North American dance music market now worth $1.9bn, report states

At the International Music Summit Engage event, Kevin Watson from Danceconomics provided some key figures around electronic music in the North America region as part of a comprehensive report (downloadable here).  

Overall, the report estimates that the electronic music industry is North America is worth $1.9 billion annually, of which $225 million were generated from recorded music sales, $1.6 billion from festivals and clubs and $75 million from the sale of DJ hardware/software and other ancillary revenues.

From the figures above it’s easy to see that the live scene is key, and indeed the top 12 electronic music clubs - including XS Nightclub and Hakkasan in Vegas - cumulatively generated half a billion dollars in revenues. 

SoundCloud interestingly also figures prominently in social media side of the report as DJs such as Skrillex and Diplo have amassed over five million followers on the platform.

The report points out that whilst the highest-earning DJs in the world are not from North America, they generate the bulk of their revenues here thanks to live appearances and residences at popular Vegas clubs. 

Finally, in terms of recorded music sales, dance music currently accounts for 4.6% of all digital track sales, whilst its share of album sales slipped significantly to just below 2%. In terms of streaming, the genre grabbed a 6.8% share in 2014.

It is still difficult to tell whether the electronic music boom has still room to grow or whether it is approaching its peak. Companies like SFX have made a big bet that the trend is here to stay, but only time will tell.

 

(Andrea Leonelli)