STIM and SGAE reports confirm revenue growth trends around Europe

Two more European song right collecting societies have published their stats for 2022, confirming the trend seen elsewhere: ie decent growth in revenues thanks to a post-pandemic recovery of performance income and the ongoing streaming boom.

Swedish society STIM saw its collections increase by 20% last year, to SEK2.7 billion, or nearly £196 million. Pay outs to the society’s writer and publisher members were up 16% to SEK2.2 billion, or nearly £160 million.

The songs side of the the music rights industry was hit harder by the COVID pandemic, of course, due to the fact that – for songwriters and publishers – monies coming in from the live performance of music, and the use of recorded music in public spaces, are key revenue streams. And both were hit hard when the COVID lockdowns went into effect. However, those revenue streams started to recover last year.

STIM notes: “The live music market recovered strongly during the year, despite some pandemic restrictions during the first quarter. Revenues from concerts and festivals increased by 213% to SEK117 million, which is on a par with pre-pandemic figures”.

Meanwhile, “income from hotels, restaurants, shops and clubs also showed an upward trend. STIM collected SEK201 million over the year from the background music market, an increase of 28%”.

That said, the society also observes that challenges remain on the live side of the business. “The ongoing trend of smaller and medium-sized concert halls and venues disappearing poses a risk of the market being significantly redrawn in the future, at the expense of diversity and inclusivity”, it states.

Digital is now a key revenue stream for STIM, accounting for 40% of total collections. And not all digital income is even captured in that category.

STIM, as part of ICE, does directly license its repertoire to digital platforms in many markets. But in some countries the local collecting societies will do the deals, and the money they collect appears under what STIM calls ‘international income’, which accounts for 32% of total collections.

And streaming income in international markets is key, partly because of the number of Swedish songwriters who have global success, and partly because a lot of the potential for future growth, certainly in relation to Spotify-type streaming services, is in other markets.

STIM states in its new report: “Although streaming has been around for more than ten years, it is still a developing market, with enormous potential for even further growth”.

“In several European countries, the proportion of the population subscribing to a music streaming service is low, such as in Spain, Germany and France. Besides the expected growth in these markets, we also expect to see a conversion of free users to paying users, which will also push future revenue streams”.

“In overseas areas where STIM licences directly”, it goes on, “such as the Middle East and parts of Asia, there is additional potential, as these markets are far behind Europe and North America in terms of users with subscriptions”.

Also reporting its 2022 stats this week is the sometimes controversial Spanish collecting society SGAE. It states that it “distributed €316.3 million among its members and administered rightsholders in 2022, representing an increase of 27.4% compared to 2021. Revenue reached approximately €349 million, the highest amount since 2007, 35% more than in 2021”.

The trends reported by both STIM and SGAE – in terms of the return to growth and what is powering that growth – echo was had been reported by other collecting societies around Europe, including PRS in the UK and SACEM in France.