Global music hits a high note via streaming and merchandising

At the recently held Click Asia Summit 2016, organised in Mumbai, one of the more interesting sessions discussed ‘What’s Streaming Got To Do With Transformation ’. Among the three presenters — all representing the Indian digital music space — one of them, Gulshan Verma of Times Internet, spoke about the first upturn in world music revenues in ten years. But a report from non-profit global body International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry [IFPI], an organisation floated in 1933 that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide with some 1,400 members in 66 countries, recently announced something better: the upswing was the first in almost 20 years!

Credit for this change-for-the-better consumption pattern is because digital formats finally overtook the on-the-way-to-obsolescence physical formats for the first time with digital deliveries taking a 45% share of total revenues —much thanks to the rise of streaming services due to the growing market for smartphones – vis-a-vis a 39 per cent share for physical. So what about the balance 16 per cent

At least one of the revenue streams of the “balance” is none other than merchandising — or merch, as it is known within the music fraternity —wherein one media report refers to not less than seven portals in India selling merchandising. While it is not known which of the portals sell official licensed content, there is at least one recent player that goes way beyond doubt: Universal Music India (UMI), which has launched a massive collection of merchandising that has been made available to it from their global merchandise label, Bravado. Music merchandising, however, is no longer restricted to merely the conventional — such as tees, caps, coasters, badges or posters 1 and this is where UMI also plans to excel as they plan to launch boxer shorts, flip flops and — wait for it — eye wear! Artistes covered include Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and Eminem. Among the classic rock act include Guns ’N Roses, Queen, Black Sabbath, Jimi Hendrix, and The Doors. There is also the Rolling Stones, who I managed to s ee perform live on February 21, 2014, in Abu Dhabi, as the first concert of the band’s ‘14 On Fire’ concert tour, picking a tee for both memory and for posterity.

Much credit for the genesis of merchandising as a revenue earner for artistes should go to — who else — but The Beatles. If I cut back to my school days, having my parents’ return from the U.S. with a Beatles wallet was indeed a pride of possession although, in retrospect, I must admit that I had little, if any, awareness on the band’s music then. Nevertheless, that the success of The Beatles impacted the entire global merch industry can be gauged from the fact that merch still provides the surviving members of the band and the wives of the deceased members a revenue of upto US$20 million a year, and all this 46 years after the Beatles have ceased to exist as a band!

Nevertheless, some merchandise tilts to the bizarre too. For example, the five-member English-Irish One Direction launched a toothbrush and toothpaste ideal, perhaps, for their clean image. Then there is the one from Joel Thomas Zimmerman, better known by his stage name deadmau5 (pronounced “dead mouse”), who is a Canadian progressive-house music producer and performer of electronic dance music (EDM) who, paradoxically, launched headphones for cats! Consider American rock band The Flaming Lips’ merchandising selection that includes a gummy candy that contains four audio tracks from the band, placed onto an USB located inside an edible “skull”, which requires fans to “eat your way to the new music!!!”

While there is, no doubt, a direct relationship between the artistes and the record label regarding the marketing and promotion of merch and, needless to say, its revenue share, the bond is virtually non-existent for independent artistes who not only hold the rights to their own recordings, having them distributed from their very own websites and/or through the innumerable portals that support such content but, most important, it develops a direct link between the artiste and their fans. After all, it is the artiste who should be — and is — in the best position to connect with their fans, both in terms of music and in merch.

But, in the meantime, it is indeed welcome news that legitimate merchandising is now being made available in India, which becomes a revenue earner for both the music labels as well as for the established artistes that it supports and, surely, this argument is now an universal concept!

The writer has been part of the media and entertainment business for over 23 years. He still continues to pursue his hobby, and earns an income out of it.