K-pop boy band Seventeen, seen here in Incheon, South Korea, were one of the biggest recording artists of 2023. Photograph: Getty
A generation in search of “exciting” employment is noticing, according to Konrad von Löhneysen, founder and director of German music label Embassy of Music. Speaking at an IFPI panel launching the report on Thursday, he offered this turnaround metric: friends of his are increasingly requesting internships for their children.
“Fifteen years ago we were like a dying breed and now we are the hottest employer for young people so it shows that we are doing something right.”So, too, of course, does the industry revenue increase of 10.2 per cent for 2023. This was driven largely by growth in paid streaming subscribers, but physical revenues and income from performance rights also climbed, taking total trade revenues of $28.6 billion .
Fending off the threat to copyright monetisation posed by the ascent of generative artificial intelligence now looms as the large challenge ahead, but for industry veteran von Löhneysen, the “fantastic” nine-year recovery already contrasts sharply with the preceding doom.