France, the world’s fifth-largest music market, generated recorded music revenue of 920 million euros ($967 million) in 2022, according to local trade body SNEP.
However, despite the sixth consecutive year of market growth, 2022 has seen a slowdown in the margin of that growth, with market revenue up just barely 6.4%Annual.
Over the previous year, 2021, revenue from recorded music in France increased 14.3%YoY.
Paid subscriptionbased on streaming, which generated revenues of €426 million ($448 million) in 2022, was France main driver of recorded music revenue last year, growth 11%Annual.
Streaming, from ad-supported and paid subscription services, generated revenue 486 million euros ($511 million) in France in 2022, up 13.5% YoY.
Meanwhile, at the end of 2022, according to SNEP, there were 11 million paid subscription accounts in France, up by +1.0 million per year from 10 million in 2021. (These accounts were shared by 16 million users, through family plans, etc.)
This annual growth in the number of subscription accounts in France has slowed compared to 2021, when the number of paid subscription accounts increased by +1.3 million compared to 2020.
Indeed, the 16 million users of premium subscription accounts in France last year represented around a quarter of the estimated total population (≈66 million).
These figures have clearly worried the major record companies – the biggest members of SNEP – and we understand why: according to IFPIis the last World Music ReportFrance was the world’s fifth largest recorded music market in 2021, behind the United States (1), Japan (2), the United Kingdom (3) and Germany (4).
SNEP said today in its annual update: “RWhatever the age group, subscription streaming is struggling to reach the level of other major music markets in France.
“Platforms and [labels] both have a major challenge to overcome: convincede consumers, large and small, to switch to subscription services.
So what’s to blame for subscription streaming’s ‘struggle’ to keep growing in France?
One contender is TikTok – and its growing popularity among young consumers in the territory.
“Record companies are multiplying musical experiences and sources of income, adapting their strategies… [including] redefine the role of TikTok, whose massive use is distracting consumers from subscription-based services, drivers of the current music business model.
Alexandre Lasch, SNEP
Citing a 2022 IFPI consumer study, SNEP reports that if 77% of respondents say they discover new music via TikTok, 45% young people in France, between 16 and 24 years old, »claim to spend more time on TikTok than online music services“.
SNEP Director General Alexandre Lasch, in a statement accompanying the new annual report, said that “the massive use of TikTok diverts consumers from subscription servicesdrivers of today’s music business model.
And while SNEP highlights France’s challenge to convince more music consumers to pay for music subscriptions, it notes in its report that TikTok and short videos “have reshuffled the cards when it comes to music streaming”.
Lasch’s comments and SNEP’s report on the “struggling” growth of subscription streaming in France come amid calls from some music industry players for TikTok to pay rights holders more for the use of their music on its platform.
Many in the music industry argue that TikTok, who has over 1 billion global monthly active users, is growing thanks to the popularity of music on its platform.
News of TikTok possibly “hijacking consumers” from properly monetized music on subscription platforms like Spotify Or Apple Music in one of the world’s largest recorded music markets will only reinforce calls to change TikTok’s royalty payment model.
The major record companies will probably follow very closely the evolution of the situation in France at the entrance of their next round of negotiations with the ByteDanceproprietary video platform.
“Record companies are multiplying musical experiences and revenue streams, adjusting their strategies to an ever-changing playing field.
Alexandre Lasch, SNEP
In his full statement, SNEP Director General Alexandre Lasch said: “Record companies are multiplying musical experiences and sources of income, adjusting their strategies to an ever-changing playing field: curbing the manipulation of flows that distorts the rules of the game; redefining the role of TikTok, whose massive usage is distracting consumers from subscription-based services that drive the current music business model; integrating the many applications of artificial intelligence that are already influencing the way music is made and listened to.
A slide in SNEP’s annual report noting that TikTok has “reshuffled the cards when it comes to listening to music”
Elsewhere in SNEP’s year-end report, it is revealed that, as in other mature music markets, vinyl record sales continue to grow, reaching 5.4 million units sold in 2022, generating a turnover of 89 million euros for the French recorded music market.
These 89 million euros represent an increase of 12.65%Annualwhich was significantly lower than the year-on-year growth observed the previous year (+54.9%).
Elsewhere, the SNEP report highlights the success of local music in the market in 2022, noting that “French musical productions” made up 77% of the Top 200 best-selling albums last year.
Meanwhile, artists based in France accounted for 16 of the top 20 most streamed and purchased artists in France in 2022.
Annual results for recorded music revenue in France arrive the same week as neighboring Spain publish its equivalent numbers.
According to the Spanish organization of the recorded music industry, Pro Musicae, the number of paid subscriptions in the Spanish market grew almost twice as fast as in France last year as a percentage – up 18%Annual For 5.2 million.
Meanwhile, in Japan, the world’s second-largest recorded music market, subscription streaming revenue in 2022 reached 75.62 billion yenwhich turns into US$575 million at average annual exchange rates (according to the IRS), and represents revenue growth of 19% year over year through paid music services like Spotify And Apple Music.
All EUR-USD conversions in this story have been made at the average annual rate as provided by the US Inland Revenue Service (IRS)
