Global copyright revenues start to grow again in 2021 with the resumption of live entertainment, but are still below pre-Covid levels. This is what emerges from the new Cisac Report, the world confederation of companies that, like Siae, collect royalties on behalf of those who create and publish the works: the collection in the year in question reached 9.6 billion euros for an increase in 5.8% on the unfortunate 2020. The 27.9% growth in digital royalties, also encouraged by the growth in streaming subscriptions, was not enough to balance the partial stop to 2021 events. The overall figure is determined precisely by broadcasting (3, 6 billion, -1.5%), digital (3.1 billion) and live (1.6 billion, -0.7 percent).
The advance of digital
Despite the positive trend of streaming, especially during and after Covid, digital still represents only 32.6% of all royalties collected: less than half of what digital weighs in the record industry. Revenues from the live and background music sector remained almost unchanged in 2021, amounting to 1.6 billion euros, but still recording a -45.8% compared to 2.9 billion euros in 2019.
Italy sixth world market
Italy, with revenues of 412 million, a very slight decrease compared to the previous year (-1.2%), is confirmed as the sixth world market for copyright, behind the United States (leader with over 2 billion business), France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan. Among the top ten markets in the world, our country is the one that paid the greatest pledge compared to 2019 (-3.2%), by virtue of the particularly restrictive policies on the entertainment side of the Conte and Draghi governments. Music remains the main pillar of the global market: globally it moves 8.3 billion euros (+ 7.2%). But beware: revenues come from digital collection, which grew by 27.9%, certainly not from live. Italy is also sixth in the music segment, at 308 million (-0.8%).
The other market segments
The audiovisual sector is worth 608 million (-2.8%) and here Italy is the third force at 52 million behind France and Switzerland. The visual arts are worth 196 million (-1.2%) with our country sixth at 10 million. Drama at 89 million (-13.8%) with Italy as the first world force (36 million, -14.6%). Literature closes the picture, with collections of 199 million (-3.9%) and Italy seventh power (5.9 million, -3%).
For Björn Ulvaeus, founding member of Abba and president of Cisac, “digital royalties are growing at an impressive rate, but the streaming market is still an incomplete business in terms of guaranteeing authors of a fair income. Much of the information needed to identify and remunerate the creators of the works, once they are uploaded to streaming services, is incomplete or missing. The result is that a large amount of money remains on the table, rather than ending up in the pockets of the creators of the works ». For Gaetano Blandini, Siae’s outgoing general manager, «despite the first signs of recovery in the sector, we are still far from the numbers of the pre-pandemic period and the international economic crisis also caused by the tragedy of the war in Ukraine continues to create serious difficulties due to the complexity of the situation. It is a period of great changes and the results are difficult to predict ». A scenario in which, however you want to put it, the protection of copyright remains a central theme for the entertainment economy.