Year-end recorded music stats
UK trade groups ERA and BPI have both published year-end stats. ERA reveals that UK recorded music retail revenues in 2024 were £2.39 billion, topping the previous high of £2.22 billion in 2001 at the peak of the CD era. Providing, that is, you don’t adjust for inflation. Because if you do, the £2.22 billion in 2001 would equate to £4 billion now.
Streaming generated 84% of last year’s £2.39 billion in revenue, although vinyl sales also continued to grow. According to ERA, vinyl album sales were up 10.5% to £196 million. That’s considerably more than the £126.2 million generated by CD sales, although the BPI stats reveal units shifted for physical product, and that 10.5 million CDs were sold last year compared to 6.7 million vinyl records.
Obviously vinyl retails at a higher price, sometimes a much higher price, hence why a lower number of units generates more money. Read our full report on the stats here.
UK government’s ticketing consultation
The UK government has launched its previously promised consultation on the ticketing business. It will consider new regulations for ticket touting, including a price cap on tickets resold on platforms like Viagogo. Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged to introduce such a price cap last year ahead of the General Election.
Campaign group FanFair, which has been calling for tougher regulation of ticket touting for years, says the measures being considered in the new consultation “are potentially game-changing”, adding that legislation in other countries has curbed the “anti-consumer practices of online ticket touts and offshore resale platforms”, and new UK laws could achieve the same.
The consultation will also review the use of dynamic pricing on the primary ticketing sites. Read our full report on the consultation here.
Anthropic and music publishers reach deal on guardrails
Anthropic has agreed a deal to settle a small part of its dispute with a group of music publishers which accuse the AI company of infringing the copyright in their lyrics.
The publishers wanted a preliminary injunction in part ordering Anthropic to ensure outputs from its Claude chatbot don’t replicate lyrics they control. Anthropic said it already had “guardrails” in place to ensure that doesn’t happen, so that element of the preliminary injunction was not required.
The AI company has now formally entered into an agreement with the publishers in which it commits to ensure those guardrails remain in place. It also provides a framework via which publishers can raise concerns if they believe the guardrails are “not effectively preventing output that reproduces, distributes or displays” their lyrics. Therefore a court order on that point is no longer required. The rest of the copyright dispute continues to proceed.
Jay-Z asks courts to sanction attorney Tony Buzbee
Jay-Z has asked a US court to formally sanction Tony Buzbee, the lawyer behind the lawsuit that accuses the rapper of rape. A new legal filing builds on claims made last month that a media interview with the Buzbee client who says she was raped by both Jay-Z and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, when she was just thirteen, demonstrates that those allegations aren’t credible.
The new filing says many of the allegations in the lawsuit filed by Buzbee “strain the outer bounds of credulity” and were clearly not subject to “even the most rudimentary diligence by the filing attorney”. Buzbee is obliged under court rules to undertake such diligence, it adds, and he should be sanctioned for failing to do so.
The same claim was made by Universal Music, albeit against a different attorney, when it was named as a co-defendant in another Diddy lawsuit last year.
Attitude Is Everything founder to depart charity
Suzanne Bull, the founder of Attitude Is Everything, will step down from her role leading the charity in March. Her departure comes as the organisation, which works to connect disabled people with the music and event industries, and to make concerts and events more accessible, celebrates its 25th anniversary.
Bull explains, “as many of you will be aware, I live with a cancer diagnosis as well as being disabled. In March 2025, I’ll be halfway through my treatment, so this seems like a good point for me to live life at a slower pace and have the opportunity to pursue my other interests”. She adds, “after 25 glorious years, I’m stepping down and pursuing new adventures in arts, culture and breast cancer advocacy”.
MD Celia Makin-Bell is also departing, with Paul Hawkins set to take on the role of Interim Managing Director while a new CEO is appointed.
Global axes local shows on Heart, Smooth and Capital
UK radio giant Global has followed rival Bauer in capitalising on the relaxation of broadcasting rules instigated by last year’s Media Act to axe various local and regional shows.
Although most of the programmes that go out on Global’s Heart, Smooth and Capital stations are already national, there is still some local programming. But that will change next month, with no local shows in England. There will still be some regional programming airing on those stations in Wales and Scotland. The change will also affect the Heart, Smooth and Capital stations operated under a franchise by separate radio company Communicorp UK.
The Media Act removed obligations on broadcasters to air some locally made programmes on local FM frequencies. Bauer announced it would phase out regional shows on its Greatest Hits Radio and Hits Radio stations in October.
FAC launches Artist Council
The UK’s Featured Artists Coalition has formally launched a new FAC Artist Council, which will “encourage engagement with the widest diversity of the artist community”, and identify the key issues artists are facing. It replaces the organisation’s previous BEAT Board, which was a forum to solicit the views of breakthrough and emerging artists.
The new Council will have a wider remit and is open to artists of all levels. The Chair of the Council is Bella Levina Lueen, who describes it as “a confidential space for the FAC’s wider community to share ideas, raise concerns and ensure the organisation remains relevant and in touch”. An initial priority for the new Council is to develop and publish a series of Kitemark Guides.
Music Venue Properties announces latest acquisition
Music Venue Properties has announced its latest venue acquisition, Le Pub in Newport. MVP was established by the Music Venue Trust’s #OwnOurVenues initiative to buy properties that house key grassroots music venues, so that those venues no longer have the insecurity of a commercial landlord that might hike up the rent or look to repurpose the building at some point.
Samantha Dabb, manager of Le Pub, says, “we are very excited to be part of the Music Venue Properties family of owned venues. Having a landlord who is as passionate about live music as we are will make a massive difference to us and guarantee the venue’s future in Newport”.
Police investigating alleged fraud at PPL
In the week before Christmas it was revealed that a police investigation is underway in relation to suspected fraud at UK record industry collecting society PPL.
An internal investigation into suspicious activity on a small number of member accounts at the rights organisation resulted in one staff member being dismissed and the alleged fraud being reported to London’s Metropolitan Police. It’s believed the fraud involved setting up accounts in the name of artists who had not registered with PPL and then claiming their royalties. The scam came to light when some of those artists actually tried to set up accounts.
The fraudulent transactions amounted to around £500,000 and PPL says it is now “working with the limited number of impacted members to rectify accounts”.
Universal announces new deal with Amazon Music
Universal Music ended 2024 by announcing a new and “expanded” deal with Amazon Music which, said the major, “reflects the two companies’ shared commitment to advancing and safeguarding human artistry, while ensuring UMG’s artists achieve their commercial potential through the service’s continued product enhancements”.
Universal boss man Lucian Grainge said he looked forward to “progressing our shared artist-centric objectives” with Amazon.
Although he didn't go into any detail about what that actually meant, ‘artist centric’ is usually code for ramping up efforts against streaming fraud and revising streaming business models to freeze grassroots artists out of the royalty pool, so more money can flow to superstars and big catalogue owners.