Global music markets focus – France
June 29, 2020
Streaming now accounts for over half of music revenues in France. Paid subscriptions are also on the rise. However local CMOs are creatively facing the challenges posed by music streaming.
France has had a significant cultural influence around the world. The nation’s impact on the music industry is no different. As the home to global organisations such as CISAC, the birthplace of streaming platform Deezer and some of the world’s most successful artists, it is clear that France is an industry leader. In terms of music collections, CISAC ranks France 2nd globally (CISAC, 2019).
The digital music revolution is strong in France, as streaming grows in market share. In recent months SNEP, a french music rights organisation, released music revenue figures of €772 million in 2019. Of this streaming accounted for 57% of these revenues. This represents a growth of 5.4% on 2018’s numbers (MusicAlly, 2020). Similarly in SACEM’s latest annual report featuring 2018 data, they discussed how streaming has driven successful music market growth. In 2018 SACEM, a member of CISAC, reported revenues of €1.006 billion, representing a 10% increase on the previous year (SACEM, 2019).
While physical sales are still important in the French market, digital revenues are now dominating. The DG of SNEP, Alexandre Lasch, shared that “streaming revenues obviously fuel this growth”. SNEP reported that 2018 was the first year that their collections exceeded physical format sales, contributing 57% of total music collections (DigitalMusicNews, 2019). In 2019 SNEP shared that streaming currently accounts for 63% of music revenues (DigitalMusicNews, 2019). The rise in downloads and streams being processed has been significant from 2014 to 2018. In 2014 there were 303 billion downloads and streams versus 11,204 billion in 2018 (SACEM 2019).
Despite Deezer being a streaming platform founded in France, another streaming platform is currently leading the market. Following a decade in the top position, Spotify has overtaken Deezer to be the number one platform in France. In April 2020 it was announced that 17% of the online audience use Spotify which is 4% more than Deezer. Spotify is the preferred platform except for 55-64 year olds, where Deezer is most popular. The adoption of paid subscriptions has grown significantly in France. In reports earlier this year, SNEP revealed an 18.5% increase in paid subscriptions to music streaming services in 2019. Now 9.4 million French people have paid subscriptions, a very significant proportion of the population (MusicAlly, 2020 & HireAudio, 2020).
In a major Facebook IQ and Accenture research piece, global music consumers were surveyed on their listening habits. France was part of the survey, providing a great insight into how they feel about music and streaming. Community connection is important for young French music lovers, with over half of 18-34 year olds agreeing with the statement that they would be “more likely to continue using a music streaming service if I (they) feel part of the community related to it or the artists on it”. Additionally, the data shared that those who listen to music on streaming platforms over radio find new music discovery easier (Facebook IQ, 2020).
Locally, French music is very popular. In the 2019 IFPI Music Listening Report, 65% of the French respondents stated that they listened to Variété Française music. French language Urban music and HipHop were highlighted as a popular genre (IFPI, 2019). In the 2019 MusicAlly France country report, the popularity of French music was reinforced. SNEP shared that in 2018 of the top 20 albums, 19 were by French artists. Local art and music are valued in France, which has led to its success. Much of this can be attributed to the government such as local music production tax credits (MusicAlly, 2019 : https://musically.com/2019/03/25/75015/). The French government has also put in place emergency support for artists as a result of Covid-19 (France24, 2020).
Internationally French artists have been incredibly successful across genres. Many French musical artists have won Grammy awards such as Justice, Phoenix and Daft Punk. Also, French electronic music artists are some of the most popular in the world, with DJs such as David Guetta and Martin Solveig topping global charts. In 2019, Forbes listed David Guetta as the 8th highest-paid DJ in the world (Forbes, 2019).
France is a leader in transforming music rights and the payments of royalties. In addition to CISAC being headquartered in Paris, local organisations such as SACEM are focused on the rights of artists. The organisation is innovating through the launch of new technologies like their mobile application, social initiatives and lobbying on behalf of members at local and European level. As streaming continues to grow in the country, creating trillions of microtransactions, this is very important. In their latest annual report, SACEM CEO Jean-Noël Tronc shared that “One of our challenges relates to the new ways in which music can now be created and distributed. We are constantly anticipating these developments to guarantee that our authors, composers and publishers receive the highest possible remuneration for their work” (SACEM, 2019).
Technology has transformed music rights and how to manage revenues. SACEM is focused on supporting artists as technology transforms music consumption. SACEM were key lobbyists for artist revenue from User-Generated Content in the formation of the European Copyright Directive. The group was also part of a deal with Facebook on behalf of Universal Music Group to share their repertoire across Facebook’s social platforms (SACEM, 2019).
Music streaming continues to grow in France, with more and more people subscribing to streaming platforms. SACEM reports processing trillions of microtransactions last year, this presents challenges to accurately match music royalties. Local CMOs are stepping up to the challenge with innovative solutions and practices.
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