music:)ally writes..
Music Ally has reported extensively on the hearings at the British parliament’s inquiry into the economics of music streaming. Now the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee behind that inquiry has published its report.
It’s fair to say major labels will be wincing the most as they read its recommendations. There’s a paragraph about 25 pages in that neatly summarises the report’s guiding principle:
“Streaming has undoubtedly helped save the music industry following two decades of digital piracy but it is clear that what has been saved does not work for everyone. The issues ostensibly created by streaming simply reflect more fundamental, structural problems within the recorded music industry. Streaming needs a complete reset.”
Rather than give the streaming services a kicking over the royalties they generate for musicians, the committee has trained its fire on rightsholders and how that money flows through their systems – with particular attention to the three major labels.
Its recommendations include:
- Introducing broadcast-style equitable remuneration (ER) for streaming income
- An investigation by the UK’s competition watchdog the CMA into major labels’ market power and business practices
- Legislation giving artists a “right to recapture” their works after 20 years
- Calling for songs (and thus songwriters and publishers) to get a bigger share of streaming royalties
However, not every recommendation is a blow for the labels. The report comes down squarely on their side in the ongoing ‘value gap’ debate, calling for the CMA to also “examine YouTube’s dominance of the music streaming market” and “normalise” the music licensing structure it operates under.
The report was published at 12.01am this morning UK-time, but Music Ally (along with other media outlets and interested parties) was sent an advance copy under embargo. We spent the afternoon reading it, picking out the key recommendations, and thinking about what it means for the music industry – and what happens next.
Read on for the details. The report should be available here by the time you read this, too.
Read their full report at https://musically.com/2021/07/15/labels-under-fire-uk-streaming-inquiry-report/
Summary of the Parliamentary Report: https://houseofcommons.shorthandstories.com/music-streaming-must-modernise-DCMS-report/index.html?utm_source=committees.parliament.uk&utm_medium=referrals&utm_campaign=economics-music-streaming&utm_content=organic
