Bandcamp workers launch bid to form unionBandcamp workers across multiple departments want to unionize and are calling on the company and owner Epic Games to allow a “timely and fair election.” The effort has affiliated with. Continue reading
The post Bandcamp workers launch bid to form union appeared first on Hypebot.

Recorded music market 2022 | Reality bitesFollowing a spectacular year of growth in 2021, global recorded music revenue growth slowed significantly in 2022 due to the combined impact of global economic headwinds and growth slowdown in mature streaming markets. Context, though, is everything – not many industries can deliver solid growth while the global economy is in turmoil, ad markets are falling and many emerging tech sectors are in crisis.

Global recorded music growth has oscillated in recent years, slowing in the pandemic, booming in 2021, and then returning to more modest growth in 2022.

2022 was a year of realignment for much of the global economy, and the music business had to contend not only with the wider trend of the cost-of-living-crisis, but also rising interest rates softening music catalogue M+A demand and the long expected streaming slowdown kicking in. It is testament to the solidity of the recorded music market that, despite these multiple headwinds, global revenues grew by 6.7% to reach $31.2 billion in 2022. While this was significantly down on the 24.8% registered in 2021, it illustrates the strong role music plays in consumers’ lives, especially in uncertain times when escapism and identity are more important than ever. The persistent value of music was even more strongly illustrated by music publishing, which grew by 16.6% in 2022.

Streaming was again the main driver of industry growth, with revenues up by $1.5 billion in 2022 (8.3% growth), though this was less than half the $4.2 billion added in 2021.  The slowdown was underpinned by a) slowing subscriptions growth in mature markets; b) a slowdown in ad-supported revenues, reflecting wider advertising market dynamics. Music subscriber growth was markedly stronger, up by 13.7% to 652 million, however, the more mature North America and Europe regions accounted for just a third of the growth. Emerging markets will become a progressively larger part of global streaming growth, but due to lower ARPU and low shares of Anglo repertoire, the divergence between growth revenue and subscriber growth rates seen in 2022 will become a long-term market characteristic.

Independent labels and artists direct both strongly out-performed the wider streaming market, growing streaming revenues by 13.9% and 17.9% respectively. In terms of total recorded music revenues, 

UMG added more recorded music revenue in 2022 than the other two majors, adding $0.5 billion to reach $9.2 billion, giving it a 29.5% share of the global recorded music market. UMG’s percentage growth (6.2%), though, was slower than SMG’s (8.7%), with SMG gaining 0.4 points of market share.

Artists direct (i.e., artists who release without labels, directly via a distributor) were the big success story once again, growing by 16.6% in 2022 to generate $1.7 billion of recorded music revenue, giving it a 5.7% market share, up from 5.2% in 2021. 

Independent labels also outgrew the wider market (up by 7.1%), and the combined market share of artists direct and independent labels reached 34.6% in 2022, up from 34.0% in 2021. Though it is worth noting that this does not include the additional revenue from independent labels distributed by major labels.

Combined, independent labels and artists direct, were the largest single market segment with $10.8 billion.

Though overall market growth was down in 2022 compared to 2021, 2021 was in many respects a year of artificially accentuated, post-Covid growth, while 2022 was at the opposite end of the scale, with a host of economic headwinds. In this context, 6.7% growth for 2022 could be considered even more of an achievement than the 24.8% achieved in 2021.

The full report and dataset (with quarterly revenue by segment and format going back to Q1 2015) will be shortly available to MIDiA clients. If you are not a MIDiA client and would like to learn how to get access to our research, data and analysis, email stephen@midiaresearch.com

Redefining independent artist success: Their narrative is not your narrative [Keith Jopling of MIDiA]Keith Jopling from MIDiA Research discusses how important it is for artists to keep control of their own careers apart from industry expectations and demands, along with advice on how. Continue reading
The post Redefining independent artist success: Their narrative is not your narrative [Keith Jopling of MIDiA] appeared first on Hypebot.

Stephen Dusenberry & Ricky Ken on how (and when) music changed their lives foreverThe pivotal performances that convinced two renowned artists to build their lives around music are not what you might expect. by Michael Gallant of Disc Makers Blog Some artists may. Continue reading
The post Stephen Dusenberry & Ricky Ken on how (and when) music changed their lives forever appeared first on Hypebot.

OSC Audio Releases FREE Thru-Zero E-Piano
OSC Audio releases Thru-Zero E-Piano, a freeware electric piano virtual instrument for Decent Sampler. Electric pianos have been a staple of music for decades. OSC Audio’s latest release, Thru-Zero E-Piano, is a novel take on the instrument. It is entirely sample-based, using rich-sounding VCOs and analog saturation over 88 keys. Thru-Zero E-Piano uses the SSF [...]
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ASM Hydrasynth 2.0 update ASM's latest Hydrasynth update delivers some powerful new features including a new Step mode for the One-Shot LFO feature, expanded arpeggiator functionality, and some interesting new options for the VoiceMod menu. 

Noisebud Bear Bear is a low-end enhancer plugin that employs the principle that you will perceive the fundamentals as louder if you add or enhance the harmonics of a signal. Other developers have plugins... Read More

Acustica Cloud public beta Users are being invited to test out a new service which allows batches of audio files to be processed remotely with Acustica's Lava microphone modelling technology.

Gensler suggests staking token operators should 'seek to come into compliance’The SEC head was speaking impromptu to reporters after a commission meeting when he was asked about a statement made by the CFTC chair.

Apply to AES Educational Foundation 2023 Scholarships and GrantsThe Audio Engineering Society, celebrating “75 Years of Audio Innovation” in 2023, has announced details on this year’s AES Educational Foundation scholarships and grants. Applications for the annual AESEF Graduate Studies Grants and Mary Lea Simpson Memorial Scholarship for undergraduate studies are open to AES Student Members through May 15, 2023.

Since its establishment in 1984, the Foundation has awarded grants for graduate studies to hundreds of exceptional applicants, many of whom have gone on to prominent and successful careers in the audio engineering industry.

Graduate Studies Scholarships:Grants, including the named Scholarships, are awarded annually for exemplary students dedicated to the art and science of audio engineering. The AESEF Scholarship Committee selects the recipients of the memorial scholarships based on which student best meets the criteria for each named scholarship. Genelec Mike Chafee Audio Pioneering ScholarshipThis scholarship encourages passionate and outstanding women to continue their audio education while paying tribute to noted long-time Genelec manufacturer’s representative, audiophile, sound designer, acoustician, audio evangelist and supporter of women in audio, Michael Chafee. Chafee had been involved with Genelec since 1996 and is credited with being an early pioneer and key influencer in promoting the concept of Active Monitoring technology to the market.Dolby Institute ScholarshipThe Dolby Institute has partnered with AES to award the Dolby Institute Scholarship, open to international graduate students with an interest in content creation and the study of the science of sight and sound.

The John Eargle AwardThis award honors AES Past-President and Fellow, John Eargle, who authored several seminal textbooks on audio, as well as engineering more than 250 albums, and was posthumously awarded a Technical GRAMMY® Award in 2008. The scholarship is given annually to a student who excels in both technology and music.

L-Acoustics Dr. Christian Heil Future of Sound Scholarship This scholarship awards recipients who demonstrate curiosity and dedication to shaping the future of sound, including approaches that may question conventions or call upon bodies of scientific knowledge outside of the realm of audio. Students having pursued an undergraduate course of study in an area other than audio are encouraged to apply in the interest of enriching cross-disciplinary thinking and exchanges to further the state of the art.

Advancing Audio – The Tom Kite ScholarshipThis scholarship honors Kite’s legacy of dedication to engineering excellence in audio and audio measurement, as well as his achievements within the AES and as Vice President of Engineering of Audio Precision, the scholarship’s sponsor. It is offered to students who demonstrate creativity and imagination.

Genelec Dr. Ilpo Martikainen Audio Visionary ScholarshipCoinciding with its 40th anniversary in 2018, Genelec announced the creation of a scholarship honoring its innovative and entrepreneurial founder. The Genelec Dr. Ilpo Martikainen Audio Visionary Scholarship is offered annually to U.S. graduate students in the field of audio engineering who are members of the Audio Engineering Society and have a passion for advancing audio through innovation and technology development.

Garry Margolis ScholarshipAESEF’s latest scholarship has been established in honor of Garry Margolis, who passed in December 2022. Garry was a Life Fellow of the Audio Engineering Society, served as AES President and Treasurer, and was a member of the AES Board of Governors for many years. He was awarded the AES Distinguished Service Medal Award in 2019. Professionally, Garry worked for several leading audio companies in marketing, sales and as a technologist and consultant in the areas of audio, video and digital cinema. 

The Emil Torick Award This scholarship, awarded annually to an outstanding student with exceptional career goals, honors the former long-term AES Foundation President and founding member, Emil Torick. Torick held 16 patents and authored more than 60 technical publications. He served on the National Radio Systems Committee and was a member of the U.S. delegation to the International Radio Consultative Committee in Geneva.

Undergraduate Studies Scholarship:The Mary Lea Simpson Memorial ScholarshipThis scholarship covering full tuition for final year of studies is being offered to an undergraduate student entering senior year at a North American college or university Audio Engineering/Recording Arts Program. The scholarship honors Mary Lea Simpson, who was a graduate of the Audio Production Program at New England Institute of Art.

Historically, grants have been made possible by contributions from AES, Audio Precision, Dolby, Genelec, Harman International, JBL, L-Acoustics, the estate of John K. Hilliard, and the Mix Foundation for Excellence in Audio; the families of John Eargle, Mary Lea Simpson, David Smith, Emil Torick; and the family and friends of Larry Estrin, Don and Fran Pearson, and Bruce Swedien. The AES Educational Foundation also receives support from other benefactors such as in-memoriam donors and individuals and companies that support education in audio. 

Application forms and additional information online in the AES Educational Foundation web pages.

Daily Crunch: T-Mobile buys Mint Mobile’s parent company in a deal worth up to $1.35BTo get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important stories delivered to your inbox every day at 3 p.m. PDT, subscribe here.
Hellooooo, and welcome to the Wednesday Crunch!
SVB’s new CEO Tim Mayopoulos has had a lot to say in the 24 hours since he joined the bank on Monday. In a private Zoom meeting run by SVB for a select number of LPs and investors, he asked clients to return deposits to the institution, Natasha M reports.
With much love from Christine and Haje
The TechCrunch Top 3

Mint-y acquisition: The big news for today is that T-Mobile is acquiring Mint Mobile’s parent company — you know, the company that Ryan Reynolds has a stake in — in a deal valued at $1.35 billion. Aisha notes that this “move indicates that T-Mobile is looking to boost its prepaid offerings.”
I know you are, but what am I?: Well, if you ask OpenAI’s Greg Brockman, GPT-4 isn’t perfect, but neither are you, Kyle writes. Ouch.
Talk about timing: On the back of OpenAI announcing its new GPT-4 model, Quora announces Poe, its own chatbot offering, which is launching subscriptions to let you chat with a GPT-4-powered bot, Ivan reports.

Startups and VC
There’s no shortage of startups attempting to put drones to work. There is, however, a long-standing question around the efficacy of such plans. Drones — especially the smaller variety — are impressive pieces of technology, but their functionality is relatively limited. A small quadcopter probably isn’t going to prune your trees or walk your dog anytime soon, Brian writes. One thing they can do exceptionally well, however, is imaging. Verity raises $32 million as Ikea stores deploy its inventory drones.
To celebrate Wednesday, here are some alluring alliterations:

Ride-share roll-up: Romain reports that BlaBlaCar is to acquire Klaxit, a ride-sharing service for daily commutes.
Scam security show-off: Once scammed for ten grand, this VC is building a crypto security vault, reports Rita.
Watching wildfire worries: Brian reports that Torch is building solar-powered outdoor sensors to spot wildfires early.
Hiring healthcare helpers: Paul reports that Medwing, a recruitment marketplace for Europe’s healthcare workforce, raises $47 million.
Assisting AI archetypes: Kyle writes that OpenAI hopes to crowdsource AI model testing with Evals.

Zero-based budgeting: A proven framework for extending runway
Image Credits: Getty Images
It’s critical to extend runway in this environment, but pulling back too much in the wrong places can reduce momentum across your entire organization.
Instead of simply trimming a little off the top, more startups are turning to zero-based budgeting, an aggressive tactic where founders return to Square One “every budget period to verify all of the line items are relevant and cost-effective,” writes FP&A analyst Healy Jones.
“The best founders look for a framework to strategically cut burn while keeping their startup’s value drivers functioning.”

Zero-based budgeting: A proven framework for extending runway

Three more from the TC+ team:

You can’t stop the robots: AI’s ascendance seems unfazed by SVB mess by Alex.
We need a minute: “Trust is a hard thing to earn”: SVB’s closure could disproportionately affect Black founders, writes Dominic-Madori.
From chaos, order: Jacquelyn writes that chaos in U.S. banks could push the crypto industry toward decentralization.

TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get ahead of the pack. You can sign up here. Use code “DC” for a 15% discount on an annual subscription!
Big Tech Inc.
Today’s Big Tech theme seems to be “ways to do something easier.” First up is GitHub, which created its own set of guidelines around setting up open source program offices. Paul writes that companies trying to stay on top of open source compliance, security, and so on, will soon find this is a challenge, hence the open source program office “emerging as a staple part of the modern corporation, formalizing what might previously have been a loose collective of employees spanning myriad departments and roles.”
Next we go over to Waze. If you have an electric vehicle, you are going to want to come closer. Ivan reports that Waze has a new feature that tells EV owners where compatible charging points are along their route.
And we have five more for you:

Crackberry on the big screen: Matt is bringing us all back to the late 1990s with a look at the trailer for the new “BlackBerry” movie.
Sarcasm clouds ahead: If you like your weather with a dose of insults, Carrot Weather’s new chatbot with a ChatGPT update will deliver, Lauren reports.
Signal lost: Carly writes that two weeks later, Dish customers are still looking for answers as the satellite company’s ransomware fallout continues.
Buckle up: A European court delivered another blow to Meta, ruling that Facebook’s behavioral ads lacked legal basis. Natasha L has more.
We don’t need no stinkin’ solar panels: Tesla’s new home battery now comes without the solar panels, Harri writes.

Daily Crunch: T-Mobile buys Mint Mobile’s parent company in a deal worth up to $1.35B by Christine Hall originally published on TechCrunch

Flandersh Tech Substitute Substitute is your free substitute synthesizer for virtual analog needs. Covering all the classical features of a subtractive synthesizer such as oscillators, filters, effects, extensive... Read More

Solidtrax Untold Stories Vol.2 Solidtrax proudly presents Untold Stories Vol.2, their second preset expander for the very unconventional new synthesizer from Arturia called the MiniFreak. It features 64 presets that... Read More

Avex Inc. CEO Katsumi Kuroiwa on Japan, the modern music business, and global expansionIn this feature, we speak to Katsumi Kuroiwa, President and CEO of Japan's Avex Group
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Pulsar Audio Smasher Is FREE For A Limited Time
Plugin Boutique offers the Smasher ($49 value) compressor plugin by Pulsar Audio as a free download for a limited time (iLok account required). It is almost impossible to not have at least one 1176 clone in your plugin folder. The storied FET compressor’s character has kept it relevant even years after its introduction. If you’re [...]
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