Hey everyone,

Music biopics are now dominating the film industry. After Bob Marley, Elvis, Elton John or Queen, the new Amy Winehouse biopic is out in the theatres. While other artists such as David Bowie, Celine Dion or Bob Dylan are set to have their biopics released soon. That’s a lot in just a few years.

Why are biopics so popular? And how are they impacting an artist’s legacy and sales?

Let’s review the power of storytelling in shaping audience perceptions and driving music sales.

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🎥 More biopics, more money?

Hollywood’s new trend

The recent hits of movies such as "Bohemian Rhapsody" (Queen) and "One Love" (Bob Marley) proved to Hollywood that people are eager to go to theaters to see the life stories of their favorite musicians. Bohemian Rhapsody won 4 Oscars and amassed $910 million at the box office. While it is still in theatres, Bob Marley’s biopic already grossed $176 million globally, one of the biggest successes so far this year.

It’s quite straightforward to understand why Hollywood has an interest in making biopics as they are taking less risks, but why does the audience seem interested as well?

Biopics tap into fans’ nostalgia and have a feeling of something familiar. For someone growing up with Queen’s music, it can feel special to see all his songs come live once again. It’s also a chance for the fans to delve into the intimacy and the reality behind their fame, especially considering all the artists that have a biopic existed prior to the social media age. It's seen as an extension of fandom, even if the real story is romanticised.

Managing the story & creating a brand

For the musician or his family, biopics act as a way to reaffirm the artist’s cultural relevance while managing the storytelling. They can present an idealised public image of them.

In the biopics released recently, the artist himself or his family had their saying in the story. Elton John for Rocketman or Ice Cube and Dr. Dre for Straight Outta Compton acted as executive producers for their movies. Bob Marley’s son, Ziggy Marley, was at the origin of Bob Marley’s movie. In Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen’s Brian May and Roger Taylor, acted as creative consultants on the film. In Bohemian Rhapsody for instance, the movie depicted a rather “clean” version of Freddie Mercury, which sparked critics after the movie as it didn’t show the debauched side of his personality.

In order to use an artist’s songs, the film producers need to have access to the artist’s catalogue to use the music in the movie. An artist’s catalogue is the collection of all the music the musician made. It can be owned by the artist, by an investment firm if the artist sold it, or by the family if the artist died. It’s in the interest of the catalogue owner to produce a biopic that portrays the artist in their best light to enhance their brand name.

A recent movie on Jimi Hendrix was refused the use of any of his music, as the family wasn’t involved in the writing process and didn’t want to take the risk of hurting his image.

Developing the catalogue

For artists and publishers, developing the catalogue is crucial to continue making money and reach new fans.

Bohemian Rhapsody was originally sold as a way to introduce Queen’s songs to a new audience. As said earlier, the movie was a commercial success but it also impacted the sales. In terms of royalties perceived by the group, it went from $21 million in 2018 to $71.5 million in 2019, the year the movie was released. Queen’s total streams more than tripled in the six month’s following the film’s debut, going from 588 million to 1.9 billion streams. The original goal of reaching new audience seemed to have been accomplished as younger generation are increasingly active on streaming platforms.

It then led to a snowball effect: with the massive success of “Bohemian Rhapsody” and the surge of Queen’s albums sales, other artists or their representatives are now more inclined, or even producing themselves, to create biopics on their personal stories featuring their most iconic songs. It has become the most effective method for them to stay relevant and boost their revenues.

As movies and music smoothly blend together, documentaries featuring music superstars have also become increasingly popular. More and more artists are filming their lives and the secrets behind the production of their albums as a means to promote their music. But this is another topic we might discuss another time 😉 

As always, I’ve curated the playlist featuring my favourite tracks released in the past few months.

See you soon and feel free to forward this if you liked it!