NYC ISSUES A REPORT: MUSIC'S A BIG BUSINESS

The music industry supports nearly 60k jobs, accounts for $5b in wages, and generates $21b in total economic output for New York City, according to a report released today by the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment.

Music-related jobs are growing at a 4% rate while wages are at 7% while the rest of the city is at 3% and 5%. To no one’s surprise, the report noted New York is one of the largest—if not the largest—music ecosystems in the world.

When Mayor Bill de Blasio expanded Media & Entertainment to include music a year ago, the city commissioned the study, which Boston Consulting Group conducted. It is the first time a city agency has been given a mandate to support and promote the music industry.

The most negative finding in the report is that more than 20% of the city’s smaller venues have closed in the past 15 years, which is interpreted as an opportunity. The report states that the city’s government should focus efforts on local artists and small venues, while sparking further growth in mass music consumption and emerging digital music services. The industry widely applauded the report.

“Today’s study demonstrates how vital music is to New York’s cultural and commercial ecosystem,” said Michele Anthony, Universal Music Group Executive Vice President. “We are very pleased that the city has added the New York music community to the commissioner’s portfolio. Now, music has an important ear at City Hall.”

Glassnote founder Daniel Glass said “This timely, in-depth study … confirms that our city continues to be a creative and inspirational home for artists, producers, writers, and the industry as a whole. New York is as artistically organic and as fertile as any community has ever been, which is why groundbreaking, cutting edge music is, should be, and forever will be created here.

“We must make it affordable for artists and music educators to live here. It is vital that New York’s music scene continues to thrive, to motivate, and to excite, and will endure as one of the most enriching and influential arts meccas in the world.”

Among the findings are:

More tickets are sold to live music performances in New York City—5.4m in 2015—than any other city in the world. The study states the concert and festival market has not yet hit a saturation point leaving room for growth in the area.

The core sectors of the music industry contribute 31,400 jobs, $2.8b in wages, and $13.7b in economic output. The average annual wage for the direct music industry was $90,000 in 2015, up from $85,000 in 2014.

Through transactions with suppliers and vendors to the music business (such as professional services, IT and telecom), New York City’s music industry has an indirect economic impact amounting to approximately 10,100 jobs, $900m in wages, and $3.4b in economic output.

Music-related events take in $400m-$500m in tourism dollars.

With over 70 start-ups involved in digital music services, NYC has the largest concentration of such businesses in the world.

The report targets four key areas of opportunity for New York City government initiatives:

Support and help to build thriving local artist communities;

Create more performance opportunities for local artists;

Increase the economic impact of mass music consumption;

And harness and expand the presence of digital music services.

“Because of the city’s resilience and resourcefulness, New York has weathered changes in the music industry better than other cities and has come out on top,” said Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment Commissioner Julie Menin. “We look forward to building on that momentum and working with the industry to help it continue to grow and thrive.”

After making the announcement, De Blasio grabbed four kids on a corner and started a doo-wop group.

Read the full report here.