Market analysis
Genre decides who the money was spent to reach.
Figures below are the ones cited in the GenreMatch plan. They are the case for caring about the tag before the campaign, not a forecast for this product.
Recorded-music revenue
The plan cites $26.2 billion in 2022. Genres gather different audiences. A correct tag is how a label points a release at the people already listening in that lane — and how sales, streams, and the return on the campaign move.
- $18.9B
- $20.4B
- $21.9B
- $25.9B
- $26.2B
A&R and marketing
Record labels put more than $5.8 billion a year into artist development and marketing, according to the IFPI study cited in the plan. Breaking a new artist in a major market can cost between $500,000 and $2,000,000. Genre is how that spend is aimed: the demographic, the video, the tour, the radio.
- Marketing & promo35%
- Recording25%
- Advance17.5%
- Video15%
- Tour support7.5%
Upper ends of the ranges in the plan, shown so the mix is visible. Advances are recoupable against later royalties. Marketing still includes offline work: billboards, TV, radio, press.
Sync licensing
Supervisors search by genre, mood, and tempo. A song filed in the wrong lane never reaches the brief. The plan charts sync revenue climbing to $302.9 million in 2021, after a dip in 2020.
- $232.1m
- $285.5m
- $281.1m
- $265.2m
- $302.9m
What follows
- The tag is how you choose the audience, and how streams and sales follow.
- The right genre is also how a song gets into film, ads, and games.
- A&R and marketing only work when they are aimed. Genre is the aim.
- Advances, recording, video, touring, and promo are all spent against that aim. A wrong tag spends them in the wrong room.