Global digital music delivery sales rose 4.3 percent in...

report (http://bit.ly/1lLJw8r). “Globally, digital now accounts for 39 per cent of total industry global revenues and in three of the world’s top 10 markets, digital channels account for the majority of revenues,” said IFPI, formerly the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Overall global music sales, including those of packaged media, fell 3.9 percent to around $15 billion, hurt mostly by a 16.7 percent free-fall in Japan, the world’s second-largest recorded music market, IFPI said. “Japan remains a market in transition,” IFPI said, “with legacy mobile products and physical format sales only now starting to decline, while streaming and subscription services are still establishing themselves.” Within digital, subscription services are now “part of an increasingly diverse mix of industry revenue streams,” IFPI said. Sales from music subscription services grew 51.3 percent in 2013, exceeding $1 billion for the first time and “growing consistently across all major markets,” it said. The “subscription model” is prompting more consumers to shift “from pirate services to a licensed music environment that pays artists and rights holders,” it said. Globally, about 28 million consumers became “paying subscribers” to subscription services in 2013, vs. only 8 million in 2010, it said. Sales from ad-supported streaming services such as Vevo and YouTube are also growing, rising 17.6 percent in 2013, IFPI said. “Music video revenues in particular increased as the industry extended the monetisation of YouTube to more than 50 countries, adding 13 territories in 2013,” it said. “Vevo has performed strongly, hitting 5.5 billion monthly views in December 2013, a 46 per cent year-on-year increase, and attracting 243 million unique viewers worldwide.”