Podcast: Will Page on glocalisation, vinyl, and music copyright’s $40+ billion valuation

Local bands are getting to the top of their local charts in their local mother tongue on global platforms.

This trend, dubbed ‘glocalisation’, is just one of the ways the music industry landscape is transforming.

Our latest guest on the Musiio by SoundCloud podcast shines a light on what’s going on. 

Will Page is the former Chief Economist for Spotify and PRS for Music. As the critically acclaimed author of Pivot: Eight Principles for Transforming Your Business in a Time of Disruption, his work has been featured in The Economist, the Financial Times, and Billboard.

With accessible explanations and entertaining anecdotes, Will tells artists and industry professionals alike what they need to know about how the music industry is changing.

Our conversation includes:

• How Will approached valuing music copyright at over $40 billion
• The unbelievable way record stores valued music in the 90s
• Why the music industry needs an economist
• How to get a job in the music industry
• Why English-speaking artists aren’t becoming global superstars anymore
• The astonishing number of vinyl buyers without a record player
• How AI innovation in the music industry is a continuation, not a revolution
• How economics has revealed gender issues in songwriting

Watch the full video on YouTube or listen below.

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“Last year, the top 10 artists in Britain were all British. The top 10 in Germany were all German, the top 10 in Italy were Italian. . . Local artists are dominating the tops of their local charts. . . Britain, as one of the four net exporting music markets in the world, used to knock out global hits all the time. Here's an Adele; here's a Coldplay; here's a Snow Patrol; here's an Oasis. I don't think this country has produced a truly global popstar since Dua Lipa in 2017. And it's not our fault. It's glocalisation. The market’s changed.” - Will Page

Useful links:

• Will’s book Pivot: Eight Principles for Transforming your Business in a Time of Disruption
• Data on global recorded music revenues in 2022
• The Financial Times article by Adam Singer that led to Will’s employment at PRS
• MBW article covering Ed Newton Rex’s departure from Stability AI
• Chris Dalla Riva’s Substack
• Will’s Bubble Trouble Podcast revealing the inconvenient truths of financial markets
• Will’s interview with Boomy co-founder Alex Mitchell
• Will’s interview with mayk.it co-founder Stefán Heinrich Henriquez
• Will’s interview with Audioshake co-founder Jessica Powell

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