Canadian Musician November / December 2019 | Page 13

IFPI & WIN Launch
Centralized Industry
Data Exchange Service
The two global organizations that represent
major and indie labels have jointly created a
new centralized industry data exchange ser-
vice. The new service called Repertoire Data
Exchange (RDx), created by the Worldwide
Independent Network (WIN) and Internation-
al Federation of the Phonographic Industry
(IFPI), will enable record companies and music
licensing companies (MLCs), which collec-
tively manage recording rights, to submit
and access authoritative recording data via a
single point.
RDx will offer recording rightsholders in all
countries a single registration point to supply
their repertoire data in a standardized format
that can be accessed by all MLCs, leading to
improvements in data quality. They believe
this will improve the timeliness, accuracy,
and efficiency of MLCs’ revenue distributions
to rightsholders worldwide. The PPL, the U.K.
music industry’s collective management or-
ganisation, will deliver and operate RDx with
the rollout beginning in 2020.
IFPI: Global Music Consumption Climbing;
Illegal Stream-Ripping Still an Issue
The International Federation of the
Phonographic Industry (IFPI), which
represents the global recorded mu-
sic industry, has released its Music
Listening 2019 report. It examines
music consumption trends among
listeners aged 16-64 in 21 countries.
It notes that music consumption is
still climbing in the streaming era,
though piracy continues to be an
issue in the form of stream-ripping.
Older age groups are increasingly embracing audio streaming services. En-
gagement with audio streaming is up about seven per cent year-over-year, with 64
per cent of all respondents accessing a music streaming service in the past month.
The highest rate of growth is in the 35-64-year-old age group, with 54 per cent of
that group using streaming service in the past month – up eight per cent on 2018.
Radio is still the most common device for music listening, with a 29 per cent share
of listening time, while smart phones are a close second with a 27 per cent. Smart
phones, though, are clearly the preferred device among music fans aged 16-24.
Twenty-six per cent of Canadian respondents purchased music in any format (vinyl,
CD, download) in the past month. In the U.S. it was 34 per cent.
Copyright infringement remains a challenge, with 27 per cent using unli-
censed methods to listen to or obtain music in the past month, while 23 per
cent used illegal stream ripping services, which is now the leading form of music
piracy. Those numbers are even higher among the 16-24-year-old demographic.
To read the full report, go to www.ifpi.org.
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