$25 Billion Global Music Industry

The global music business, at least what's tied to music copyright, is worth over $25 billion. Actually, it's worth $25.3 billion, according to Will Page, the director of economics at Spotify who calculated the figure. But that's just a start.

Page's $25.3 billion is an eye-opening number for sure. Much of the figure based on publicly available information. Page's figure consists mostly of data inside reports by the IFPI, covering sound recordings, and the global International Confederation of Authors and Composers Societies (CISAC), covering musical works. Add the total revenues from those reports and you'll have a good but rough estimate.

C-MURDER SPARKS INVESTIGATION

Page needed more research and arithmetic to arrive at his estimate. Some publishing revenues are hidden from the public eye and not included in the CISAC report. Revenue from direct licensing of $1.7 billion came from a from a MIDiA Research report. Also counted was revenue of $423 million from mechanical royalties collected outside of CISAC from organizations such as Harry Fox. Page also eliminated the double counting. IFPI sales numbers include mechanical royalties paid to record labels, which count them as revenue, and then paid to publishers, where they also count as revenue.

But there's much more -- maybe $40 billion more. Released last week, a joint study between CISAC and the United Nations Educations, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and published by the company formerly known as Enrst & Young, put a dollar value on different creative industries around the world. For music, the study of cultural and creative industries quantifies the impact of sound recordings, music publishing and live events in terms of both revenue and employment.

Page's $25.3 billion figure is revenue derived only from music copyright. This includes purchases and streams of recorded music -- both the recording and the embedded mechanical royalty -- streaming royalties, performance royalties and synchronization royalties. It's a compact, easy-to-understand number. If the music business is a series of concentric circles, revenues from music copyrights are at the center.

Live music, included in the CISAC study, is one circle out from the core. Global live music revenues are $25 billion, according to IBISworld. Given the known value of music copyright, CISAC must have put the live music market at roughly $40 billion. Some concert-related revenues aren't included. The concentric circles of the music industry could, in theory, expand to ticketing revenue. Live Nation, AEG and SFX has linked their promotion businesses to their ticketing businesses. Ticketing, both primary and secondary, is a profit engine that can be driven by live events.

Many other revenue streams are adjacent to music copyright and concerts. Take music sponsorships, a growing category that isn't directly tied to copyright. Sponsorship revenue doesn't come from a copyright, but still depends on the popularity of recordings. Sponsorships and recordings also share some beneficiaries. For example, a sponsorship deal can generate revenue for an artist, a manager and a label. This is real money. Just in the United States, live music sponsorship revenue was $2.04 billion in 2014, according to the latest PricewaterhouseCoopers' Entertainment & Media Outlook report. IEG put the value of music sponsorships by North America-based brands alone at $1.34 billion. Either way, sponsorships aren't included in the CISAC study.

Merchandise sales are also adjacent to music copyright. A touring artist can make good per-head money in merchandise sales at concerts. At the high end,Taylor Swift makes an estimated $17 per head in merchandise sales at her concerts. Even a lower per-head figure contributes to artists, managers and, in the case of multi-rights deals, labels, too.

Expand further and there are music instrument sales, tour bus rentals, and money spent on beer at concerts. It can practically go on forever. It's probably a good thing Page stuck with music copyright.

Nicki Minaj Testifies at Meek Mill Parole Hearing

Nicki Minaj said she'll keep boyfriend Meek Mill on the straight and narrow when she testified Thursday during the rapper's latest parole violation hearing in Philadelphia.

Minaj took the stand for about half an hour in an effort to keep Mill out of jail. She told the judge she'll help Mill stay organized and work with him to fulfill his community service requirement.

"He's not perfect but I can't believe how much he's changed," Minaj said.

Common Pleas Judge Genece Brinkley is threatening to send Mill back behind bars. Prosecutors say the 28-year-old rapper violated parole in a 2009 drug and gun case by repeatedly changing his court-approved travel schedule.

Minaj and Mill recently attended the American Music Awards in Los Angeles, where Minaj picked up two awards.

Defense lawyer Frank DeSimone said the music industry is chaotic, and Mill is not trying to disrespect the judge. He also said Minaj and Mill are serious about getting married.

Mill is due back before Brinkley on Dec. 17. The judge said Mill, whose real name is Robert Williams, also submitted a suspicious urine sample.

Michelle Obama Hits No. 1 on Billboard + Twitter Trending 140 With 'Go to College'

First Lady Michelle Obama rose to No. 1 on the real time Billboard + Twitter Trending 140 chart with “Go to College.”

The comedic and empowering track finds FLOTUS teaming with Saturday Night Live’s Jay Pharoah in the College Humor-produced clip, rapping about (no surprise here) the importance of going to college.

Mrs. Obama doesn’t get much time to flex her skills in the two-minute clip, but she dishes inspirational lines in her verse, such as “South Side Chicago, we all know. We had to overtime every night to make it tomorrow.”

The track promotes the first lady’s Better Make Room and Reach Higher initiatives, which aim to inspire college-readiness programs and completion goals for teenagers.

FLOTUS’ new No. 1 also earns her bragging rights at the White House. Her husband, President Obama, reached No. 2 on the Billboard + Twitter Trending 140 on Nov. 17, thanks to a featured turn on JX Cannon’s “Pop Off.” Cannon released his Soundcloud-only cut, which is based on a the line, “If folks want to pop off and have opinions about what they think they would do, present a specific plan” from a Nov. 17 presidential address.

In addition, President Obama helped spark a Trending 140 No. 1 yesterday (Dec. 9), after Mrs. Obama told Time that her husband's favorite song of the year was "How Much a Dollar Cost" by Kendrick Lamar. The news sent the song darting to No. 1 on the real-time survey, where it became Twitter's most discussed track for nine straight hours. "Dollar" features on Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly album, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in April and recently powered the rapper to 11 Grammy nominations, the most for any artist this year.

FOX SUSPENDS STACEY DASH FOR USE OF PROFANITY DIRECTED TOWARDS THE PRESIDENT

Stacey Dash is sitting in the timeout corner after being suspended by Fox News, USA Today reports. Dash, along with contributor Ralph Peters, was penalized by the news network after using profanity on air that was directed at President Barack Obama.

Peters described Obama as “a total p___” during a Sunday appearance on the Fox Business Network in response to his Sunday night speech from the Oval Office. During a different program, the “Clueless” star said that the President doesn’t “give a s___” about terrorism.

It was later announced that both Dash and Peters were suspended.

“Earlier today, Fox contributors Lt. Col. Ralph Peters and Stacey Dash made comments on different programs that were completely inappropriate and unacceptable for our air,” Fox senior executive vice president Bill Shine was quoted as saying by CNN. “Fox Business Network and Fox News Channel do not condone the use of such language, and have suspended both Peters and Dash for two weeks.”

Hopefully, this will inspire Ms. Dash, who is constantly ridiculed for her unpopular political opinions, to think a little bit more before she speaks.

Toni Braxton: Unbreak My Heart

Lifetime recently released the first photos from Toni Braxton: Unbreak My Heart, and it looks like it could be quite interesting. 

One photo depicts  the real Toni with Lex and the four actresses who have been cast to play her sisters.

The Grammy Award-winning singer’s long-awaited biopic is set to premiere on Saturday, January 23 at 8 p.m. ET/PT and as previously reported, will document the singer’s professional and personal journey to superstardom.

Music Startup Aurous Officially Shuts Down

For Aurous, the writing has been on the wall since the beginning. Less than two months since the much-maligned streaming and download service debuted in alpha on Oct. 10, the company has officially shut down and ceased all operations after reaching a settlement in a copyright infringement lawsuit brought by Atlantic Records, Capitol Records, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Bros. Records.

In the end, Aurous never really had a chance. The labels slapped the app with the lawsuit just three days after its alpha launch -- and a day after its developer Andrew Sampson attempted to explain how it worked in an interview with Billboard -- alleging that the service offered its users access to pirated music and allowed them to stream copyright-protected material and demanding an immediate injunction. The ban took effect on Oct. 15, when the court demanded Aurous suspend its activities while the lawsuit was ongoing.

That injunction became permanent today, as Sampson also agreed to transfer all its intellectual property to the majors, effectively preventing Aurous or any similar copycat app to emerge from the wreckage. “Aurous appropriately agreed to shut down,” said RIAA Chairman and CEO Cary Sherman in a statement. “We hope this sends a strong signal that unlicensed services cannot expect to build unlawful businesses on the backs of music creators.”

The settlement also levied $3,000,000 in damages against Aurous, a significant victory against an app that had only been operational for five days. In response to the settlement, Sampson sent the following statement to Billboard:

"I implore Congress to amend the statute to reflect the realities of file sharing. There is something wrong with a law that routinely threatens teenagers and students with astronomical penalties for an activity whose implications they may not have fully understood. The injury to the copyright holder may be real, and even substantial, but, under the statute, the record companies do not even have to prove actual damage.

"In the US courts its not about who is right or wrong, people can judge this for themselves, its about how much money can you spend. My only fear is that this lawsuit opens up other websites and services to attack. Aurous operated in the blind, our client just allowed people to utilize the API’s of 3rd party websites (YouTube, Soundcloud), even then look where we ended up."

Elvis Presley Estate Fighting Sony Over Royalties

Elvis Presley has left the building, but the digital income issues that have bedeviled more contemporary musicians have hardly escaped the King.

His estate is currently battling a subsidiary of Sony Music in Germany over foreign royalties. This month, the four-year-old legal battle spilled into a New York federal court as Elvis Presley Enterprises contends with Sony's corporate structure and intercompany licensing agreements and looks to obtain more documentation on how Presley's musical works have been exploited.

In 1974, Presley entered into a buyout agreement with RCA, terminating all previous agreements between the musician and the record company. As part of that deal, Presley got $2.8 million, and his manager "Colonel" Tom Parker got $2.6 million.

What the King didn't see coming was copyright term extensions that would push back the date when his songs entered the public domain. A lot more revenues would be enjoyed by the owner of such hits as "Love Me Tender" and "Hound Dog." In Germany, for example, where Presley was once stationed as a soldier in the Army and remains popular, the copyright to his songs were once scheduled to expire in the 1990s whereas now they enjoy another twenty to thirty years of protection.

Read More: Billboard Biz

50 Cent - The Kanan Tape [New Mixtape]

After a few delays, 50 Cent is finally ready to hit us 

with The Kanan Tape. 

The title is inspired by the street-dwelling character Fif plays in his TV show "Power," and thus we're hoping 50 is back on his hard-hitting gangster-ass lyrics. Based off the recent leaks, it definitely sounds like Fif is in the zone.

Today we finally get the full project, which features Post Malone, Boosie Badazz, Young Buck and Sonny Digital. Production comes from Colt 45, Illmind, Sonny Digital, Scoop Deville, Alchemist, London On Da Track and Bandplay.

Give it a listen and/or download, and let us know what you think. 50 back?

Tracklist
01. Nigga Nigga Feat. Lil Boosie & Young Buck (Prod. By Bandplay)
02. Too Rich For The Bitch (Prod. By London On Da Track)
03. Body Bags (Prod. By Alchemist)
04. Tryna Fuck Me Over Feat. Post Malone (Prod. By Scoop Deville)
05. Im The Man Feat. Sonny Digital (Prod. By Sonny Digital)
06. Burner On Me (Prod. By Colt 45)
07. On Everything (Prod. By Illmind)

***Listen Now***