Electronic Music Industry Report Reveals Intertwined Importance Of Live Events and Social Media
Last week saw the release of the "IMS Business Report 2014" from the International Music Summit in Ibiza. The report turned heads with its estimate of the electronic music industry's worth at $6.2 billion annually. In addition it discussed such topics as the importance of festivals and live events to electronic music and made strong connections between social media use and live events. Surprise fact: Some festival YouTube channels are more popular than the channels of the DJs that play there.
The "IMS Business Report 2014: An annual study of the Electronic Music industry" was authored by Kevin Watson of Danceonomics. We received it from Hisham Dahud (former Hypebot analyst) of Fame House who is overseeing digital marketing for IMS Ibiza.
The report's estimate of the annual worth of the "global Electronic Music industry" of $6.2 billion caught a lot of attention last week and is broken down in the following slide:
The essential role of festivals in electronic music and especially in Electronic Dance Music is a distinctive element of the genre. This can be seen in YouTube's tips for electronic music targeted to "Labels, DJs, Festivals" that was also released during the International Music Summit.
Live music at festivals and clubs is the largest driver of electronic music revenue according to the study. Though all forms of live music potentially benefit from festivals, electronic music festivals have been a defining aspect of the actual culture and of the creation of SFX Entertainment, EDM's first public company.
The important role of social media in EDM has been widely noted. This report reveals two key findings about the connections between festivals/live events and social media:
"Festivals have started to match DJs on social media, and exceed them on YouTube views"
"Electronic Music fans are much more engaged on social media, especially during live events"
Of course, festivals feature djs so one could interpret the YouTube interest as dj-focused but videos also recreate the live context for the dj in a social media setting. In addition IROCKE CEO Karl Rogers noted that electronic music is one of the leaders in live streaming concert video.
There's clearly something powerful happening in the relationship of social media/video, live shows and electronic music that's worth following closely.
More:
- YouTube Releases Video Tips for Electronic Music
- Ibiza International Music Summit Brings EDM Business Talks To Hollywood
Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (@fluxresearch) is also beta blogging at DanceLand. To suggest topics about music tech, DIY music biz or music marketing for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.
