LONDON — European regulators are calling for sweeping new laws to help correct the “imbalance in revenue distribution” from music streaming and provide higher pay for artists and songwriters.
On Wednesday (17 January), members of the European Parliament (MEPs) voted overwhelmingly in favor of new legislation to ensure fair compensation for music streaming creators with 532 votes in favour, 61 against and 33 abstentions.
The resolution is non-binding, meaning there is no legal requirement for its recommendations to take effect, but the approval of the report by MEPs puts pressure on policymakers to address musicians' long-standing complaints about poor returns from streaming . The approved text now goes to the European Commission for consideration.
“Parliament voices the concerns of European creators, who are at the heart of the music streaming market”, MEP and rapporteur Ibán García Del Blanco he said after Wednesday's vote. Making sure writers are “credited and paid fairly has always been our priority,” he said.
The EU proposals state that current “pre-digital royalty rates” should be brought into line with “modern rates” and call on the industry to explore “fairer streaming revenue sharing models” for artists and creators, including analogue and user-centric “or completely new” models.
The current global streaming model pioneered and dominated by Spotify, Apple, YouTube and Amazon Music leaves the majority of writers and artists with very low pay and often means they cannot sustain music careers, MEPs say .
Over the past year, the standard analog streaming model has been a major topic of scrutiny across the industry, leading several of the leading streaming platforms to test alternative models.
In September, Deezer announced it was piloting a new “artist-centric” system in France in partnership with Universal Music Group that rewards artists and songs that actively drive listener engagement.
A few months later, Spotify announced that it was also looking to introduce changes to its streaming rights model, including a new listening threshold that tracks must reach in order to qualify for rights and a targeted crackdown on streaming fraud.
The EU report — titled “Cultural diversity and conditions for creators in the European music streaming market” — does not mention these industry-led reforms. Instead, it calls on all stakeholders in the music industry to take “all necessary measures” to overcome the current imbalances in the distribution of streaming rights.
The report also strongly condemns the use of so-called payola schemes that force artists to accept lower royalty rates – or give them up entirely – in exchange for more exposure on streaming platforms.
One of its other key recommendations is for the EU to take action to protect the long-term visibility of European music works on global streaming platforms by taking “concrete measures”, including the possibility of introducing quotas for European songs or artists.
Details of what form these quotas will take or how they will be implemented are not specified in the text, although quotas already exist in many European countries for domestic content broadcast by national radio and television stations.
“EU legislation should include diversity indicators to assess the range of genres and languages available and the presence of independent authors,” MEPs say, noting that the majority of streaming revenue goes to major companies and big global stars, while less popular styles and less common languages are transmitted less often.
On the issue of transparency and artificial intelligence (AI), the report states that platforms should be required to make their algorithms and recommendation tools transparent to prevent unfair practices such as manipulation of stream numbers.
Under the terms outlined in the EU's artificial intelligence law — which was provisionally passed in December and is the world's first comprehensive set of laws regulating the use of artificial intelligence — MEPs said that musical works created by artificial intelligence intelligence must be clearly marked as such and unauthorized use of an artist's voice or likeness is prohibited.
In response to the EU report, Helen Smithexecutive chairman of European independent record label trade body IMPALA, which represents almost 6,000 music companies, said its approval by MEPs “comes at a decisive moment for the music sector”.
“The idea that artists should receive a fair modern digital price reflects the independent industry's commitment made nearly ten years ago,” she said in a statement.
John Phelandirector general of the international music publishing trade association ICMP, thanked rapporteur Ibán García Del Blanco for his “diligence and determination” in defending artists' rights, while Jess Partridge, executive director of the European Music Managers Alliance (EMMA) said that the exhibition “highlights the obstacles faced by artists and their groups”.
“The music streaming market needs to properly reward those at the core of its success,” he echoed Véronique Desbrosses, director general of the European Society of Authors GESAC. “We rely on the European Commission to take the next step and table the necessary legislative proposals.”
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/business/streaming/eu-parliament-streaming-pay-rates-music-creators-1235584133/
