It was an incredibly dynamic year for the music industry. And it’s coming to a close.
Let’s take a look back at 2024 and review the biggest events in music tech, trends, promotion, law, finance, concerts, and more:
Show me the money!
If 2024 proved anything, it’s that investment is back
Some notable examples include:
- The sale of Hipgnosis Songs Fund
- Private equity paying big dollars for a stake in GMR
- Massive price tags for the purchase of classic catalogs by Pink Floyd and Michael Jackson
- And maybe most notably, Sony Music buying the recording and publishing rights to Queen’s music for almost $1.3billion
The details of these individual sales and acquisitions are less important than the overall story:
Money is returning to the music space after the dramatic economic downturn in 2022. As a result, big players are buying, horse-trading, and positioning themselves for an era where proven catalogs can be further leveraged.
So sue me!
In 2024, we got momentous lawsuits aplenty
These aren’t your average contests between aggrieved parties. Some of these cases will set important precedent as we face new frontiers in tech, creativity, and ownership:
- The Department of Justice went after Live Nation-Ticketmaster, accusing the concert giant of operating an unfair monopoly.
- Drake is suing his own label’s parent-company, accusing it of using unethical tactics to boost a rival track by Kendrick Lamar. The famous rap beef now continues in court, with accusations of streaming fraud, shady deals with DSPs, and more.
- Miley Cyrus famously answered Bruno Mars’ song “When I Was Your Man” with her track “Flowers.” And now a copyright holder for the Bruno song is suing Miley for copyright infringement, despite Bruno Mars and most of the songs’ writers being against the suit. It will be interesting to see what musicologists and experts in copyright have to say, because “answering” and “influence” (IMO) are not the same thing as plagiarism and infringement.
- In a similar copyright gray area, lots of musicians didn’t like how the next president of the USA used their tracks during his campaign events in 2024. And they sued. At the heart of this type of case is the question: Where is the line between the simple remunerated public broadcast of copyright-protected content, and an artist’s right to protect their likeness, image, brand, and reputation. And that question isn’t just important for matters of politics, it’s also being asked in court cases related to AI-generated content.
Speaking of…
AI goes to court
“Hey Siri, find me a good lawyer”
The first half of 2024 was dominated by discussions about AI’s influence on artistry and creativity. But then did you notice? That talk kinda flatlined. The hype waned. Fears subsided (somewhat).
Then came the court cases:
- The major labels sued UDIO and SUNO, accusing them of training their AI models on copyright-protected content. The case will (potentially) settle whether that practice is lawful.
- Other cases and legislation wrestled with the question of whether AI services and the people who use them can employ voice mimicry, manipulate someone’s likeness, or otherwise profit from a recognizable brand, image, or style.
- Michael Smith – with the help of one of those AI companies mentioned above – distributed a bunch of “fake songs” and is now being sued for streaming manipulation.
- And as AI helps to resurrect Bing Crosby for an end-of-year Christmas collaboration with V of the band BTS, we’re reminded that posthumous releases are going to be a continued legal and ethical battleground.
It’s no longer a matter of combing through the archives of an artist’s unreleased material for profit potential. There are now unlimited opportunities to make new material and generate new revenue streams.
How do you responsibly manage the legacy and estate of a deceased celebrity in the present and future world of digital resurrections?
(Old) school is still in session
Vintage FTW
Despite radical shifts in music consumption over the past 25 years, old forms and formats are still showing resilience:
- Among listeners 13+, radio is still the most popular method of music consumption, accounting for 32% of listening. That includes AM/FM stations and their digital offerings. Honestly, I was surprised radio (in the aggregate) remains so strong, with streaming a close 2nd at 28%.
- In 2024, there’s also been a continued uptick in vintage audio sales (vinyl and cassette), as well as increases in vintage audio equipment sales and repair.
App scraps
Platform drama on a global stage
Here’s the tea:
- TikTok continued to prove itself a prime player in music discovery, with its unique ability to impact a track’s chart positions and virality. But not everyone loved that fact. Or at least, they didn’t view virality as a fair trade for low payment.
- That’s why early in 2024, Universal Music Group made huge headlines by removing its music (and publishing catalog) from TikTok, saying the social platform did not compensate rights-holders fairly. After some downtime, a lot of back and forth, and some complaints from the artist community, UMG eventually restored its catalog on TikTok.
- Meanwhile, the USA decided it would force parent-company ByteDance to sell TikTok, or else face a ban of the app. This law is being challenged and we’ll see what happens if it gets to the Supreme Court.
- In the Spotify department, lots of huge changes in 2024. Starting with its amended payment rules, effectively de-monetizing tracks that have less than 1000 plays per year.
- Spotify also stirred up controversy with an attempt to pay less for music when it’s “bundled” with audiobooks.
- And then there was that moment mid-year when Spotify’s Daniel Ek said that the cost of creating content was nearing zero, and the entire internet exploded in outrage. (Personally, I think his tweet was taken out of context, but… it made for some good drama).
Gigs go bigger
The megastars make a concerted effort
Where are stars turning to maximize their earnings? Concerts. As the economics of touring remain a challenge for lesser-known acts and smaller venues, superstars are driving unprecedented profits from live events:
- 2024 saw the conclusion of Taylor Swift’s record-breaking Eras tour, a 21-month stadium spectacle that generated over $2billion. The highest-grossing tour of all time, Eras also gave a boost to local economies along the tour route, to the tune of $6.5 billion in the USA and Canada alone.
- Colplay joined the billion-dollar tour club, with its Music of the Spheres World Tour grossing more than $1billion. They are now the first group in history to gross that much money in a single run of concert dates.
- Tours are one thing. Mega-concerts are another. With acts like Adele and The Weeknd playing events that draw massive crowds that make your average stadium show look quaint.
All your music in the world
Release your entire catalog for no extra cost
What’s the biggest story of the year over here at ReverbNation? We launched UNLIMITED music distribution for our premium members.
So you can release everything you create and never pay additional distribution fees.
Albums, EPs, singles, remixes, sped-up versions, live cuts, demos, collabs, holiday tracks, and more.
Plus, you’ll get unlimited promotion through Opportunities, an onramp to major music publishing, and a host of musician tools!
What big events did I miss?
As I said above, 2024 was a dynamic year. Lots of change. Lots of debate. Lots of big achievements and memorable stories.
Inevitably, as with all end-of-year lists, I’m sure I missed something noteworthy.
So join me and Kevin Breuner on this week’s Music Career Study Group as we recap these news stories from 2024. We’d love for you to be a part of the discussion on YouTube or Facebook, and let us know what you thought was the biggest music news of the year:
