Eric Hogue

Using a comprehensive data set of hand-collected observations of top touring performing artists, I examine the relationship between recorded music and concert financial outcomes. I find that music streaming derives substantive financial benefit to the top-100 touring artists. Using empirical estimates from a panel model with artist fixed-effects, an artist can derive an incremental $46K to $49K per show when achieving a 20% increase in music streaming. Additionally, using a 2SLS model with artist fixed-effects to account for potential endogenous promotional effects, I identify top performers (‘superstars’) who derive significant additional concert revenue because of their back-catalog of hit songs. These top performers earn an incremental $15K per show in response to every week they have a song from their catalog in the Billboard Top-20. These findings indicate that artists maintain the ability to use their musical and performance legacy to build lifelong earnings from their music and performance.

This paper examines the complementary effects of live concerts on incremental post-concert music streams in twenty-nine US cities. The work identifies that performers who have greater concert ticket demand, deeper hit-song catalogs, and/or are in the middle of their careers experience stronger trends in their post concert streams. While I found a positive complementary relationship between concert and streaming that lasts up to 10 weeks after the event, this work also highlights the negative effects when performers cancel shows. Using hand-collected data of concert ticket sales, music streaming, and song rankings from the top sixty global performing artists, I utilized a panel model with artist and market fixed-effects to identify post-concert decaying effects. This work will help top-performing artists gain insight into the little-understood influence of live performance on post-concert streaming of their recorded music.

This paper examines the impact of the regulations relating to the Music Modernization Act (MMA) and the 2018 Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) rate increase on composing and non-composing performers' release activity in response to incentives created by the promise of greater composer payments. The analysis uses a time-series negative binomial count model with artist fixed effects to identify incremental release activity. While not impacting release activity overall, the regulations do correspond with increased release activity of composers and younger performers (composing and non-composing). This finding is observed in two instances: (1) during the post-period after the MMA was enacted and (2) during the negotiation periods while the MMA was written and debated in Congress. Performers age 16 to 26 made 0.18 more new releases per quarter during the MMA negotiation period and 0.40 during the period after the law was enacted in October 2018. Likewise, performers with 150 or more composing credits released an average of 0.19 more releases during the MMA negotiation period and 0.22 more releases in response to the MMA and the initial CRB rate increase ruling. Federal regulations created by the CRB and MMA are designed to reward composers for use of their creative works. Determining the outcome of the new federal policies is critical improving the economic health of the musician community.

Paper examines competitive activities by incumbents when faced with a new competitor in the home broadband market. Paper explores the role of network upgrades and offerings to retain customers.