Thanks to streaming, the discography got back into motion, leaving the great Napster crisis behind it and is about to hit the seventh consecutive year of growth in 2021. Golden moment for the majors Universal Music, Sony Music and Warner Music, of course, but also for independent labels, a crowded universe of subjects that here in Italy provides a contribution to the GDP of 104.4 million euros by employing 1,269 people. Numbers that come out of the studio The music that matters, led jointly by Deloitte and Afi, the Confindustria association of music SMEs.
A 31% weight on added value
A research that, for the first time, tries to carry out an analysis of the weight of the so-called indie labels on the Italian record market, without neglecting the implications that their business has with other sectors such as live music, whose value in the era before Covid stood at 516 million, dance and concertini, segment of another 1.051 billion. According to Deloitte estimates, independent labels contribute about 31% of the total added value created by the music production sector in Italy. A figure that reflects only the portion of added value officially resulting from the financial statements. «If in fact – the study reads – we also consider part of the activities that independent producers typically delegate to the majors, the“ effective ”contribution of the former would be greater». Compared to the 104.4 million added value of independent Italian labels, 51 million were generated by the system itself (direct impact), another 41 million derive from spending on goods and services, while 12.4 million come from related industries.
Companies distributed throughout the national territory
Deloitte states that “the contribution of independent labels to the music production sector in Italy is greater than in many Northern European countries” such as the United Kingdom, where the universe of indie labels “contributes to only 23% of the total of the sector. “. There is a certain entrepreneurial vivacity in this class of companies, if we consider that in the period from 2011 to 2019 the operating subjects grew by 35 percent. And while the majors are all concentrated in Milan, the independent labels are distributed throughout the national territory. “This entails – the study reads – positive effects in terms of territorial distribution of value, both directly and indirectly generated along the supply chain”.
The weight of the pandemic on indie labels
Putting together recording, publishing, managerial and concert activities of independent labels, according to Deloitte the weight of the pandemic was felt: between 2019 and 2020, new publications grew by 15.3%, but revenues fell by 48.4% between collapse of the physique (-23.7%) and decrease in the incidence of turnover for live events and tours (-9.7%). All with an inevitable 2% drop in the number of employees.
«The studio», according to Sergio Cerruti, president of AFI, «testifies to the great weight that music exerts on the country’s economy and the very important role that independent labels play in the music business. During the months of the lockdown, if you like, music was a form of identity reappropriation for Italians. Unfortunately, when it came to launching measures to support the sector, except for the confirmation of the 18App bonus, the legislator was not particularly sensitive to our needs. And the delays in refreshments and 100% reopenings are proof of this. We have chosen to emphasize numbers, because we are economics. And it is right that this economy be protected and enhanced ”, concludes the president of AFI.