The Power of Digital Consumers: The India Example
Fixing the value gap in the music industry is possible with music blockchain projects like Inmusik and the power of the community.
As we discover revenue models in Asia and take a look at what listeners truly value, we pay attention to the industry’s most important sector: the music consumers.
Compared to western countries like the US and UK, India has seen the music industry through different lenses. Musicians and labels have never heavily relied on physical sales. Numerous composers count on sync opportunities with the mammoth Bollywood, which captures the majority of the market sales. The country never had the nostalgia of booming physical sales and digital downloads. The top audio downloads in the market are ring-back tones, not albums nor singles.
Now, Indian consumers are privy to unlimited music consumption, and to a certain degree, to free music. Mobile Indian consumers enjoy ultra-low data rates from their mobile providers. Digital music revenues make up 91% of the country’s music recording industry. Music streaming makes up 27% of this number.
For musicians, labels, and composers, the rise of consumption volume is a big opportunity for talent to emerge and for everyone to get gigs. The volume of mobile users is also attracting the music streaming giants, partnering up with telcos to get a share of the extra large market.
In India, not that many people talk about record sales. Breaking through the stiff competition and achieving milestones in the region is often discussed by the number of people that listen to one’s music through streams, just like this tweet.
With this, digital consumers have changed the way people talk about songs and artists. India’s major selling point is their people, and the current streaming giants are the most willing to capitalize on that.
There’s Still Money in Music. But Where?
Where is the sheer volume of India’s music consumers now? 95% of them use on-demand streaming, making the country as the highest mobile consumers in the world. However, streaming services lack paid users in platforms. In 2017, India’s recorded music industry generated just $0.09 per capita in trade.
Is subscription really the answer when it comes to making musicians, composers, and labels get paid for the service that they provide to the industry? While it may be the conceivable revenue source now, it is barely enough to keep everyone in the business. Take a look at Spotify, which reported massive revenue losses despite its large user base.
However, could the wide user base in India really translate to profit? Could the volume of people in a region listening to a popular song translate to a great offline experience and ticket sales? Ed Sheeran could most probably attest to that.
10% of 3.8 billion YouTube views for the hit Shape of You are from India’s streaming alone. Ed Sheeran’s Mumbai tour in 2017 has also sold out 10,000 tickets in 48 minutes. The cost of the ticket? It starts at Rs 4750 — almost 40 times the cost of Apple Music’s monthly subscription in India.
Contrary to popular belief, there is quick money that can be made out of music. Also contrary to another belief, Indians will pay for services as long as there is perceivable value to what they are paying for.
Digital Consumers Steer Streaming Directions
For a huge part of this industry’s timeline, listeners have invested in music and make do with the emotional return. At this point, listeners are on the path of discovering what makes a good music journey in an industry that changes too often. Now, the trend is focused on providing a more immersive experience for music fans, either by allowing them to dive into deep libraries for music discovery or allowing them to have direct interaction with artists through digital tips.
Inmusik aims to take a step into the future with blockchain. On top of making it possible for artists and labels to enjoy an ecosystem where they get paid fairly for what they do, Inmusik takes the leap and bring music closer to digital consumers. How? By allowing them to invest in quality content. This goes beyond offering unlimited music without ads and social interaction with idols. For the first time in the streaming age, digital consumers can get revenue out of what they have traditionally been paying for.
Inmusik’s Shared Success and the Role of the Listener
Sharing music, referring tracks to new users, and “liking” songs on the platform go a long way in exposing an artist’s body of works. Traditionally, all the call to actions that the industry push towards the audience all travel down a one-way street. When artists and labels ask consumers to stream, it is all to set an automation with results that are hardly felt by anyone. With measly payouts on streaming, those who make and promote music are bound to go back to tours instead.
What happens when we provide better value to all consumer actions? As Inmusik aims to reward all music interaction that leads to promotion, a quality song in this platform where everyone is actively looking for good content is bound for virality. Top it with user investment using $ound, a good song is almost guaranteed to achieve virality. This means more stream counts and more upfront revenue. And when a song succeeds in breaking out, every listener and curator that participated in its success is rewarded with tokens that are convertible to cash.
Is it a lofty vision? This type of revolution has already started a long time ago. David Bowie was able to buy back his rights because he allowed people to invest in his songs. Streaming companies like Tencent Music have allowed social interaction on their platforms, making a killing from digital tips and gifts. Now that we have blockchain, we can push for transparency and agile transactions to a different level.
Is this achievable? Yes — with the rise of the empowered digital consumers, it is already happening.
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