Leveling Up’s 2024 Year In Review
Most Read Articles, My 2024 Music Playlist, and Content Worth Consuming
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GM readers 👋,
Happy Holidays!
2024 was a transformative year on a personal level. Hannah and I moved to a new city, bought a house 🏡, and welcomed our first child 👶!
As a result, 2024 wasn’t the most prolific writing year for Leveling Up, with only four new posts. Still, our readership grew 40%+ year-over-year! 🚀
And I've been blown away by the kindness of this readership. On more than one occasion in the past couple months, I’ve been in conversation with apparent strangers at conferences and events. When they find out I write Leveling Up, they tell me how much they enjoy it. Thank YOU for the support. 🙏 I’m extremely grateful for it.
With my sea legs a bit more under me on the home front, I’m focused on writing more often in 2025. And I hope you’ll continue to enjoy the ride!
If you’re newer to Leveling Up, I like to keep the year-end newsletter light relative to our usual ones. You can think of this edition as our version of the Dundies (if you’re not already a fan of The Office, click this link for a glimpse at what I’m referring to).
This year-end review will mix a few topics.
I’ll cover the most read articles of the past two years (since we wrote less in 2024). I’m basing the results off of Substack’s “views” metric on each post.
I’ll highlight the songs that stuck with me this year. These are some of the tracks I’ve listened to over and over again while writing, traveling, learning, reflecting, etc.
I’ll share some of the most interesting content I’ve consumed over the past month or two.
One final ask before diving into this month’s piece. In an effort to improve Leveling Up, I’d be grateful if you could fill out this survey (linked here) and let me know your feedback. It will help me get a better sense of what you’re most interested in learning about.
Finally, a huge thank you to my wife Hannah and my business partner Adam for editing and providing invaluable feedback on each article. Leveling Up wouldn’t exist without their help.
Now, let’s get after it!
Jimmy
2024’s (and 2023’s) Most Read Articles
Here are some of Leveling Up’s most read articles over the past two years. If you’re new to the newsletter, I hope you’ll find them interesting.
The Music Industry’s Superfan Ambitions (Link)
SoundCloud: Understanding Music Streaming’s Dark Horse (Link)
Has Hipgnosis Hit The Bottom? (Link)
The Contrarian: Understanding MUSIC’s $200M Raise (Link)
beatBread’s Moneyball Approach to Funding Musicians (Link)
Music and the AI Opportunity (Link)
Universal’s Push for Higher Streaming Payouts (Link)
A New Tune: Looking at the Future of BMI (Link)
The Rise of Concert Films (Link)
Exploring Africa’s Music Market Opportunity (Link)
My 2024 Year-End Playlist
Here are some of the songs that stayed with me throughout the year. You can click this link to listen. I hope you enjoy it! [And yes, I had to include one that we’ve listened to over and over again with our daughter. See if you can spot it 😊.]
📚 Music Business, Tech, and Investing Content Worth Consuming
Here is some of the best content that I consumed over the past month or so –
Global Value of Music Copyright soars to $45.5bn (Pivotal Economics: link)
[untitled]: building the operating system for music (Not Boring: link)
State of the independent music economy: fragmentation AND consolidation (MIDIA: link)
Universal Music: I Was Brutally Wrong (Seeking Alpha: link)
ABBA Voyage Generated $129M in 2023 (MBW: link)
Hold or twist? The music industry’s innovation dilemma (MIDIA: link)
Why Subscription Growth is the Barometer for Major Label Success in 2024 (Billboard: link)
Will UMG’s Lawsuit Against Believe User in a New Era of Regulation for DIY Distribution (Billboard: link)
Global economic study shows human creators’ future at risk from generative AI (CISAC: link)
HYBE wants to change fan culture in US, Latin Music, and 4 Other Things We Learned on the Company’s Latest Earnings Call (MBW: link)
What HYBE and UMG’s Q3 earnings tell us about superfans (MIDIA: link)
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Keep up the great work, Jimmy! Looking forward to another year of excellent content in Leveling Up!