While artists continue to complain about the meager returns they see from streaming platforms, major labels are raking it in. According to a new report from Music Business Worldwide, major labels overall are now generating over $1 million every hour from streaming.
According to MBW’s number-crunching of corporately-reported recorded music numbers, Universal’s artists and labels generated $1.02bn from streaming in calendar Q4 2019; Sony’s generated $669m; and Warner’s generated $589m.
In total, that meant the majors’ recorded music divisions collectively turned over $2.26bn from streaming in the fourth calendar quarter… which equates to $24.8m per day… or $1.03m every single hour. 
In a blog post on Medium, RIAA chairman and CEO Mitch Glazier noted that paid subscription streaming is “driving the return to growth,” but that we still need long-term, sustainable public policies to benefit artists.
“Today’s report reflects the prospect of a future in which creators have a path forward,” Glazier wrote. “But it also reveals how much farther we must go to assure a healthy music community in which all music is valued and creators are fairly compensated. We still have not realized the full value of music on all digital services.”
There’s still plenty of room for music tech companies to discover untapped revenues to be collected, and artists must still also find creative ways of monetizing their work. But, overall, the future of music is looking bright and hopefully modern music laws can keep up and put the musicians first.
Photo via Rukes.com
