BIG DATA TRANSFORMING THE MUSIC INDUSTRY Big Data, The Music Industry and Utopia Music May 2020 INTRODUCTION BIG DATA – INFORMED DECISION MAKING ▪ Big data has become This paper presents a description Even in its most prosaic form, data increasingly prominent as of ‘big data’; it’s history and has long been a recognised and a mechanism to solve relevance today and how it can valued commodity. For example, inefficiency in a variety of be utilised to solve market military strategists throughout industries. inefficiency. A focus is provided history would rely on the data given on the inefficiency that exists in to them about the enemy, their own ▪ Information can be drawn the music industry. This exists forces and logistics to enable correct from data sets to promote where artists, producers and decision making in war. Whilst in prudent business rights owners of all music that is present day business, data, and the decisions. consumed across the globe, are information that can be derived not compensated fairly and from it, is absolutely crucial in ▪ The Music Industry faces efficiently for the music that is enabling appropriate and timely inefficiencies which can consumed. We then consider decision making and sound business be solved by effectively Utopia Music and how it intends practices; generally, the greater the utilising big data; more to solve such inefficiency quality or quantity of data available, than 50% of revenues go through the use of big data. the more informed the decision missing in the industry. making. There is a view that data is Finally, we extend our analysis of now the world’s most valuable ▪ Utopia Music is one such big data to further areas of the resource, surpassing even oil. Like entity achieving this music industry and other ways it oil, data can be distilled into a mission; deploying may be utilised. myriad of useful products, whilst big modern technologies to data facilitates informed decision ensure artists are paid making and analysis by fairly for how their music is systematically extracting consumed. information from sets of data that were, until recently, simply too large ▪ Prioritising technology is or too complex to be harnessed evident in the behaviour using traditional methods. of market leaders. 1 BIG DATA HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Figure 1: Order of Bytes Data can be defined as individual Big data, measured in megabytes, units of information, where such at the time could not fit in core information is collected together memory or even on local disks; by bit for reference or analysis. Data is way of context, current much assumed fact and can be smaller mainstream laptops and Byte considered as the basis of Chromebooks tend to have 1 (8 reasoning or calculation. It is terabyte (i.e. 1,000,000 megabytes) bits) important to first make the of data on their local drives. The distinction between ‘data’ and era of measuring big data in Kilobyte ‘information’. Although each is megabytes now seems a distant (1000 Bytes) often used interchangeably with memory! the other, data is transformed into information when it is viewed in The turn of the millennium Megabyte (1000 the context of the event or object confirmed the need to control an Kilobytes) which is being analysed. Therefore, ever-expanding dataflow. Peter we can use data to draw Lyman and Hal R Varian performed information about events or a study in which they discovered Gigabyte (1000 objects. that in 1999 the world had Megabytes) produced 1.5 exabytes of data – or By the mid-1990s, it had become approximately 250 megabytes of increasingly difficult to effectively data for every individual on the Terabyte manage data. It was clear that a planet (there are 1 million terabytes (1000 Gigabytes) technical solution was needed that in an exabyte). By 2002, just three could predict patterns in data years later, a further 5 exabytes of Petabyte without the need to understand new data had been produced. This (1000 Terabytes) the data – put more simply, a is still relatively small compared to machine was needed to sift our current levels of data through very large amounts of data production and management. In Exabyte and provide meaningful and 2015 IBM estimated that 2.5 million (1000 Petabytes) comprehensible summaries. terabytes of data were generated Rumours of ‘big data’ started to each day, compared to the 5 appear in literature around this million terabytes of data produced time, but as a problem, not as a in a whole year in 2002. tool. 2 BIG DATA BIG DATA TODAY ▪ At present, ‘big data’ is a phrase used to describe There has been a profound shift in This shift into data analytics is also massive volumes of focus across a number of industries apparent in the music industry structured and in the last five years as more and where business inefficiency is unstructured data that is more companies understand the endemic and big data is utilised in a of such scale that it is importance of big data host of different ways. Some are difficult to process and management and how it can be taking advantage of data in a similar analyse using traditional utilised effectively. Netflix is faced way to Netflix and using it to database and software with a challenge of making each determine which music should be techniques. one of their 36 million customers marketed and where. Further to feel like the 3.14 petabytes of video this, managing big data effectively, ▪ Vagueness in its definition available is designed specifically for securely and not intrusively, even on is appropriate given the them. Not only in the applications the overwhelming scale of the diverse use of big data. It design but also in their production; global music industry, could solve can be used in any in 2010 Netflix analysed 30 million the problems of traceability and industry for any purpose, plays, 4 million ratings and 3 million accountability. And it would seem with the ultimate goal of searches of those who watched the that the industry has recognised the facilitating more informed original UK-aired ‘House of Cards’. need for big data management. decision making. An analysis was performed by Increasingly, music companies and tracking the viewing habits of its platforms are looking to make ▪ Its definition does not rely own subscribers. They found that acquisitions in the analytical and the solely on volume of data, these consumers also liked films pure technology arenas. Strategic but also in tandem with starred in by Kevin Spacey and movements are being made by the the technology that directed by David Fincher. As a market leaders in utilising big data manages the data. For result, they created ‘House of Cards’ to establish a competitive example, big data may be on Netflix, which for a time, was the advantage. petabytes of data points most successful series on the planet. on the watching habits of individuals on Netflix. 3 Table 1: A selection of music Industry BIG DATA data acquisitions Announced Date Target Company Target Description Purchaser Company US music analytics startup specialising in using algorithmic data to 15/10/2018 Asaii Apple Inc. spot up-and-coming artists before they hit the charts. 28/03/2018 Sodatone Track streaming, social, touring, chart, and playlist data. Warner Music Group 11/12/2017 Shazam Entertainment Limited UK online media company developing mobile applications. Apple Inc. French provider of a platform that aggregates online music Alven Capital Partners SA; 12/09/2017 Soundcharts SAS consumption data and enables users to track social networks, charts, Kima Ventures; playlists and airplay data. GFC Global Founders Capital GmbH French company that offers high performance music research and 17/05/2017 Niland Spotify Technology S.A. recommendation engines. US provider of blockchain solutions for connecting applications to 26/04/2017 Mediachain Labs Spotify Technology S.A. media. 20/01/2016 Soundwave Analytics Limited Irish music sharing app. Spotify Technology S.A. 24/06/2015 Seed Scientific US data innovation and advanced analytics firm. Spotify Technology S.A. 19/05/2015 Next Big Sound Tracks the popularity of songs online and on social media. Pandora UK company engaged in providing online analytics solutions to the 21/01/2015 Semetric Limited Apple Inc. music industry. 06/03/2014 The Echo Nest Corporation US company providing music intelligence solutions. Spotify Technology S.A. Swedish company that provides an online service for users to find, 03/05/2013 Tunigo Spotify Technology S.A. create, and share new music and playlists. BIG DATA TODAY In addition to the transactions Consolidation of companies in the Vast expansions in the quantity described in Table 1, in April music business has been happening for of data available has continued 2018 Spotify acquired Loudr, a some years now. The Orchard exponentially until the present US-based provider of scalable Enterprises Inc., a US-based company day but it is only recently that licensing solutions that allow engaged in offering music, video and we have found the means to sift content creators, aggregators film show distribution services acquired through vast amounts of data and digital music services to RoyaltyShare Inc. in March 2015. in a valuable and effective way. identify, track and pay royalties RoyaltyShare is a US-based company The definition of big data is to music publishers. A year engaged in providing Software-as-a- relative to the software that earlier, Spotify also acquired Service based revenue management previously was unable to Sonalytic Limited, a UK-based and reporting solutions to manage such volumes and maker of audio detection entertainment and media companies. velocities of data. This poses technology that identifies At the same time they acquired Korrect doubt in future management songs, mixed content and SW Limited, a UK company engaged in of big data; do we have the audio clips.