International Music Summit (IMS) hosted another successful edition last week at Ibiza. The highlight of the summit was the annual IMS Business Report, which provides an in-depth and comprehensive study of the Electronic Dance Music industry. The detailed statistical report presented by Kevin Watson focused on 5 key components: Recorded Music, DJs & live acts, Clubs & festivals, companies & brands and industry value.

Recorded Music

Music revenues saw a 9.7% overall growth in 2018, which was largely driven by digital revenues. Based on IFPI survey of over 19,000 people aged 18-64, 32% of respondents answered Dance/Electronic/House as the music genre they typically listen to. The study ranks Dance / Electronic genre 3rd, ranking only behind Pop and Rock. Speaking of Electronic music, the biggest store for digital music – Beatport revealed that underground genres like Techno, Tech House, House, Deep House remain among Top 4 selling genres since 2015.

The study also sheds a light on the surge of video game industry, which has created a huge opportunity for DJs to capitalize on it. Citing examples of DJs like Dixon, Solomun playing a virtual residency in GTA online and Marshmello’s live virtual concert in Fortnite.

DJs & Live Acts

Calvin Harris retained his spot as highest paid DJ for yet another year. But the estimated earnings of the Top 10 highest paid DJs fell to the lowest it has been since 2013.

The report also analyses the unprecedented rise in popularity of female techno DJs Nina Kraviz, Charlotte De Witte and Amelie Lens. The 3 techno queens exponentially grew their fanbase on Instagram, Spotify & YouTube, faster than Top DJs like Marshmello, David Guetta and Alan Walker.

Clubs & Festivals

The attendance for live music events and festivals showed the highest YoY increase in 2018. With fans of Electronic music having the highest propensity to attend a live music event. However, the data on the closure of nightclubs is definitely a worrying sign for the industry. Las Vegas, known for its high profile clubs with residencies of top DJ acts also saw a significant decline of visitors.

Companies & Brands

The subscription model for music streaming seems to be doing wonders as evident with Spotify, Apple Music, and SoundCloud. Beatport is also set to target the streaming market with the launch of two new services: Link & Cloud. While Apple Music has surpassed Spotify to reach 56 million paid subscribers.

Industry Value

Using data from over 33 sources, IMS report has concluded that the overall market value of the electronic music industry has gone down by 1% to be valued at $7.2bn.

Download and read the full report here:https://bit.ly/2I6goLA

Share This