Singapore’s physical recorded music is turning down volume

Move over CD stores, iTunes is here.

Singapore is becoming the region’s digital hub, and the media sector should expect a lot of new opportunities within this growing market.

Digital recorded music has overtaken the city’s airwaves, growing slowly at 3.1 compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) while physical recorded music will continue to decline at -2.2% CAGR, a recent report by PwC indicated.

Smartphone users are opting to go digital and live, the latter being the more active segment of the city’s music industry, having grown at 3.0% CAGR over the past four years.

Here's more from the report:

Singapore’s music market was worth US$73mn in 2013, down from US$80mn in 2009. Total music revenue is forecast to grow by a CAGR of 1.6% to reach US$80mn in 2018.

Singapore is a tale of two markets: a small recorded music market, and a live music business that is growing at a pace. Singapore is an affluent country with one of the world’s highest smartphone penetration rates, and its youths are hungry for cutting-edge live music.

Smartphone penetration is high and Singapore’s 5.4mn population accounts for some 8.3mn mobile subscriptions. Despite its wealthy, tech-savvy population, Singapore’s recorded music market is moving in a downward direction. Total recorded music revenue fell from US$34mn in 2009 to US$21mn in 2013, and is forecast to drop to US$19mn in 2018, a CAGR of -2.2% over the forecast period.
Total digital recorded music revenue overtook physical recorded music revenue in 2012, the year iTunes arrived. In the years ahead, digital is forecast to grow slowly, but unremarkably, while physical declines to less than US$1mn: total digital recorded music revenue is forecast to rise from US$16mn in 2013 to US$18mn in 2018, a CAGR of 3.1%.

It’s in the live space where a lot of activity is bubbling away. Total live music revenue has increased from US$46mn in 2009 to US$52mn in 2013, and is expected to hit US$61mn in 2018, a CAGR of 3.0% over the forecast period.