🔵 Can ORCA turn the tide for the indies?

The new indie research body aims to demonstrate music's value to governments. Can it succeed?

Hi there -

I have heard about ORCA for some time now. Largely, it has to be said, in off-the-record chats and general whisperings about what it was and what it was aiming to achieve.

Last week though, the think tank finally surfaced, with its first report, “Setting The Stage: How Music Works”. You can read the report in full here. Perhaps a reductive take is that this report aims to explain to a layperson (e.g. a politician with no ‘boots on the ground’ experience) how the music industry works, and the role that record labels in particular play in that.

In that respect, this is arguably just what is needed. I’ve complained for a long while now about there simply being too many voices shouting to be heard among trade bodies, and so documents like this, if they succeed in cutting through to those at the top, might prove to be a fine silver bullet of sorts.

Of course, we should remember that ORCA is comprised of numerous large indie labels (Beggars Group, Partisan, Because Music, Sub Pop among them - and full disclosure, four are Motive Unknown clients) with “labels” being the key word here. Ergo, I imagine it likely that perhaps the likes of the MMF, FAC and other bodies representing artists or artist managers directly might have differing views. Which, I might add, is not to say that the facts within the report are contentious - not to me anyway. They amount to solid summary of the facts: as the title suggests, it is basically just explaining how the music industry works.

If ORCA has one stroke of luck on its side, it is that here in the UK we’ve now ushered in a Labour government that, I think it is safe to say, will be considerably more sympathetic to arts and culture in general. That being the case, if ORCA can win over UK MPs over time, that could set some precedents that might inspire the EU to follow.

(The US, I suspect, will be a whole other ball game, locked as it currently is in something of a deadlock where nothing is really getting done in this space, something I doubt the election in November will drastically change one way or the other at this rate.)

For now though, ORCA’s first report is a useful one. Ironically, we (ie. those working in the music industry) are not the intended audience. This is squarely aimed at those in power with means to effect change, and right now I’d argue that’s a good thing.

Perhaps what will be more interesting to witness over time will be the positioning of this all. ORCA’s founding partners, are, I note, businesses that are very much what I’d term as “traditional record labels”. If that sounds pejorative, it most certainly is not: by that I simply mean that these are businesses whose income is entirely derived from signing artists and releasing their music. They do not, so far as I can see anyway, have broader interests beyond that.

Perhaps a counter-example would be Believe. Believe is not a traditional label: it is a network of owned businesses covering labels, artist services, distribution, DIY release platforms, publishing and more. Therefore, it is quite a different beast; arguably something that will, in time, look more like a fourth major label alongside Universal, Sony and Warner.

A negative argument might be that these indie labels have an uphill struggle against Big Business - that being the likes of the majors but also companies like Believe. Personally I prefer a more optimistic take, which is that if it succeeds in its apparent ambitions, ORCA might just get governments to understand that this space we are in is not just business, but art and culture. Per my last missive, I think that is something everyone has been quick to forget, so if this can work to change that, I am certainly in favour.

Have a great evening,

D.

🎶 listening to “Border Country” by Underworld. I had the pleasure of seeing Underworld play on Brighton beach this weekend just gone, and they didn’t hold back, delivering all the classics alongside new material and more that made for a pulverising set. This gem from their DRIFT series remains a ferocious live highlight though. Here, it is a hypnotic gem. Live, it is like aural warfare. See them live if you can - they’re arguably more lethal onstage now than they’ve ever been.

📺 watching “The REAL Reason Algorithms are Bad For Culture (iPod Week 2)” on YouTube. This all lines up well against my own experiments with going back to MP3s, and I’m enjoying this YouTuber’s take on the qualitative shift when you reject algorithms as your recommendation base and instead seek out more personal connections.

🤖 playing with my new MP3 player. No, don’t check what year it is, you heard that right. £30 bought me a new, UK-made MP3 player that weighs 30g, takes my 128Gb micro SD card of music, has bluetooth and plays for 13hrs. Why? It is an experiment ahead of a summer holiday where I want to just immerse myself back into my own music library. Not all the music ever: just the music I’ve selected to own and love.

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Stories from the Music Industry:

Should skipped songs be valued less on streaming services?

Should there be a direct financial penalty for being skipped too, though? That’s the suggestion being made by former Spotify chief economist Will Page in his latest report: ‘A Case for Completion’. “Put simply, songs that are streamed in their entirety should be better compensated, and songs that are skipped before the end should be valued less,” writes Page in his analysis, published on his Pivotal Economics website with an accompanying presentation.

👆🏻Hot take: I’d say the case for this is clear, though I would imagine the administrative overhead it could create might be a whole issue unto itself.

Independent labels' ORCA think tank will research music's impact

ORCA’s focus is squarely on research, and the audience for that research is largely outside the music industry: politicians, government agencies, businesses and community leaders. That’s reflected in its first report, ‘Setting the Stage: How Music Works‘, which is also launching today, targeted at “intergovernmental agencies, multi‑laterals, ministries of economics, chambers of commerce, tourism boards, economic development agencies, ministries of culture, mayors, city councils, commissioners, and global development finance institutions – among others.

👆🏻Hot take: if ORCA exists to demonstrate music’s intrinsic value, then I’d welcome its arrival. I guess the real question here, sadly, has to be what impact it is capable of having. Some, I hope.

Spotify posts record quarterly profit... but user growth misses guidance

Spotify has published its financial results for the second quarter of 2024, with a record operating profit of €266m the highlight. However, the company missed its guidance to analysts on its monthly active users (MAUs) growth. The key figures: Spotify ended June with 626 million MAUs, up 14% year-on-year. However, that was five million less than it had predicted in its guidance. That said, Spotify grew its number of premium subscribers by 12% to 246 million, which was one million above its guidance.

👆🏻Hot take: at this point I don’t feel I have much to opine relative to Spotify. I simply don’t feel it is a good thing for all but the top 1% (or less) of artists and no amount of user growth numbers will work to change that view.

‘Middle class’ of artists growing larger, Luminate report finds, as 29,253 clocked between 1m and 10m on-demand audio streams in H1

Among those in the 1 million–10 million streams range, 62.1% had indie distribution, while in the 10 million–50 million streams range, 37.4% had indie distribution. That compares to just 9.9% with indie distribution among artists with 500 million+ streams during the first half of 2024. And of the 46 artists who clocked more than 1 billion US streams in H1 2024, 43 of them had major distribution, Luminate reported.

👆🏻Hot take: I don’t feel this tells us much we didn’t already instinctively know. The mega-streaming artists are on major labels, often because the majors throw huge money at ensuring their wagon is hooked onto said artist. Charli XCX might be the latest case in point. Equally though, the very term ‘indie’ is getting whittled away to the point of irrelevance now, sadly.

Spotify, Stop Trying to Become a Social Media App

“We love robust debate in the comments,” the Daily Wire spokesperson says. But, she adds, moderating the forecasted volume of comments might prove to be nearly impossible. Ben Shapiro’s YouTube channel receives 3,700 comments daily, according to the spokesperson. “Assuming it would take about 30 seconds to review each one [on Spotify], it would take 30 hours a day—more than three full-time positions—to moderate,” she says. “I can’t imagine who would take on this expensive burden.”

👆🏻Hot take: a fine take on Spotify’s attempt to be more like YouTube… and how it appears to be largely failing.

Pirated Movies Flood YouTube, Millions of Views on Compromised Channels

It appears that the audio content matches on these movies do not rely on the allegedly-infringed tracks being in the movie, only that they’re present in the video files uploaded to YouTube. The scheme apparently works something like this: 1. Create or otherwise obtain tracks that are not detected by Content ID 2. Register those tracks (illegally) with Distrokid, CD Baby, or Tunecore (who are oblivious to the fraud) 3. Obtain a movie that will get lots of views 4. Use software to stitch the audio track to the end of the movie 5. Upload resulting video file to YouTube 6. Wait for a content match on the music, monetize the entire video 7. Get paid a small amount, or nothing at all if the royalty collection companies find out

👆🏻Hot take: this is a grim revelation on the lengths criminals are going to now to use music as a means to cheat algorithms and generate revenue.

Youth Music study explores young people's attitudes to music

Young people are feeling less musical compared to the survey Youth Music conducted in 2018, and there’s unequal access to music education and musicmaking equipment. Youth Music points out that more than two thirds of local authorities in the UK have cut or plan to cut their arts and cultural budgets, while youth services have faced more than £1bn of cuts over the last decade.

👆🏻Hot take: for me the paradox here is that more learning materials are available than ever, largely thanks to YouTube, but that we’ve now devalued music by cutting so much funding to it, that it is diminishing as a part of our popular culture. Not good.

TikTok to ‘fast track’ official artist account creation for DistroKid members

TikTok and DistroKid have extended the scope of their existing alliance, announcing a new partnership to ‘fast track’ the creation of official TikTok Artist Accounts for DistroKid members. The latest collaboration grants DistroKid members access to a suite of artist-specific features through DistroKid’s dashboard to help them connect with fans on TikTok. Previously, obtaining an official TikTok Artist Account could take weeks

👆🏻Hot take: one might argue this further signposts TikTok’s desire to diminish reliance on the ‘established’ music industry (ie labels and the majors in particular) and instead grow a long tail of DIY artists with far less representation and heft at the negotiating table.

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Notable stories from the world of tech:

Meta pulls plug on release of advanced AI model in EU

However, a Meta spokesperson confirmed the model would not be available in the EU. The decision underlines tensions between big tech and Brussels amid a tougher regulatory environment. “We will release a multimodal Llama model over the coming months – but not in the EU due to the unpredictable nature of the European regulatory environment,” the spokesperson said.

👆🏻Hot take: Meta finally spits the dummy. The company might characterise it as the EU being “unpredictable” but I’d argue this is simply down to the EU actually seeking to hold it accountable - something not happening in the US where Big Tech is obviously dominant.

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Looking for something else to read? Here you go:

‘Advergames’: how games platform Roblox became a corporate marketing playground

Advertising to children is strictly regulated – but household brands are flooding the gaming platform Roblox with interactive marketing. Is this a danger to young users?

👆🏻Hot take: I don’t really agree with The Guardian’s take here, but for me the bigger story here was just how quickly a thriving gaming platform (of a sort) was turned into a grim corporate hell. If anything this is a lesson in how Roblox got so obsessed with the money that they forgot about their users along the way.

Katy Perry’s ‘Woman’s World’ Flopped So Hard It’s Shocking

Katy Perry’s new single “Woman’s World” got such a critical thrashing and ignited such a discourse that we wonder whether there’s any hope of a career comeback.

👆🏻Hot take: a fine breakdown of the Katy Perry comeback that wasn’t. A grim read, certainly, but also a good one for any marketing (or A&R) people IMO.

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