Is it too late to say HNY? But hey – Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2024. As the Eagles said in Life in the Fast Lane – “Eager for action, hot for the game” – your One Media team likes a headline or two! Look below.

If we thought 2023 was a challenging year, 2024 will come with its own tests. We need, as content owners, to get the digital service platforms (DSPs) to start thinking that it’s time for another price increase to consumers. Here in the UK, a 7″ single being 6/8d (six shillings and eight pence or £0.33p, thirty-three of your new pence pre-decimalisation), exactly a third of a pound (£), but that was probably at the end of the 1960s when all the best music had been composed!

As the population grew (slightly) more affluent in the early seventies, albums became affordable as record player sales increased and ‘Top of The Pops’ ruled the air waves and they were generally 37/6d (thirty-seven shillings and six pence or £1.87 post-1972). “Deluxe” releases in gatefold sleeves (Led Zeppelin III springs to mind) were 42/6d (forty-two shillings and six pence or £2.12). Bear in mind that £1 in 1972 was the equivalent of around £10 today. Average weekly earnings for men over 21 were £36.60, and for women over 18 £20.50. The average house price was around £4,000.

Spotify last year raised its price in the UK by £1, and its standard monthly subscription price rose by 10% in more than 50 markets at that time, and was tentatively welcomed by many in the music industry – but others point out that a £1 rise, to £10.99, will not solve wider quandaries around streaming economics. The UK saw inflation of nearly 30% over the last 10 years and it seems we are not prepared to charge more than a hundredth of the rate of a single (two track record) from 1969. I accept the volume of transactions is higher but I believe the balance is not yet met. In my honest opinion subscription prices should be circa £20 per month (or international equivalent given global differences and territorial pricing geo structures compared to income) and that the DSPs should not hold all the cards. UMG and TikTok now fight it out in a game of poker on rewards – this should be the beginning of a music price revolution. As the Beatles said (given their latest release last year was only 53 years after the band dispended):

“You say you got a real solution

Well, you know we’d all love to see the plan

You ask me for a contribution

Well, you know we’re all doin’ what we can”

 

CEO Michael Infante speaks to Proactive after Trading Update

Watch the interview here.

“One Media iP Group PLC (AIM:OMIP) CEO Michael Infante speaks to Thomas Warner from Proactive after the digital music rights acquirer, publisher and distributor released a trading update for the six months to 31 October 2023.”

As the Christmas season was in full swing, I was asked to discuss our year ending October 2023 on Proactive News (link From Proactive Investors). I started with an overview of the firm’s financial performance, highlighting a 5% increase in gross revenues and a significant 10% rise in net revenues. This growth reflects the company’s successful margin from its core business by introducing efficiencies and some cost savings. But not at the expense of our experienced team who have been ‘tooled up’ with state-of-the-art reporting systems and managerial personnel promotions all round (as reported in November 2023). Happy campers (call them and ask!). I also highlighted strategic acquisitions, particularly smaller deals, that continue to fuel the company’s progress.

A key focus of the discussion was One Media’s anti-piracy platform, TCAT. I clarified that TCAT will eventually operate separately from One Media and explained that reverse engineering of AI within TCAT is yielding up certain competitive advantages. More as it happens.

See the interview here From Proactive Investors

 

National Apprenticeship Week: Senior Managing Creative Technician Kathryn Brewer chats to the DCMS

‘Thryn’ our Wonder Woman proves this government can do stuff right! Watch the full interview here.

She had a chat with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport about her time with us as an apprentice. She spoke about the process of applying, how she found the apprenticeship, and what it’s got her doing now.

 

Point Classics track placed in American Fiction

We’re excited to announce that ‘Milano Quartet No. 4 in E Flat Major – Allegro Brillante’ from the Point Classics catalogue has been placed in American comedy-drama film American Fiction. The film is currently available on Amazon Prime in the US, and cinemas in the UK.

Tom Tikka & the Missing Hubcaps feature in Music Magazine TJPL News

Tom Tikka & the Missing Hubcaps, who is distributed by One Media, has in light of their latest release ‘Rainbows & Dead Flowers’ been featured in the 11th issue of the independent artist magazine TJPL News.

The review by Tamara Jenna delves in detail into the individual tracks on their latest album, as well as Tom Tikka himself’s musical influences as an artist. To read the full article, purchase the 11th issue of TJPL News here. Save/download Tom Tikka & the Missing Hubcaps’ latest album here.

Tom Tikka’s new single ‘California Sm

ile’, featuring the Star Prairie Project, is out 8^th March. Pre-save to your chosen streaming/download platform here.

 

The Vinyl

According to BPI analysis based on Official Charts data, vinyl LP sales in the UK increased by 11.7 per cent in the first 51 weeks of 2023 to 5.9 million units, the highest annual level since 1990. This compares to the 2.9 per cent rise in vinyl sales in 2022.

The global vinyl record market size reached US$ 1.8 Billion in 2023. Looking forward, IMARC Group expects the market to reach US$ 3.4 Billion by 2032, exhibiting a growth rate (CAGR) of 7.1% during 2024-2032. The strategic adoption of omnichannel retail practices by vendors, the increasing promotional efforts of celebrities and music industry luminaries and incorporation of advanced technologies into the vinyl record products are some of the major factors propelling the market.

For those too young to know what a vinyl LP is, here is a summary: A vinyl record is a physical medium for storing and reproducing audio recordings. It consists of a flat, circular disc manufactured from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) with grooves etched into its surface. These grooves represent the audio waveform of the recorded music or other audio content. When played on a turntable equipped with a stylus (or needle), the stylus follows these grooves, vibrating as it encounters the variations in the groove’s depth and shape. These vibrations are then converted into electrical signals that are subsequently amplified and sent to speakers, producing sound.

And cost more than six shillings and eight pence now! Because the DSPs do not run this market.

Voxblock

We are very excited to announce our collaboration with Voxblock, the creators of the popular children’s screen-free audiobook player. Voxblock has a growing library of audiobooks for all ages and stages, and we’re delighted that One Media’s curated collection has been added to their library. These include beloved titles like William Corlett’s ‘The Magician’s House’, Mike Bennett’s ‘Aesop’s Fables: Reimagined’, as well as his cherished ‘Fairytales For You’ series, narrated by renowned stars Bobby Davro, Rik Mayall, and Anita Harris. (https://voxblock.co.uk/)