Spotify streaming revenue overtakes iTunes by 13% in Europe
Streaming music continues to surge ahead and shake up the music industry.
Kobalt, a music publishing and music services company that represents thousands of songwriters and artists, said its writers’ European earnings from Spotify’s streaming service have overtaken those from the iTunes download store by 13%.
That figure, based on earnings in the first quarter this year, is a “milestone,” Kobalt said. Things have changed quickly: Kobalt writers’ earnings from iTunes was 32% higher than that from Spotify in the third quarter of 2013, and 8% higher in the fourth quarter.
Total publishing revenues in Europe are up overall: During the nine-month period from the third quarter of last year through the first quarter of this year, Kobalt saw 5% growth of combined iTunes and Spotify publishing revenues in Europe.
Kobalt said that on a global level, streaming revenues for its writers tripled during the last two years, accounting for 10% of overall global publishing income in the second quarter of 2014. This includes subscription services, YouTube, Internet radio and royalties from live performances of compositions, radio performance and those from CDs and concert DVDs.
“The findings highlight a seismic shift taking place in the recordings business, in which the access model of music consumption is on its way to overtaking the ownership one,” Kobalt said. “Moreover, it demonstrates that streaming can prove a viable business model when tracked and collected on properly.”
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