Which document firm had essentially the most positions on the weekly Spotify High 200 in Brazil within the first half of this yr: Common Music, Sony Music, or Warner Music?
Trick query. Sony technically had essentially the most, while you embody Brazilian label Som Livre, which the main acquired for $255 million final yr.
However in case you counted Sony Music (and The Orchard) and Som Livre individually, the No.1 firm on this explicit listing isn’t a significant music firm in any respect: it’s ONErpm.
Nashville-headquartered ONErpm was based 12 years in the past this month by entrepreneur (and the corporate’s CEO) Emmanuel Zunz. The enterprise focused Brazil as its precedence market from the very begin.
“Brazil was the primary workplace we opened in July 2010,” recollects Zunz, who studied within the LatAm nation.
“We have been in all probability the primary enterprise to enter Brazil and supply a music DIY platform that was each open to anyone and clear. And on the time we have been additional uncommon as a result of we really paid individuals!”
At present, ONErpm has far outgrown its DIY distribution beginnings. The agency nonetheless does run a DIY tier, however – considerably akin to Consider’s mannequin – it additionally invests extra closely in a smaller pool of artists, like a label would.
Some artists (these inside what ONErpm calls its ‘Taking Off’ tier) are paid advances and given in-house advertising and marketing/PR/playlisting help to speed up their careers; others (‘Subsequent Stage’) would possibly even share copyright possession with ONErpm, and obtain a extra blockbuster stage of funding.
At present, with a worldwide employees of over 450 individuals – and a devoted A&R employees of over 60 individuals – the corporate says it aggressively sources new enterprise from all corners of the music market.
As well as, over the previous few years, ONErpm has been quietly buying copyright catalogs from artists and labels, with Zunz estimating that ‘owned’ or ‘part-owned’ copyrights now account for a major single-digit share of ONErpm’s repertoire.
By constructing this mannequin over the previous dozen years, and increasing into territories such because the US, Chile, Colombia, Jamaica, Argentina, Spain, the UK, Australia, and Nigeria, ONErpm – in keeping with MBW’s sources – is a worthwhile and totally impartial enterprise (i.e. no VC capital). It at present operates in a minimum of 30 international territories (see under).
MBW’s sources additionally inform us that on a gross income foundation, ONErpm turns over a nine-figure sum yearly – though clearly nearly all of that is paid out as royalties to artists and labels.
Zunz gained’t be drawn on his agency’s funds, however does say his firm’s revenues grew by 70% final yr, and he’s anticipating additional 30%-plus annual progress in 2022.
The size of the enterprise is clearly spectacular – and never simply in LatAm.
Zunz says that ONErpm artists/tracks at present appeal to roughly 12 billion performs a month on YouTube, tens of billions of performs a month on TikTok, and over 3 billion streams monthly throughout Spotify and Apple Music mixed.
You in all probability don’t want MBW to inform you how sensible ONErpm’s early give attention to Brazil was. Zunz says it gave his enterprise a “first-mover benefit” on different firms servicing indie artists.
In accordance with IFPI statistics, Brazil was the world’s tenth largest recorded music market in 2021. And in keeping with native commerce physique ProMusica, Brazil’s annual subscription streaming income shot up by 28% YoY in 2021, to BRL 1.084 billion (round $219m).
ONErpm’s success in Brazil definitely isn’t restricted to Spotify: On YouTube, for instance, it beat the likes of Common Music and Warner Music within the first half of 2022 when it comes to the variety of distributed artists taking locations on the platform’s weekly High 100 (see under).
In flip, ONErpm’s success in LatAm isn’t restricted to Brazil: The corporate has seen related ranges of major-beating/major-baiting success within the likes of Chile, Peru, and Colombia. (Primarily based on the IFPI statistics for 2021, Zunz believes that ONErpm took a 20% market share in that territory by income final yr.)
“We’re massive believers that the ‘creator financial system’ and direct-to-fan platforms, together with YouTube, will proceed to alter the worldwide music enterprise for the higher.”
Emmanuel Zunz, OneRPM
Says Zunz: “We now have constructed very intelligent expertise that helps us handle all of our advertising and marketing campaigns in every territory. Due to that, we have now economies of scale, which a number of our opponents don’t – together with the majors. It means we’re in a position to render high-quality providers for artists at rather more inexpensive charges.
“We’re now not only a distribution firm; we’re a full-service music firm for artists that additionally occurs to supply a distribution resolution.”
He provides: “We’re massive believers that the ‘creator financial system’ and direct-to-fan platforms, together with YouTube, will proceed to alter the worldwide music enterprise for the higher. We now have constructed vital infrastructure to help these creators.”
For the remainder of 2022, Zunz and his workforce are laser-focused on globally increasing the ONErpm mannequin.
This plan sprung into life final month with the announcement that ONErpm was including 5 new places of work to its setup in Africa: in Accra, Ghana; in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire; in Nairobi, Kenya; in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; and in Johannesburg, South Africa.
These new launches joined ONErpm’s workplace in Lagos, Nigeria, which the corporate opened in 2020.
Extra growth is on the horizon for ONErpm, too.
“We’re within the technique of opening up correctly in Asia, hiring our first individuals in China, in Malaysia,” explains Zunz, who says that he’s aiming to double the scale of ONErpm’s enterprise within the subsequent three or 4 years.
The gateway to that progress, he explains, will likely be primarily based on two issues:
- (i) Expertise that enables ONErpm to effectively scale its artist/social advertising and marketing, whereas additionally offering different premier providers to artists across the globe; and
- (ii) The corporate’s DIY tier, which operates as its entry level to tens of 1000’s of indie artists in any territory through which it operates.
Working example: Zunz says that throughout Africa, following the current growth, ONErpm already has over 30,000 totally different artist accounts distributed by way of its system.
The following step will likely be highlighting these ‘Taking off’ and ‘Subsequent Stage’ artists – i.e. the acts whose early success signifies that ONErpm ought to begin investing extra into their careers.
“There was a run [to acquire] us final yr by the majors, and there’s been a run [to acquire] us this yr by personal fairness companies. None of that’s fascinating to me.”
Zunz says that ONErpm at present works with round 1,000,000 totally different artists and labels globally, and that it offers “bespoke providers” (i.e. extra funding and sync/advertising and marketing/PR/playlisting help) to someplace between 2% and 5% of them.
“We’re a full-service music firm that basically is aware of learn how to market your music,” says Zunz. “For our artists and creators, we will be the whole lot out of your distributor all the best way to being your document label, and something in-between.
“We’re one of many final actually impartial music firms of this measurement which can be on the market. So many different firms of our measurement have been purchased, and that’s form of scary.”
“We totally intend to remain impartial,” he provides. “There was a run [to acquire] us final yr by the majors, and there’s been a run [to acquire] us this yr by personal fairness companies. None of that’s fascinating to me.
“What’s fascinating to me is doubling the scale of ONErpm and increasing into all of those totally different markets – we may have 33 places of work open worldwide by the tip of this yr.
“That manner, we are able to transfer right into a place the place we will be as massive as we will be – whereas sustaining the flexibleness to proceed operating this enterprise the best way we would like.”Music Enterprise Worldwide