Streaming: Top Revenue Source For Songwriters, Composers

Streaming became the largest source of income for composers and songwriters in 2022 and helped boost their collections by more than a quarter to 10.83 billion euros ($11.44 billion), a report showed on Thursday.

Digital royalty collections surged nearly 34% to 4.2 billion euros in 2022 as more consumers turned to music and video subscription services, the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC) said in the report.

After a boom during the pandemic, streaming collections have doubled from their pre-COVID levels and account for 35% of total collections for music creators, surpassing TV and radio.

Royalties from the live and public performance sector - including concerts, exhibitions and theatres - rose by 69.9% to 2.68 billion euros in 2022, but remained below 2019 levels of around 7.9% after collapsing during the pandemic.

The report said live entertainment has continued its rebound in 2023 on the back of pent-up demand and could grow past pre-pandemic levels.

It warned, however, that the outlook beyond 2023 was uncertain because of concerns over consumer spending and tightening touring budgets of artists.

Earlier this week, music-streaming giant Spotify (SPOT.N) reported a rise of 26% in the number of its monthly active users to 574 million in the third quarter, beating its own guidance and analysts' forecast of 565.7 million.