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Lee Zeidman, longtime president of Crypto.com Arena, Peacock Theater and LA Live, announced his retirement on Friday (March 28).
“After 45 years in the industry, opening numerous venues and hosting approximately 6,500 events, I have decided I’m no longer interested in working full time and will move on to write the next chapter in the book of Lee,” Zeidman tells Billboard. “I’m looking forward to doing whatever I want, whenever I want, wherever I want and however I want.”
Zeidman says he has agreed to assist with the leadership transition with an official end date no later than Oct. 31, 2025. The building’s ownership group, AEG, has engaged an executive recruitment team to find Zeidman’s replacement and is splitting the job into multiple positions.
Zeidman is a graduate of Cal State Northridge and got his big break working at the Great Western Forum in Los Angeles. When the Lakers and Kings decided to move to Downtown Los Angeles, Zeidman was the first employee hired at their new home, Staples Center, and he helped manage the construction of L.A. Live, one of North America’s first entertainment districts.
In 2020, Zeidman was honored with the Association of Luxury Suite Directors’ 2020 Visionary Award. Under his management, Staples Center, later renamed Crypto.com Arena, hosted nine NBA championships, three Stanley Cup Finals and five WNBA Finals. The arena has also hosted a multitude of sold-out concerts, awards shows and high-profile events, including the Grammys and funerals for Michael Jackson, Kobe Bryant and Nipsey Hussle.
Zeidman says he has no immediate plans in his retirement but would like to teach and serve on the board of different non-profit groups or associations.
“I’m most looking forward to doing nothing,” Zeidman says. “Iv’e done this for 45 years, I’ve worked for some incredible leaders and feel incredibly lucky to have had this career.”
President Donald Trump was joined at the White House on Monday (March 31) by Kid Rock for the signing of an executive order that instructs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to enforce the BOTS Act and crack down on scalpers who illegally obtain high-priced concert tickets for resale.
Signed in 2016, the BOTS Act made it illegal to use specialized computer programs or automated bots to defeat access control systems designed to limit the number of tickets a person can purchase online for a popular concert. The legislation was created to combat bot-assisted attacks on high-profile ticket sales but has only been enforced once since its passage.
The order directs the FTC to work with Attorney General Pam Bondi to “ensure that competition laws are appropriately enforced in the concert and entertainment industry” and to “rigorously enforce the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act and promote its enforcement by state consumer protection authorities.” It additionally calls for greater transparency around ticket prices and asks law enforcement to “take enforcement action to prevent unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive conduct in the secondary ticketing market”; and instructs both the Secretary of the Treasury (currently Scott Bessent) and the Attorney General to make sure “ticket scalpers are operating in full compliance with the Internal Revenue Code and other applicable law.”
The order also instructs the Treasury Department, the Department of Justice, and the FTC to deliver a report within 180 days “summarizing actions taken to address the issue of unfair practices in the live concert and entertainment industry and recommend additional regulations or legislation needed.”
During the signing, Rock thanked the president for the order, adding that it’s a first step in cracking down on bots that “come in and…get all the good tickets for your favorite shows they want to go to, and they relist them, sometimes for a 400 to 500% markup.”
The National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) issued a statement shortly after the signing that read, “We applaud President Trump’s Executive Order to protect fans from ticket scalping by individuals and companies built to fleece American consumers. We are also encouraged to see the order’s aim to remedy anti-competitive actions by large corporations. These actions will help address the two problems jeopardizing the well-being of artists, independent stages, and fans: a predatory, unchecked resale market where bots and deceptive practices price gouge fans and the Live Nation monopoly that forces small businesses to shut their doors.”
The statement continued, “We want to thank Kid Rock for the education and advocacy he has provided policymakers on this critical issue. We urge Congress to heed his call to go further to protect artists in ticketing legislation, including a price cap on the resale market.”
Ticketing companies, booking agents, concert promoters and special interest music groups have all lobbied for greater FTC enforcement of the BOTS Act, which specifically “prohibits the circumvention of a security measure, access control system, or other technological measure on an Internet website or online service of a ticket issuer that is used to enforce posted event ticket purchasing limits.” Industry experts agree that companies like Ticketmaster are best suited for identifying bad actors, but can’t unilaterally take action and must work directly with federal authorities.
TAMLA Records, the Nashville-based reprise of the storied label founded by Motown Records icon Berry Gordy, is announcing its official re-launch. Having set the goal “to redefine the Christian music landscape,” TAMLA operates under the Motown Gospel/Capitol Christian Music Group banner and is helmed by Walter Thomas, senior vp for Motown Gospel & TAMLA.
“Our mission is to champion, uplift and inspire new generation cutting-edge artists,” Thomas tells Billboard, “by providing a platform to connect their music with fans around the world through innovation and culture. TAMLA is the new home of positive music.”
It was initially announced in 2023 that TAMLA — Gordy’s late ‘50s precursor to Motown — would be revamped as a “mainstream imprint specializing in positive R&B and hip-hop music.” The first partner signed then to the reimagined TAMLA was Thomas “Tillie” Mann and his label Encouragement Music. However, the early 2024 reorganization of Universal Music Group delayed TAMLA’s formal relaunch.
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Also working alongside Thomas at TAMLA will be Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins. The Grammy Award-winning songwriter/producer has partnered with TAMLA to sign and develop emerging talent under his imprint, EVOLVE Music Group.
Rodney Jerkins / Credit: Andre St. Louis
“The history of TAMLA is very important,” Jerkins tells Billboard. “People need to know what TAMLA meant then but more importantly what it will mean now. To have the chance to help continue the legacy of what the great Berry Gordy started is what really prompted my decision to partner with TAMLA. We have a great opportunity to find new artists that can help continue its rich legacy.”
“I want to help bring to the world some cutting-edge Christian and gospel music,” added Jerkins. “I’ve always felt it should co-exist with mainstream. So my goal with Walter and Brad [O’Donnell, president of Capitol Christian Music Group] is to discover talent that we feel could do just that.”
In addition to the aforementioned Encouragement Music and its artist EmanuelDaProphet, TAMLA’s current roster now includes Childlike CiCi, Jordan L’Oreal and Lee Vasi. The label has also entered into a partnership with AMG Music Group (Anderson Music Group). Thomas’ label team at TAMLA includes senior director of A&R Alex Dollar, senior director of marketing Justin Tomlinson, director of A&R Justin Pearson and project manager, marketing Brianna Dowd.
“Right now, more than ever, I think we all need hope,” says Thomas. “And this music gives a lot of hope and uplift. It isn’t front tier in a lot of people’s minds because it’s religion-based. But if they can get past religion-based and get caught up in the whole messages that this music gives, people will connect more.”
“The more opportunities and platforms that these artists get on, I think people will want to hear it,” continues Thomas. “They just don’t know that it’s out. The main goal right now is to position these artists to be front and center so they can work in general market settings as well.”
Pophouse Entertainment, the Swedish catalog company behind the virtual live show ABBA Voyage, said on Monday it raised a total of 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) to invest in acquiring catalogs and entertainment experiences around those music rights.
The fundraise consists of 1 billion euros raised through a private equity fund, and 200 million euros ($216 million) raised through dedicated co-investment vehicles, where outside investors put money to work alongside the Fund in certain transactions. Roughly 30% of the fund has already been deployed into partnerships related to the acquisition of rights to songs by KISS, Cyndi Lauper, Avicii and Swedish House Mafia.
Founded by by ABBA member Björn Ulvaeus and Conni Jonsson, of the Swedish global investment firm EQT AB, Pophouse has been acquiring the publishing, recording and name, image and likeness rights to iconic pop catalogs and then building entertainment experiences around them, through theatrical and virtual shows, museums and movies.
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Pophouse’s playbook has been at work through productions like The Avicii Experience, a tribute museum to the late dance music producer that opened in his hometown of Stockholm, Sweden, in 2021; Mamma Mia! The Party, an interactive dinner party set in London theater modeled after a taverna from the Greek island of Skopelos; ABBA Voyage, the band’s wildly successful virtual show that uses ABBA-tars to digitally depict the foursome as they looked in 1979, and ABBA The Museum, which opened in 2013.
KISS, which sold its name and likeness rights to Pophouse, has hinted that a virtual performance of its songs could launch in Las Vegas in 2027.
“By investing across publishing, recording, and brand rights, Pophouse has created a uniquely attractive prospect not only for investors but also for artists, empowering them to explore and amplify their legacy to new generations of fans,” Pophouse managing partner Johan Lagerlöf, said in a statement.
Pophouse’s CEO is Per Sundin, the first music industry label executive to partner with Spotify when he at Universal Music Sweden and president of the labe’s Nordic region business. Jonsson recruiting Sundin to helm Pophouse with the intention of taking advantage of the external business opportunities music rights present in the streaming era.
“Facing unprecedented disruption caused by streaming and technology, music intellectual property presents a differentiated, lifetime opportunity for investors,” Jonsson said in a statement. “We are reshaping the entertainment industry by applying an active, value-add approach that unlocks future generations for fandom.”

Berlin-based music company BMG reported on Monday (March 31) that it generated 963 million euros ($1 billion USD) in revenue over the course of 2024, marking a 6.4% increase from the year-ago period, thanks to a double-digit jump in digital income streams a strong slate of major releases. The performance amounted to 8.1% in organic growth, the company said.
Digital revenue, which now accounts for 68% of BMG’s overall revenue, rose 16% in 2024, as BMG continues to see the fruits of moving oversight of its digital distribution business from WMG’s ADA to in-house in late 2023.
Operating earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) adjusted — BMG’s preferred metric for profit — rose 37% to 264 million euros ($274.2 million, based on the foreign exchange rate as of Dec. 31, 2024) compared to last year’s 194 million euros ($214 million, based on 2023’s year-end exchange rate).
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BMG CEO Thomas Coesfeld credited the “BMG Next” strategy — a localized yet globally scalable approach — for being pivotal in the company’s success in 2024, highlighting improvements in go-to-market strategies, digital distribution catalog acquisitions and technology. The company made significant changes to its global distribution strategy, including direct licensing agreements with Spotify and Apple Music and transitioning physical distribution management to Universal Music Group. BMG also invested around half a billion euros in catalog acquisitions — it counts 24 for the year — and signings, strengthening its rights portfolio through investment initiatives.
“Our BMG Next strategy has been instrumental in driving a successful 2024 with a step-change performance in a fast-evolving music market,” he said. “Building on the strong performance of our artists and songwriters, ongoing go-to-market improvements, such as insourcing digital distribution, and continued high investment into our people, catalog acquisitions and technology development, we achieved an incredible 2024.”
Notable successes in the recorded music sector included releases from George Harrison, Kylie Minogue, Bryan Ferry, Lainey Wilson, Sum 41, Travis, Crowded House, Rita Ora and others. The company signed new label deals with Blake Shelton, Mustard, YG, New Kids on the Block and K. Michelle, among others.
In music publishing, BMG songwriters such as Bruno Mars, D’Mile, Steve Miller, Trevor Horn, The-Dream, Roselilah and others achieved chart success, with contributions to major hits like Eminem’s “Houdini,” Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album, Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther” and Mars and Lady Gaga’s Hot 100 chart-topper “Die With a Smile.” BMG also signed or extended publishing agreements with artists, including Carly Pearce, KT Tunstall and Tyron Hapi, among others, and secured publishing agreements with Tomorrowland Music and Cirque du Soleil.
The company’s catalog division saw continued growth, with Mötley Crüe’s remastered ripper from 1989, Dr. Feelgood, driving a 10% increase in global streams and Australian garage rockers Jet (“Are You Gonna Be My Girl”) achieving milestones on streaming while selling out anniversary shows. Sync licensing also played a crucial role, securing placements in advertisements, trailers and TV series for artists like Lenny Kravitz, Jennifer Lopez, George Harrison, Pitbull and Rita Ora.
Here are some of BMG’s 2024 highlights:
Operating EBITDA adjusted jumped 37% to 264 million euros ($274 million) from the previous year of 194 million euros ($214 million).
EBITDA margin was 28% compared to the previous year of 21.4%.
BMG said it made 24 catalog acquisitions in 2024, compared to 30 the year before.
Billie Eilish and Finneas have hired new management. The siblings are now being managed by Sandbox Entertainment’s Jason Owen, whose clients include Brandi Carlile, Kacey Musgraves, Kelsea Ballerini and more. The Hollywood Reporter broke the news. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Eilish and Finneas were previously managed […]
K-pop companies SM Entertainment and HYBE were among the best-performing music stocks of the week as most stocks were dragged down by continued uncertainty about U.S. tariff policy and new data on higher-than-expected inflation.
SM Entertainment, home to NCT Dream and RIIZE, was the week’s best performer after gaining 6.7% to 107,000 KRW ($72.91). That brought the company’s year-to-date gain to 47.4% — the best of any music stock.
HYBE, which counts BTS and its solo members’ projects among its vast roster, improved 3.7% to 240,500 KRW ($163.87). On Thursday (March 27), HYBE announced that BTS songs such as “Dynamite” and “Butter” will be featured on Lullaby Renditions of BTS, out April 4 on Rockabye Baby! Music. HYBE shares are up 19.7% year to date, the fifth-best among music stocks.
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K-pop fared well during a down week for most stocks and markets in general. YG Entertainment, home of BLACKPINK and BABYMONSTER, rose 3.3% to 63,500 KRW ($43.27) while JYP Entertainment was unchanged at 61,300 KRW ($41.77).
Outside of South Korea, music stocks reflected the challenging economic conditions and uncertainties that have hurt stocks in recent weeks. The 20-company Billboard Global Music Index (BGMI) declined 2.9% to 2,459.98, marking its fourth decline in the last six weeks. With just eight of its 20 stocks finishing the week in the black, the BGMI fell into correction territory as its value has declined 10.7% since the week ended Feb. 14. The first six weeks of 2025 were good enough to overcome the recent slump, however, and the BGMI is up 15.8% year to date and has gained 40.4% over the last 52 weeks.
Stocks took another hit on Friday (March 28) after the core personal consumption expenditures price index, a measure closely watched by the U.S. Federal Reserve, increased 0.4% in February. That put the 12-month inflation rate at 2.8%. Both figures were above experts’ expectations. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite finished the week down 2.6%, increasing its year-to-date decline to 11.7%, while the S&P 500 fell 1.5%. In the U.K., the FTSE 100 increased 0.1%. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index fell 3.2%. China’s SSE Composite Index dropped 0.4%.
The BGMI was pulled down by Spotify’s 6.5% decline and a 4.2% drop by German concert promoter CTS Eventim. Warner Music Group, one of the index’s largest companies, dropped 2.7% to $31.56.
Tencent Music Entertainment (TME) gained 2.7% to $14.38 after Deutsche Bank upgraded its rating on TME shares to buy from hold. Universal Music Group rose 2.0% to 25.99 euros ($28.12) after Wells Fargo upped the rating on the company’s shares to overweight from equal weight and increased the price target to 33 euros ($35.70) from 28 euros ($30.29).
Music streaming company LiveOne had the week’s biggest decline at 14.1%. The company announced on Wednesday (March 26) that subscribers and ad-supported users surpassed 1.4 million.
Radio company iHeartMedia fell 6.8%, putting its year-to-date loss at 23.0%. Satellite broadcaster SiriusXM dropped 3.1% to $22.75, though it’s still up 1.7% in 2025.
Voting members of the Recording Academy’s Los Angeles chapter are being asked to vote again in the election that determines that chapter’s governors. The problem: Not enough people voted in the election that concluded Wednesday (March 26) for the Academy to consider it a valid election. As a result, a new election will open on April 9 and close on April 16.
Harvey Mason jr., Recording Academy and MusiCares CEO, and Tammy Hurt, chair of the academy’s board of trustees, sent an email to L.A. chapter voting members on Friday (March 28) explaining the situation and asking them to please be sure to vote this time. Members who voted in the initial election must vote again because this is a new election.
In their email, Mason and Hurt expressed sympathy for L.A. voting members, who have been through a lot in the past few months. Even those who weren’t personally affected by the wildfires that devastated the region beginning Jan. 7 were stressed by being part of a community that went through a traumatic event. “We understand that the past few months have been incredibly challenging for our LA members, and that you have had far more pressing matters to navigate,” they wrote. “However, it is critical that our elected leaders reflect the broad and diverse will of our members.”
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The L.A. chapter is the largest of the academy’s 12 chapters. The others are Atlanta, Chicago, Florida, Memphis, Nashville, New York, Pacific Northwest, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Texas and Washington, D.C.
Julia Michels, who won a Grammy five years ago as a music supervisor on Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper‘s A Star Is Born soundtrack, is president of the L.A. chapter, which currently has 31 governors, all of whom are elected by voting members in the chapter. The governors, in turn, elect the national trustees. The L.A. chapter currently has seven trustees (more than any other chapter): Cheche Alara, Evan Bogart, Maria Egan, Sara Gazarek, Mike Knobloch, Ledisi and Jonathan Yip.
Here’s the email from Mason and Hurt, in full:
Dear Los Angeles Voting Members,
Voting in the Recording Academy’s twelve chapter elections concluded Wednesday night. Unfortunately, the Los Angeles chapter election for Voting Member Governor races did not receive the required turnout for a valid election. As a result, we are going to hold a second election. We understand that the past few months have been incredibly challenging for our LA members, and that you have had far more pressing matters to navigate. However, it is critical that our elected leaders reflect the broad and diverse will of our members.
The new election will open on April 9 and close on April 16, and again, it will only be for the Voting Member Governor races. Please note that even if you voted in these recently-concluded races, you must vote again. This is a new election.
We ask that you please make time to participate in this important step and vote. You will determine the next class of Recording Academy elected leaders that will guide the Los Angeles Chapter. Please vote and please encourage others to do the same.
If you are in need of assistance due to the LA wildfires, please visit www.musicares.org/get-help.
Best regards,
Harvey Mason jr.
Recording Academy & MusiCares CEO
Tammy Hurt
Chair, Board of Trustees
At Universal Inside, held Wednesday (March 26) at the Tempodrom in Berlin, UMG Central Europe chairman/CEO Frank Briegmann showcased some of the label’s acts, updated attendees on the state of the German music market and offered a glimpse into the company’s future.
After an appearance by the pop act Blumengarten, Briegmann shared some good news about the German business. As streaming growth slows in other regions, Germany still has plenty of headroom, which is why the market grew 7.8% in 2024, surpassing the 2 billion euro mark for the first time. He also made the point that this was good news for artists, who one study showed increased their collective revenue faster than labels between 2010 and 2022.
Briegmann also laid out a plan for growth that relies on UMG’s “artist-centric model” to increase payments to acts that meet certain criteria, as well as the “streaming 2.0” idea that is intended to induce superfans into paying more for subscriptions. The label had an impressive 2024, accounting for five of the year’s top 10 albums, including Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish releases in the top two spots. Briegmann also pointed to the success of UMG’s classical label Deutsche Grammophon, where he is also chairman/CEO, as a particular highlight.
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Much of the potential for growth lies in superfans, Briegmann said, and pointed to the history of UMG’s efforts to identify, track and reach them directly. The latest iteration of that is a new in-house direct-to-consumer operation, SPARKD, which will offer artists a new service to reach consumers with both albums and merchandise sold by UMG’s Bravado, which will be integrated into the label business in Germany. Bravado will continue to do business with both UMG artists and others. The idea is to use existing data to drive more different kinds of business — which would, in turn, generate more data. Already, Briegmann said, Bravado had grown its German merchandise revenue by 50% in the last three years, thanks in large part to its direct-to-consumer business.
Universal Inside is never all business, and as usual, Briegmann introduced some of the label’s artists. He briefly interviewed German pop star Sarah Connor, who spent much of her career singing in English but will soon release the final album of a German-language album trilogy, Freigeistin. Deutsche Grammophon president Clemens Trautmann introduced the label’s star pianist Vikingur Ólafsson, and Gigi Perez played two songs on acoustic guitar.
The event closed with a brief speech from Berlin Senator for Culture and Social Cohesion Joe Chialo about the significance of the Electrola label, after which the German act Roy Bianco & Die Abbrunzati Boys played a few songs, joined for the classic “Ti Amo” by the schlager icon Howard Carpendale.
With the recent news of slowing streaming growth in the U.S. and declining global revenue growth in recorded music, one might think the trends could have a negative impact on the market for publishing and recorded music catalogs.
Think again. For a handful of reasons, industry insiders who spoke to Billboard don’t believe the slowdown will have much — if any — effect on the continually brisk business in music intellectual property rights. Subscription revenue, which accounted for roughly 66% of U.S. revenue and approximately 51% of global revenue in 2024, according to the RIAA and IFPI, respectively, will continue to grow in mature markets and elsewhere.
“I don’t think the numbers that we’ve seen are enough to make any [music investors] worry too much,” says MIDiA Research’s Mark Mulligan. “I know that a lot of these funds have seen our numbers, and our numbers are relatively cautious about the outlook. We’re not bearish, but we’re not bullish either.”
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Numerous people pointed to Goldman Sachs’ estimates — a closely watched music forecast that remains something of a gold standard in the business — that both global recorded music and publishing revenue will grow at approximately 8% annually through 2030. What’s more, equity analysts seem comfortable with Universal Music Group’s forecast of 8-10% subscription growth through 2028.
In mature markets, future growth will come from higher prices after more than a decade of unchanged subscription fees. “We’ve all gotten comfortable with getting music at what I believe to be a subsidized rate versus its value,” says Jeremy Tucker, founder/managing member of Raven Music Partners, an investor in music catalogs. That subsidy is an underpricing of music subscriptions in order to attract new customers and help platforms achieve scale. Now that there are 818 million global subscribers, according to MIDiA Research, labels and streaming services seem intent on getting more from each subscriber.
Many streaming services raised their prices in 2022 and 2023, and Spotify raised prices in a few markets in 2024. Major labels that have renewed their licensing agreements with Spotify suggested the deals allow for higher-priced superfan tiers. Additionally, Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl said at a March 10 banking conference that “there’s quite strong evidence that there’s a lot of room to grow on pricing, especially in … mature markets.” All of this means there will be more value coming to rights holders, says Tucker, who looks at a lengthy time horizon, not any single year’s results, when considering potential gains. “We think there’s going to be growth over the medium to long term. But, in any given year, the actual growth is not something I’m too worried about.”
Additionally, people expect rights holders will extract more value from catalogs through better blocking and tackling. While companies focused on subscriber growth over the last 15 years, the next era will be marked by better execution, says a person in the music investment field. Artificial intelligence, this person says, can help rights owners expand the global reach of their music by creating versions in multiple foreign languages at little cost. AI can also make royalty collection more effective and cost-efficient. These wins may not have the appeal of, say, a biopic that boosts an artist’s catalog. But from a financial point of view, expanding a song’s reach and cutting costs serve the buyer’s core mission of improving the return on investment.
While U.S. growth slows, much of the world is growing quickly, and Western companies that focus on English-language repertoire face a “bleak” future as emerging markets outpace markets where English-language music is most popular, says Mulligan. As a result, companies that failed to invest a decade ago are playing catch-up in markets dominated by local music. “What they should have done is started signing loads of artists [in emerging markets] 10 to 15 years ago,” Mulligan says.
Still, there’s opportunity in emerging countries and their local repertoire. Subscription penetration rates — the ratio of subscribers to the country’s adult population — are a good proxy for a country’s potential, explains Mulligan. Developed markets like the U.S. and U.K. have penetration rates in the high 40 percent, according to MIDiA’s latest data. Elsewhere, lower penetration rates suggest subscription revenue will increase down the road and, as a result, the local music business infrastructure will grow over time. Poland’s subscription penetration rate, in contrast, is 17%, Brazil’s is 16% and China’s is 13%. Indonesia, the world’s fourth-most populous country, has a 1.8% penetration rate. India, the world’s second-largest country, has a penetration rate of just 1.3%.
Low penetration rates correspond with growth potential, as streaming platforms help fuel infrastructure growth and subscription adoption adds more value to the market. “You get this virtuous circle of influence,” Mulligan explains, “where if you establish the infrastructure to create an audience, that creates the virtuous circle of investment, where people start setting up labels, people start being able to have their careers as artists, they create more music, more of that music exports, and the impact on the global market increases. India is maybe a third of the way along in the journey, whereas Indonesia has not even got started.”