France is ‘struggling’ to reach the paid subscription levels of other major music markets. Is TikTok partly to blame?

France, the world’s fifth greatest music market, generated recorded music revenues of €920 million (USD $967m) in 2022, based on native commerce physique SNEP.

Nonetheless, regardless of marking the market’s sixth consecutive 12 months of progress, 2022 noticed a slowdown within the margin of that progress, with the market’s revenues up by simply 6.4% YoY.

Within the prior 12 months, 2021, recorded music revenues in France grew 14.3% YoY.

Paid subscription-based streaming, which generated revenues of €426 million ($448m) in 2022, was France’s essential driver of recorded music income final 12 months, rising 11% YoY.

Streaming, from each ad-supported and paid subscription companies, generated revenues €486 million ($511m) in France in 2022, up 13.5% YoY.

In the meantime, on the shut of 2022, based on SNEP, there have been 11 million paying subscription accounts in France, up by +1.0 million YoY from 10 million in 2021. (These accounts had been shared by 16 million customers, by way of household plans and so on.)

This YoY progress within the variety of subscription accounts in France slowed in comparison with 2021, when the variety of paid subscription accounts grew by +1.3 million vs. 2020.

Certainly, the 16 million customers of premium subscription accounts in France final 12 months equated to round 1 / 4 of the nation’s estimated total population (≈66 million).

These figures have clearly induced concern on the main file firms – SNEP’s largest members – and you may see why: In line with IFPI‘s newest World Music Report, France was the world’s fifth greatest recorded music market in 2021, behind the USA (1), Japan (2), the UK (3), and Germany (4).

SNEP said in its annual replace at this time: “Regardless of age group, subscription-based streaming is struggling to succeed in the degrees of the opposite main music markets in France.

“Platforms and [labels] alike have a significant problem on their palms: to convince shoppers, younger and previous, to make the change to subscription-based companies.”

So what’s responsible for subscription streaming’s “battle” to continue to grow in France?

One candidate is TikTok – and its hovering ranges of recognition amongst younger shoppers within the territory.

“Report firms are multiplying musical experiences and sources of earnings, adjusting their methods… [including] redefining the position of TikTok, whose large use diverts shoppers from subscription-based companies, the drivers of at this time’s music enterprise mannequin.”

Alexandre Lasch, SNEP

Citing an IFPI client research from 2022, SNEP stories that whereas 77% of individuals surveyed say that they uncover new music by way of TikTok, 45% of younger folks in France, between the ages of 16 and 24 years of age, “declare to spend extra time on TikTok than on on-line music companies“.

SNEP Managing Director, Alexandre Lasch, in an announcement accompanying the brand new annual report, mentioned that TikTok’s “large use diverts shoppers from subscription-based companies, the drivers of at this time’s music enterprise mannequin”.

And as SNEP highlights France’s problem to persuade extra music shoppers to pay for music subscriptions, it notes in its report that TikTok and short-form movies “have re-shuffled the deck in relation to music streaming”.

Lasch’s feedback and SNEP’s report on France’s “struggling” subscription streaming progress arrive amid calls from some within the music trade for TikTok to pay extra to righsholders for the use of their music on its platform.

Many within the music trade argue that TikTok, which has over 1 billion world month-to-month lively customers, is rising off the again of music’s reputation on its platform.

Information of the likelihood that TikTok is “diverting shoppers” from correctly monetized music on subscription platforms like Spotify or Apple Music in one of many world’s largest recorded music markets will solely strengthen requires TikTok’s royalty payout mannequin to vary.

The most important file firms will doubtless be watching the developments in France very intently as they enter their next round of negotiations with the ByteDance-owned video platform.

“Report firms are multiplying musical experiences and sources of earnings, adjusting their methods to a consistently renewing enjoying area.”

Alexandre Lasch, SNEP

In his full assertion, SNEP Managing Director Alexandre Lasch, mentioned: “Report firms are multiplying musical experiences and sources of earnings, adjusting their methods to a consistently renewing enjoying area: curbing the stream manipulation that distorts the foundations of the sport; redefining the position of TikTok, whose large use diverts shoppers from subscription-based companies, the drivers of at this time’s music enterprise mannequin; integrating the quite a few functions of synthetic intelligence which are already influencing the best way music is being made and listened to.”

Elsewhere in SNEP’s year-end report, it’s revealed that, like in different mature music markets, gross sales of vinyl information proceed to develop, reaching 5.4 million models offered in 2022, producing revenues of €89 million for the French recorded music market.

That €89 million represented progress of 12.65% YoY, which was considerably decrease than the YoY progress seen within the prior 12 months (+54.9%).

Elsewhere, SNEP’s report highlights the success of home-grown music available in the market in 2022, noting that ‘French Music Productions’ made up 77% of the High 200 best-selling albums final 12 months.

In the meantime, France-based artists accounted for 16 of the High 20 most listened-to and most-purchased artists in France in 2022.

France’s annual recorded music income outcomes arrive in the identical week that its neighboring nation, Spain publishes its equal numbers.

In line with Spain’s recorded music trade org, Professional Musicae, the variety of paid subscriptions within the Spanish market grew practically twice as quick as they did in France final 12 months on a share foundation – up 18% YoY to 5.2 million.

In the meantime, in Japan, the world’s second-largest recorded music market, revenues from subscription streaming in 2022 reached 75.62 billion yen, which converts to USD $575 million at annual common trade charges (as per the IRS), and represents income progress of 19% YoY by way of paid-for music companies like Spotify and Apple Music.

• All EUR-USD conversions on this story have been made on the common annual fee as offered by the US Inland Income Service (IRS)

Music Enterprise Worldwide