A new report, commissioned by the Production Music Association and led by BMAT, has found that nearly half of all music played on top broadcast and cable television networks in the US is production music.
Using BMAT’s identification technology, the report looked at 47 high-rating TV channels identified by the Production Music Association over the period of February 11 – March 14, 2022, and showed that production music was used 6.5 times more than commercial music on those networks during this period.
While production music comprised more than 46% of music usage on these channels, unclassified music made up 47% of music usage, which includes, but is not limited to, commissioned music, film and TV scores, catalogs owned by the broadcasters, as well as any production music libraries who do not have their music in the BMAT system at the time of the monitoring. Commercial music made up 7% of the music usage in the channels analyzed.
Adam Taylor, President of APM Music and Chairman of the Production Music Association, described the findings of the report as a “powerful demonstration of the value and importance of production music to the television and advertising industries.” He adds, “It is also important to note that if all libraries were in the BMAT system, this percentage would be far higher.”
The study echoes some of the key findings of a recent MIDiA Research report on the Music Sync Market, which stated, “Production library revenue growth is outpacing growth of the overall sync market, thanks to drivers such as the rise of content creators, improved production music quality, artists seeking post-DSP income, and the growing independent sector.”
As complications around using and clearing commercial music rights continue to grow, the production music sector is well placed to continue to capitalize on the explosion of digital and UGC platforms. The ability to be forward thinking, explains Joe Saba, Co-Founder of VideoHelper and Vice Chairman of the Production Music Association, is what sets this sector apart: “On the tech side, production music has led the way in many areas, including YouTube monetization, music search, digital music detection, and even AI-based music categorization.”
The report, which can be downloaded in full here, will be updated on an annual basis with the Production Music Association expecting production music usage to increase Y0Y.
