The 20,000 Foot View

The US and the UK have long dominated the global music industry, thanks in no small part to the benefit of having that most exportable of languages English as their mother tongue. A heritage of decade after decade of stellar artists and music scenes of course also helps, but the first signs are emerging of smaller music markets being able to make their mark on the global arena in a way previously unimaginable. The catalyst? What else could it be other than that omnipotent change agent streaming. But while the old world establishment may have been the glass ceiling for international breakout in the analogue era, a new set of gatekeepers now determines just how far your song can travel.

Key Findings

• Globalization and            are twin and opposing forces            are defining global culture in            digital era
           of consumer are listening to more artists from other countries than they used to, up to            of            year olds 
• Streaming music            are not a neutral observer            cross border listening but instead            active participant
           of streaming music users say that streaming services help them discover more international artists
• On Spotify,            has helped continental European music            global audiences 
• Curated playlists            driving cross border listening
• Strategic use            local curated playlists transformed French            Feder’s ‘Goodbye’ become an international           
• Streaming services            becoming full stack, end-to-end marketing            distribution channels 
• The opportunity            however finite as fundamentally most            language music does not export            scale
• If you            a global streaming hit, you            to sing it in English

Companies and services mentioned in this report: Anghami, Apple Music, BPI, Digster, Dubsmash, Filtr, Rhapsody, Spotify, Tidal, Topsify, Vevo, Warner Music, YouTube