Each year, the music industry becomes increasingly more complex and high-tech. For the vast majority of artists, long gone are the days of gritty recordings and posting tapes over to record companies to try and gain success. Likewise, the odds of scouting the next big talent at your local venue have dwindled, too. Last year, we saw the takeover of AI-generated music, genre-blending and the revival of physical formats of music consumption like vinyl records, but what are we expecting to see this year?
A shake-up in streaming services
Now, over the past decade, streaming services have taken over the industry in a way which can only be described as phenomenal. The days of popping down to purchase your favourite artists' CDs seem a thing of the past; now you can open up an app and find it there, ready and waiting for you. The Big Four of streaming music includes Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and Amazon Music. But some have suggested if you’re not in this group, you may not survive the year.
Alan Cross of Global News said: “Given the weirdness of music licensing and the razor-thin margins, how long can these other platforms hold out?” With this in mind, Cross suggested if this comes to fruition, we may hear of strategic partnerships, buyouts and shutdowns in 2025 when it comes to these platforms.
However, just to shake up the industry further, Cross also suggested Netflix will start a music streaming service this year. As a corporation, they are massive, with nearly 300 million subscribers across 190 countries, and this could be their shot at finally getting into the music game after cutting back investment in original video programming.
AI in music
In 2024, AI shook up the industry in a way we’d never seen before. AI-generated tracks masquerading as human-created music, flooding Spotify by the thousands and coincidentally drowning out the voices of the real artists. Earlier last year, the deepfakes and AI-cloned music became such an issue it led to hundreds of artists taking action to sign a letter against its use in relation to their art. However, AI was also used for some good as well, including: mixing/mastering sounds much faster than manually, the ability to create sounds we can’t even imagine, audio tagging saving time, reducing errors and potential to increase profits.
In 2025, we believe AI is going to become even more difficult to manage due to the fact it is so accessible for all now. Likewise, we could see record labels moving closer to AI companies with the thought process of “If you can’t beat them, join them!”. It is also highly possible this year could be the one where we see an AI pop star breakthrough on our charts, and maybe even artists licensing out their voices, essentially cloning themselves, for extra revenue.
Data-Driven A&R
A&R stands for "artists and repertoire" and is a division of a record label or music publisher that focuses on finding and developing new artists. These teams have always had the delicate job of discovering the next big sound. Previously, this was done by wading through record tapes and heading down to local venues, but this year, some experts have suggested this may be discovered through data. This could include relying on machine learning to sift through trillions of online data points, from streaming analytics to social media trends.
Looking at things positively, this should ensure the latest talent is found from algorithms, with A&R Factory suggesting this can pick up on early indicators like a sudden spike in local popularity or positive fan sentiment across multiple platforms. Yet there is a hell of a lot of concern over this one including over-reliance on automated processes and labels focusing on this data for immediate financial gains, rather than discovering something new and creative which may be simply flying under the radar.
Struggles for smaller venues and smaller-scale festivals
In the UK, there were 960 grassroots venues in 2022, but that number has dropped by 125 in 2024, with two venues closing per week. Of those that remain open, 38% reported making a financial loss in 2023 despite seeing an increased demand for tickets. Things have been incredibly tough, and sadly, it looks like things will get worse for these venues. Some have linked this to COVID-19; young people never developed the habit of going out to see live music on a regular basis, and the rise in ticket prices means they have fewer funds to pay for these smaller-priced tickets. Over 350 grassroots music venues are reportedly at immediate risk of closure. The government has announced that business rate relief will reduce to 40% from April 1st, 2025.
Likewise, it is also looking pretty terrible for festivals as well this year unless you’re one of the big dogs like Glastonbury. The Guardian reported, “Top music venues are now booking two years ahead, locking in acts for 2027, and festivals are rushing to announce lineups earlier than ever,” suggesting this is due to fewer headline acts and rising costs, a large part of which is insurance. However, there are suggestions if promoters look at smaller more focused festivals, these could do well.
Mainstream turning to niche, and the revival of some genres
Taylor Swift, arguably the biggest artist in the entire world, even has a fan base that is a defined and finite audience, despite the fact every time she drops an album, she ends up in the top 10 of the charts and is constantly featured in playlists, radio and across streaming services. When Taylor broke into stardom, we had a limited supply of new music to choose from, but now there is so much on offer, a whopping 110,000 new tracks per day, sending stars like Swift becoming niche.
Similarly, it has been predicted we may see the revival of some genres including one adored across the globe: Punk. As Envato puts it, “It’s a genre that mixes raw emotion with glossy production, and in today’s world, people are looking for music that speaks to their feelings—while giving them something to dance to”. With many famous artists dabbling closer to punk but with a twist, such as Olivia Rodrigo and MGK, we could be seeing the revival of one of the best genres to ever grace this planet.
I’m certain there’ll be tons of other crazy trends, tech and twists in the industry this year, and I can’t wait to see how it all unfolds.
