The U.S. music industry now accounts for 70 percent of old songs. Worse, the new-music market is shrinking.
According to the most recent numbers from MRC Data (a music analytics company), 70 percent of America’s music market now comes from old songs. These figures should be feared and trembled by those who make their living from new music, especially the endangered working musician. However, the new-music market is shrinking. The market’s growth is mainly due to old songs.
Less than 5 percent of all streams come from the 200 most-listened-to-new tracks. This rate doubled three years ago. Even older music is being purchased by consumers. The list of iTunes’ most downloaded tracks is dominated by songs from the past century, like Creedence Clearwater Revolution and The Police.
This phenomenon was first witnessed in a retail shop where a youngster working at the register sang along to Sting’s “Message in a Bottle,” a 1979 hit. I had an identical experience in a local diner a few days before. The entire staff was under 30, but all the songs were over 40 years old. My server asked me: “Why aren’t you playing old music?” I was shocked, but she replied: “Oh, these songs I like.”