Music business

«Love never felt so good» was released on May 1st. The song is written by Michael Jackson him self together with Paul Anka. So, this is an old song that is never released before. What makes it even better is that this song is produced by on of my favorite producers; Timbaland.

The new Michael Jackson album is called «Xscape», which is released on May 13. All songs are previously recorded and unreleased songs. The song «Love never felt so good» was premiered on the iHeart Music Awards, performed by L.A Reid and Usher.

The version performed at the iHeart Music Awards did not have Justin Timberlake`s part in it. This is a great song which is at nr 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. I like the «old school» style in the song. It reminds my of the hit «Rock with you» from one of my favorite albums called «Off the wall» from 1979.

Michael Jackson became the first solo artist to have four singles from the same album peak inside the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. As of 2014, «Off the wall» is certified 8 x Platinum in the U.S, and has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time.

That`s business! But how many copies will «Xscape» sell? Not many, because no one buy a CD album anymore. The business is streaming and the biggest music-streaming company now is the Swedish company Spotify which have 10 million paid subscribers.

Spotify has 40 million active users to its name and listeners are creating or updating 5 million new playlists every day. In March 2013, Spotify had 6 million users opted for a paid subscription. A Premium Spotify subscription includes ad-free mobile and offline listening for US$9,99.

Spotify are growing from 20 markets to 56 and by comparison, Internet radio service Pandora had 76 million active users as of April 2014. In October 2013, apple said that 20 million listeners were using iTunes Radio.

Spotify are expanding and shares its catalog with iOS DJ app djay 2. Yesterday, Spotify added its catalog of more than 20 million songs to djay 2, which is one of the most-used DJ apps. In February, Spotify integrated itself on the Pacemaker iPad DJ app.

Apple buy Beats Electronics for $3,2 billion, but the deal would go beyond headphones. Apple and Beats will challenge Spotify. Sales at iTunes is declining, so streaming seems to be the future in the music industry.

Spotify pay 70% of its total revenue back to the publishers. Music labels and publishers pay artists a portion of the royalties, an amount that varies depending on individual record contracts. Spotify doesn`t pay on a «per song stream» model like iTunes.

It’s estimated that the average song generates between $0,006 and $0,0084 per stream in royalties. This can be business, specially for big artists. Spotify says the biggest album on the service each month generates more than $400,000 in royalties.

A big start can generate about $3 million in royalty payments in one year, but that amount will increase dramatically as its revenue increase but the number of artists splitting the money remains more or less the same.
Let`s look at some artist and how they have earned money on Spotify;

Miley Cyrus – Wrecking Ball – 60 million streams ($363,000 – $508,000)
Avicii – Wake me up – 152 million streams ($913,000 – $1,3 million)
Kate Perry – Roar – 65 million streams ($388,000 – $543,000)

The picture is not as rosy for smaller acts. The total royalty payments split between record labels, music publishers, songwriters and artists. In older formats, like CD`s and iTunes downloads, artists pocketed about 10% of the retail price.

Spotify faces an ever-growing number of music streaming competitors like YouTube. Money makes the world go round, and so is it in the music industry. The audience must be convinced that todays streaming platforms is worth paying for. Michael Jackson`s album «Thriller» is the best-selling album.

Is Michael Jackson`s new album a new best seller and will the new song «Love never felt so good» reach the top at Billboard Hot 100? Michael Jackson is my number one favorite artist and will always be. Michael Jackson is still alive!

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