26 July 2013 - 0 Comments
New Zealand’s leading digital music company, DRM, has enlarged its coverage for NZ artists ten-fold with the announcement of new international supply outlets including world leaders Amazon and Google Play.
Alongside a deal to provide content to YouTube and being New Zealand’s only listed Apple approved provider, DRM can now boast a potential audience of over 500 million for their artists. DRM currently have 32,000 songs from over 750 NZ artists including Fat Freddy’s Drop, Tim Finn, Tiki Taane and the Patea Māori Club.
DRM General Manager, Peter Baker elaborates, “When DRM started back in 2007, we were focused on the local market, digital was a small proportion of the industry sales, Vodafone & Telecom were the biggest players, iTunes had just launched, and streaming services were just a twinkle in the future.”
Since the companies inception there has been major change in the recorded music industry, with digital downloads in 2013 overtaking physical sales. At the same time the market penetration of local services dropped dramatically as the Telcos switched their focus away from music, and iTunes began to dominate the market.
With streaming services Spotify and Deezer now in New Zealand and with the impending launches of iTunes Radio & iHeart Radio, the way artists earn their livings from the sale of their music will change forever.
Baker continues, “We all know it’s a long game & streaming is going to become more dominant. The difference between downloads and streaming is not just about price, it’s also about the long tail. With a download, artists sell their track once, and take money up front. With streaming it’s a smaller amount but it sells over and over again, every time someone plays the music.
“For artists making money from their music, it is all about reach. The more people that are exposed to the work, the more opportunity there is to earn. It seems the overwhelming message is to get the music out there internationally and bring the income home. We are now in the export business, sending our music out globally and returning the income to New Zealand ”
As of August 1, 2013 DRM is going global. The new retailers DRM will supply content to internationally are: Amazon, Google Play, YouTube, eMusic, 7 Digital, MOG, Rhapsody, Musicload, Qobuzz, (Classical Only), Juno, (Dance Only), Beatport (Dance Only), Trackitdown(Dance Only), Traxsoucre (Dance Only), Satellite (Dance Only)
This adds to the already existing list of retailers: iTunes, Spotify, Deezer, Rdio, Flybuys Music, Vodafone NZ, Amplifier.co.nz
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