IMS Business Report 2020 showing impact of COVID-19 on the EDM sector

Written by Remco on 19 July 2020 in News
IMS Business Report 2020 showing impact of COVID-19 on the EDM sector
International Music Summit (IMS), the premier platform for business, culture and education in global electronic music, released the annual IMS Business Report, authored by data analyst Kevin Watson. Used by professionals across the industry, it is an essential and trusted tool used to assess the performance of the previous year.

A detailed and in-depth study, the report offers a global snapshot of the trends and economic performance of the industry, illustrating the profound and turbulent impact the pandemic has had on all sectors.
 
The report reveals that despite falling two places to be the World’s fifth most popular genre, electronic music had a positive global result in 2019. Earnings of the top-ten Artists increased 4% year on year to $273m, clubbers contributed half a billion Euro income to the Ibiza economy alone and the overall industry valuation increased by 2% to $7.3bn, following a slight dip in the previous two years.
 
The impact of COVID-19 has been profound and the report predicts the electronic music industry will be severely affected as a result of the pandemic:

  • The value of the global industry is predicted to be $3.3bn, a fall of 56% from $7.3bn in the previous year
  • Dance/electronic clubs & festivals could lose 75% of their income in 2020, equivalent to $3.3bn
  • DJ and artist income could fall from $1.1bn in 2019 to $0.4bn in 2020, a drop of 61%
These figures are inevitable and immediate short-term consequence of COVID-19 and the associated lock down measures put in place globally. As economies begin to reopen many indicators point to an anticipated bounce back over the next five to ten years.
 
The pandemic has led to an industry pivot to live streaming, resulting in excess of 127m views of electronic music content, driving a marked increase in brand and artist social media following as well as raising over $3.6m for charitable causes.       
 
Other key findings from the report include:
2019 in review:
Recorded Music:
  • In the USA Dance/electronic share rebounded in 2019 to 3.6% of volume, from 3% the previous year
  • Dance share of value in Germany reached an all-time high in 2019; the total value has trebled since 2010 to €118m
  • Over the past 5 years Dance has lost out to Hip Hop/Rap in the UK: Dance share has almost halved, to 9.1%,  Hip Hop’s has doubled to 21.5%
  • IFPI research shows Dance is the fifth favourite genre globally; with big growth opportunities in China, India, Mexico, S. Korea
  • Techno remains the number one genre on Beatport and has been for the past 4 years.
DJs and Live Acts
  • DJ earnings rebounded in 2019, according to Forbes the total earnings of the Top 10 was $273m
  • Charlotte de Witte played over 1.5 more festivals in 2019 than 2018, Lost Frequencies was the most prolific festival act, playing 49 sets
  • Ibiza clubbers spent €260m in 2019, with more than 2 million club tickets sold.
2020 So Far:
Live Streams
  • In May 2020, 7 of the 10 most watched music streams on Twitch were electronic music focused, totalling 6m viewer hours
  • Mad Decent gained 35m views in 11 weeks on Twitch via Electronic music & gaming, although ‘copyright muting’ was an issue
  • DJs who performed in Fortnite increased their Instagram follower growth by ten times during and after the event
Clubs & Festivals
  • By April 20 approximately 350 Electronic festivals had been cancelled or postponed, with 8.9m fans unable to attend scheduled events
  • The current club / festival alternatives being trialled are unlikely to be commercially viable for venues, including Live stream, Drive In Gigs, Distanced Dancefloors.
Industry Value:
  • The continued growth in streaming is expected to generate $0.1bn additional revenue for Dance/Electronic in 2020
  • Revenue from Electronic Music software, hardware and other sources could fall 25% YoY in 2020 to $0.7bn

Click here to download the full report.



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