NZ's half billion dollar rock stars

Kiwi artist Lorde is among those helping the New Zealand economy. Photo / AP

Chart toppers’ boost to economy revealed

Kiwi chart-toppers - including Grammy-winning singer Lorde - helped pump almost half a billion dollars into our economy last year.

And an industry insider is predicting that figure will grow even more in coming years as streaming services move ahead in the battle against piracy.

A PwC report commissioned by licensing and copyright collectives Recorded Music New Zealand and the Australasian Performing Right Association/Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society, and the Government-funded New Zealand Music Commission, found the direct contribution of the music industry last year was $213 million.

When the total impact was added - based on industry-related businesses spending money on other industries and industry employees supporting the wider economy - that figure rose to $472m, up $20m on the previous year's findings.

The report also found a total of 4295 full-time equivalent jobs were generated by the industry last year.

Recorded Music NZ chief executive Damian Vaughan said the findings showed continued gradual growth since stakeholders commissioned their first report on the industry's contribution to the economy last year. "It's fantastic. It's a growth industry, albeit one facing challenges in different areas," he told the Herald on Sunday.

"Our part of the industry, recorded music, is facing the piracy challenge. The decline in revenues in that area is not new, but we're optimistic we're turning a corner."

Streaming - which allows subscribers to access music at any time - had trumped illegal options, Vaughan said.

"What we've found is the services that exist now are better propositions than the rigmarole of going through music piracy. Our sector is very hopeful that we're going to forecast growth [in retail sales] this year, which will be the first time in 15 years."

Retail sales - including streaming services - in New Zealand peaked in 2001 at about $120m.

Last year, sales of Kiwi artists directly contributed $54m to the economy.

Music radio broadcasting accounted for the largest chunk of the $472m generated by the music industry, with more than half coming from the medium.

Live music generated $120m, while the smallest contributions came from communication and performance, at $33m. New Zealand's GDP was $217 billion in the June 2015 quarter.