Over the next decade, 1.2 billion young people across emerging and developing countries will come of working age. Many of these will be coming of age in Africa, the only continent where 70% of its people are under the age of 30. Yet creating enough high-quality jobs for them will be a struggle: among those young people who are not in school, under the current trajectory, four out of ten will not have a job.
To generate enough job growth, we must get creative – and what better place to start than the music industry?
A universal language, and opportunity
Music is everywhere. It is our universal language. But music is about more than lyrics, rhythms and melodies. It is also about good jobs.
The global music industry grew by 8.7% in 2023. The total value of music copyright – the songs we listen to daily – has increased yearly for the past decade and is now worth more than the film sector. More people are listening to music than ever before, with a growing focus on local languages and artists from emerging markets.
More revenue was generated by Colombian artists’ music in the US in 2023 than the total value of the Colombian music industry; and superstars from countries like Nigeria and Korea are becoming global icons. It is now just as common to hear Asake in a cab in Saudi Arabia, as I did, as it is to hear an Arabic or American pop act.
Missing a beat
Yet despite evidence of its huge potential, music is not taken seriously as an economic good in many parts of the world, especially in many places whose artists are driving modern music consumption. Paradoxically, the more music is available, the more policymakers seem to ignore that there is a cost to this ubiquity that should be paid for. As a result, we’re left seeing music as culture and an intangible public good, but not as an economy.
As a result, many countries are missing a beat. Their music is played and used daily but is not paid for, often due to a lack of understanding fuelled by inadequate policy, enforcement, and due diligence. No less than 47 countries lack copyright management frameworks of their own to track, pay for, and remunerate music creators, with South Africa the only African nation in CISAC’s top 50 countries regarding copyright revenue collection. In many countries, it is also easier to non-domicile one’s content (register it elsewhere), resulting in the loss of tax revenue and benefits to GDP. Money that can help alleviate poverty, pay for rent and groceries, support community development, and accrue tax slips through the fingers of dozens of nations with incredible artists and talent.
There has never been an overarching music policy published at a multilateral level related to economic growth. No international bank or finance institution has structurally financed music as a development asset.
The lack of understanding about how music works and how to invest in it persists, despite the success of Afrobeats, Taylor Swift, BTS and J. Balvin.
Assembling a choir
Governments and multilaterals are beginning to see and act on the potential of music. Several emerging markets have launched music and economic development plans over the past two years, including Zimbabwe, Costa Rica, the Philippines, and Pakistan. Nigeria has planned a cultural development fund with music as its focus. Afreximbank has launched Creative Africa NEXUS, a $2bn loan facility and grant programme aimed at the creative economy. At the same time, countries are taking steps to improve both copyright policy and industry development, such as in Belize and Eswatini.
Several UN agencies outside of UNESCO have begun developing music and economic policies, including the UNDP, UNCTAD, and the IFC. Moreover, the African Development Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank have made further investments towards the creative economy, which includes and prioritises the music economy.
Hitting the high notes
To drive this, a group of public and private sector institutions, led by the Center for Music Ecosystems, have launched the Music Economy Development Initiative. The initiative aims to lead research and data collection to support governments to invest in music as an economic good, while simultaneously establishing the first-ever development finance facility for music. They are organising a high-level policy assembly on February 24th in Lagos, the day before Global Citizen’s Move Afrika concert with John Legend, to advance the work.
This research will highlight the potential and opportunities that go with investing in music as an economic good, and hopefully help in our quest to establish music as a pathway to development that supports the creation of much-needed, decent, jobs – where they are needed most.
OECD Contacts
Ekaterina TRAVKINA – Coordinator – Culture, Creative Industries and Global Events – Ekaterina.TRAVKINA@oecd.org
Martha BLOOM – Policy Analyst / Economist – Culture, Creative Industries and Global Events – Martha.BLOOM@oecd.org
