APRA AMCOS has predicted a “substantial hit” in music royalties for the 2020-21 financial year, as restrictions on live music and touring continue.
The prediction comes from new revenue figures released today (October 15), which record a drop in public performance income. The gross income has dropped from $92.4million recorded last year to $73million this year.
All up, APRA AMCOS recorded $474.5million in group revenue, a 0.6 per cent increase from last year. However, the organisation was initially expecting a higher figure of $488.9million. This downgraded result has been attributed to both the pandemic and bushfire season.
The organisation distributed $407.3million of the revenue to songwriters, publishers and other rights holders.
“Individual and collective resilience has been tested… we’ve had to adapt quickly,” chief executive Dean Ormston said in a statement.
“We moved quickly to provide direct support, and advocate to government the plight of those that work in the original gig economy.”
The figures arrive a day after findings from a preliminary report on the live entertainment industry estimated a $23million drop in economic output for 2020 if restrictions were to remain in place for the rest of the year. The report additionally predicted 79,000 full-time-equivalent jobs to be lost.