The sky is rising
I’ve been meaning to post on this report for a while, called The Sky is Rising. Their intro:
For years now, the legacy entertainment industry has been predicting its own demise, claiming that the rise of technology, by enabling easy duplication and sharing — and thus copyright infringement — is destroying their bottom line. If left unchecked, they say, it is not only they that will suffer, but also the content creators, who will be deprived of a means to make a living. And, with artists lacking an incentive to create, no more art will be produced, starving our culture. While it seems obvious to many that this could not possibly be true, since creators and performers of artistic content existed long before the gatekeepers ever did, we’ve looked into the numbers to get an honest picture of the state of things. What we found is that not only is the sky not falling, as some would have us believe, but it appears that we’re living through an incredible period of abundance and opportunity, with more people producing more content and more money being made than ever before. As it turns out… The Sky Is Rising!
Just as some in the industry said the VCR would be fatal to their industry.
Some data from the report:
- From 1998 to 2010 the global entertainment industry grew from $449 billion to $745 billion
- In the US the % of household spending on entertainment has gone from 4.9% in 2000 to 5.6% in 2008
- Employment in US entertainment industry grew 20% from 1998 to 2008
- The number of independent artists rose 43% in the last decade
- The number of books available for sale has gone from 0.25m to 3.0m in last eight years
- Song tracks for sale have gone from 11m to 100m
- Films production has gone from 1,700 in 1995 to 7,000 in 2009
- Global box office revenues up from $25.5b in 2006 to $31.8b in 2010
- Music sales up from 687m in 2003 to 1,507m in 2010
- Music industry revenue up from $132b in 2005 to $168b in 2010
And remember the last two to three years has seen a global recession, which makes these figures even more impressive.
The report is a superb read – not just for the stats, but the case studies of how people are making money through new business models, rather than the old gate keeper models.
This report should be required reading for the Commerce and ICT Ministers. It shows the Internet is not the enemy of the entertainment industry. It is merely changing the old world business models some can’t bear to leave behind.
February 23rd, 2012 at 12:20 pm
Marvellous.
Once upon a time “industry” produced something useful, now it produces rubbish.
Bread and circus for the dumbed down masses, but now there’s no bread only the circus.
February 23rd, 2012 at 1:18 pm
i’m dubious about the rise in the number of independent artists — if that were the case , you’d expect to see more rising through the ranks.
I wonder why it is mainly older musicians that can attract the big crowds?
February 23rd, 2012 at 1:56 pm
wreck – because they have a back catalogue. Bands arent given time to develop anymore.
back in the day they would still get to make the second and third albums even if the first album wasnt a hit. its a lot more ruthless now.
as an example. Bon Jovi – their first two albums had very mild success. Nowadays they would be lucky to get a 3rd album with a decent push. but back then they made slippery when wet, huge push. huge album.
course, the labels are short cited. they dont seem to work on building acts. they just go for the latest trends.
recording an album is cheap and easy now. distribution isnt too bad – itunes is easy. lots of distribution companies out there. but making videos, getting airplay etc not so easy.
February 23rd, 2012 at 5:09 pm
This has been known for a long, long time.
February 24th, 2012 at 10:54 am
Unfortunately these facts are ignored by the people who count: the legislators.