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14 the report ISSUE 403 05.04.17 2015, revenue from subscription services was $10.05m, up from $5.78m in 2014. Revenue from ad-supported streaming fell slightly, from $5.37m in 2014 to $4.88m in 2015, while total digital revenue was $17.7m. Overall recorded music revenue rose 16.4% in 2015, the country’s fourth straight year of double- digit growth. Castellano says that streaming services in Colombia have benefited from recent improvements to music licensing “making it much more accessible for streaming platforms to deliver a broader selection of music to fans”. “We believe our market focus and the laws around licensing and copyright changed to make it easier for streaming companies to access music from labels and artists and thus easier for fans to get the music that they want from those platforms,” he adds. Juan Sebastian Ortiz de Zaldumbide, co- founder of Colombian management company M3 Music, says that the music industry in Colombia “has been through a process of professionalisation that is making musical projects (bands, companies, producers, etc.) more stable and profitable”. “Colombia’s music industry is a very young one, mostly led by entrepreneurs who have been contributing to the specialisation in the different areas of the business,” he adds. “Now, for the first time in Colombia, we have booking agencies, management companies, concert and festival promoters and indie labels signing new artists. This, in addition to the major labels starting to sign indie or alternative acts, instead of just the mainstream acts as we know them. All of this is just starting, so I predict several more years of expansion.” MARKET PROFILE Colombia There is plenty of optimism about the digital music industry in Colombia as its revenues crossed the 50% threshold before the likes of Brazil, Germany and the UK STATS f Population 46.7m d GDP per capita $14,200 h Internet users 24.3m c Broadband connections 5.5m i Mobile subscriptions 57.3m Active smartphones 16.8m Active tablets 1.1m Sources: IFPI/CIA World Factbook COLOMBIA E very year a number of countries pass an important stage in the transition to a digital music economy, when revenues from digital music cross the 50% threshold. In 2015, Colombia was one of the four global markets to take this step, with digital jumping to 52% of its recorded music revenues according to the IFPI. The fact that Colombia has made this transition ahead of places like Germany, Brazil, France and the UK is significant for a country that has, of late, put considerable effort into developing its digital economy. Vive Digital Colombia was a plan put in place by the Colombian government in 2010. It managed to quadruple the country’s internet connections over just four years and is now focused on boosting mobile connectivity. As a result, Colombia has become one of the most advanced mobile phone markets in Latin America, with 70% of consumers expected to have become mobile users in 2016. “According to the 2017 Affordability Report, Colombia is doing better than any other developing nation in providing affordable internet access to its population,” says Oscar Castellano, CEO Americas for Deezer. “This is largely down to the Vive Digital plan which, through technology, is enabling more online connections to rural communities. As a result of this, more people are now able to access content both through computers and phones, which is creating opportunities for streaming platforms to engage with new users.” Colombia’s increased digital maturity can be seen in the boom in subscription streaming, which contributed more than 50% of the country’s total digital music revenue in 2015, after almost doubling year-on-year. In Colombia is doing beer than any other developing nation in providing affordable internet access to its population...” – Oscar Castellano, Deezer
