The British Government have assured musicians and music lovers of their plans to make “meaningful and lasting improvements” to music streaming.
This comes after a report was released by the Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport committee, stating that musicians should receive a fairer share of revenues.
The report also outlined that a “complete reset” of the music streaming market is also needed.
Following this, the governement have agreed to publish agendas and minutes from the Intellectual Property’s Office (IPO), working with groups on transparencey and metadata.
Elsewhere, the report also called on the IPO to establish working groups on rights for remuneration and performing. They also called for them to consider the current evidence and monitor developments of other countries.
“meaninful and lasting”
In light of the Goverment’s response, MP Damian Green who is the acting chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Media Committee, had this to say.
“We are pleased that the Government has promised to deliver ‘meaningful and lasting improvements to streaming’ in its response to our follow-up report on music streaming”, he said.
“Our initial inquiry called for a ‘complete reset’ of streaming in response to issues facing professional musicians and independent companies in the sector, highlighting the need for equitable remuneration”.
Green also added, “Publishing information about the work of the industry contact group, transparency and metadata working groups and research projects on remuneration and rights reversion will move the debate and policy discussions along”.
“We also welcome the steps ministers have taken to engage in this process, and to take a more strategic approach to cultural policy. We expect to see a renewed focus on building international partnerships so that we can promote the British creative industries around the world”.
“monitor the situation closely”
This report had also served as a follow up to the findings of 2021.
Mentioning this, Green noted that that the report asked three major music groups to provide evidence of royalties, which are being paid to “legacy artists”.
He said, “We also note that our follow-up report requested that the three major music groups provide evidence of royalties that are being paid to legacy artists following recommendations during our initial inquiry. The committee wants to see concrete action from Government, regulators and the industry in response to its reports, and will continue to monitor the position closely”.
This inquiry which was launched in October 2020, saw Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien, producer Nile Rodgers, singer-songwriter Nadine Shah and Elbow’s Gary Garvey give evidence.
Streaming services Spotify, YouTube, Amazon, Apple and Amazon also gave evidence, as did the UK’s music independant sector, along with Warner Music, Universial Music, and Sony Music.
This report comes just a week after Amazon had announced further job losses, including its Twitch streaming service. More on this here.
