forward to continuing this pursuit into 2024.
