Economics of music streaming

Culture, Media and Sport Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 15 Oct 2020 Closed: 10 Nov 2021 Parliament page
MPs will examine what economic impact music streaming is having on artists, record labels and the sustainability of the wider music industry. With streaming currently accounting for more than half of the global music industry’s revenue, this inquiry will look at the business models operated by platforms such as Spotify, … Read more
21 Recommendations
4 Conclusions
1 Report
7 Oral sessions
5 Letters
7 Events
Activity timeline 14 events
14 Jun
2022
Correspondence
22 Sep
2021
Report published
22 Sep
2021
Correspondence
22 Sep
2021
Correspondence
15 Jul
2021
Report published
22 Mar
2021
Oral evidence
23 Feb
2021
Oral evidence
10 Feb
2021
Oral evidence
4 Feb
2021
Oral evidence
19 Jan
2021
Oral evidence
12 Jan
2021
Correspondence
8 Dec
2020
Oral evidence
Oral evidence sessions 7 sessions
22 Mar 2021
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Amanda Solloway MP · Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Caroline Dinenage MP · Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Robert Specterman-Green · Department for Culture, Media and Sport Tim Moss · Intellectual Property Office
23 Feb 2021
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Elena Segal · Apple Inc Horacio Gutierrez · Spotify Paul Firth · Amazon
10 Feb 2021
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Geoff Taylor · BPI Graham Davies · Ivors Academy Horace Trubridge · Musicians’ Union Katherine Oyama · YouTube Raoul Chatterjee · Soundcloud Roberto Neri · Music Publishers Association Steve Bené · Twitch
4 Feb 2021
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Paul Pacifico · Association of Independent Music Rupert Skellett · Beggars Group Yvette Griffith · Jazz Re:freshed
19 Jan 2021
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Andrea Martin · PRS for Music David Joseph · Universal Music UK & Ireland Jason Iley · Sony Music UK & Ireland Peter Leathem · Phonographic Performance Ltd Tony Harlow · Warner Music UK
8 Dec 2020
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Fiona Bevan José Luis Sevillano · Artistas Intérpretes o Ejecutantes, Entidad de Gestión de Derechos de Propiedad Intelectual (AIE) Kwame Kwaten · Music Managers Forum Maria Forte · Maria Forte Music Services Ltd Nile Rodgers Soweto Kinch
24 Nov 2020
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Colin Young Ed O'Brien Guy Garvey Nadine Shah Tom Frederikse Tom Gray · The Ivors Academy
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Second Report - Economics of music streaming HC 50 15 Jul 2021 25 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
4 results
Clear
9 Recommendation Accepted in Part
Second Report - Economics of music…
The licensing and royalty chains of song rights causes considerable confusion and complexity to the...
The licensing and royalty chains of song rights causes considerable confusion and complexity to the system, and songwriters and composers pay the price. There is no single solution to create more efficient and timely royalty chains but the Government can … Read more
Government Response
The government rejects requiring publishers and collecting societies to publish royalty chain information, arguing it is impractical. However, it will convene an industry-led technical working group to agree on transparency standards and will consider global licensing deals in future trade policy.
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
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15 Recommendation Accepted in Part
Second Report - Economics of music…
Artists and their representatives face a systemic lack of transparency from both music companies and...
Artists and their representatives face a systemic lack of transparency from both music companies and the streaming services that license their works. This exacerbates the inequities of creator remuneration by creating information asymmetries and preventing them from undertaking their right … Read more
Government Response
The government accepts the need for improved transparency and will convene an industry-led working group to agree on voluntary standards; however, it rejects the recommendation to require publishers and collecting societies to publish full royalty chain information due to feasibility concerns.
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
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16 Recommendation Accepted in Part
Second Report - Economics of music…
The Government has repeatedly told us that it will not implement in UK law provisions...
The Government has repeatedly told us that it will not implement in UK law provisions akin to those established by the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market. We accept that the Directive is not a silver bullet to … Read more
Government Response
The Government acknowledges the need for transparency, stating the IPO will convene an industry working group to agree on voluntary standards for transparency, deferring legislative intervention only if this process is unsatisfactory. It rejects requiring publishers and collecting societies to publish royalty chain information, citing feasibility concerns.
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
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19 Recommendation Accepted in Part
Second Report - Economics of music…
The market for streaming services itself is fiercely competitive.
The market for streaming services itself is fiercely competitive. However, there is the potential that companies may leverage other aspects of their business or elsewise use vertical integrations to gain a competitive advantage; indeed, some jurisdictions have considered that this … Read more
Government Response
The Government launched its consultation on the new pro-competition regime in July 2021 and states it will legislate to put the Digital Markets Unit on a statutory footing as soon as Parliamentary time allows, fulfilling the intent but without a specific timeframe.
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
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Government Response AI assessment · 25 of 21 classified
Accepted 3
Accepted in Part 4
Acknowledged 5
Deferred 9
Not Addressed 1
Rejected 3
Total 21 recs + 4 conclusions
Correspondence 5 letters
14 Jun 2022 To committee Letter from Julia Lopez MP, Minister for Media, Data and Digital Infrastructure, and George Freeman MP, Minister for Science, Research and Innovation, relating to music streaming, 18 May 2022
Parliament page
22 Sep 2021 To committee Letter from the Chair to Andrea Coscelli CBE, Chief Executive, CMA, relating to music streaming, 22 September 2021
Parliament page
22 Sep 2021 Correspondence between the Government and the Competition and Markets Authority, relating to music streaming, 15-20 September 2021
Parliament page
12 Jan 2021 Written evidence: BPI (EMS208)
Parliament page
24 Nov 2020 Background paper: Colin Young music streaming slides
Parliament page