The European Parliament adopted by 532 votes to 61, with 33 abstentions, a resolution on cultural diversity and the conditions for authors in the European music streaming market.
Music streaming services are now the main way to enjoy music via digital music platforms or platforms where online users download content, including social media or live streaming platforms and short-form video applications, which give access to 100 million tracks available anywhere, anytime and on all kinds of devices, for free or for a relatively low monthly subscription fee.
Parliament stressed the need to support and create rules ensuring a fair and sustainable ecosystem for music streaming in the Union that both promotes cultural diversity and addresses the imbalances that negatively affect the sector, especially its authors and performers, and may prevent it from flourishing. To this end, all actors in the music streaming value chain need to engage in an effective dialogue that includes authors and performers and make the necessary changes so that it can contribute to cultural diversity, by providing opportunities to discover artists, as well as by promoting local repertoires.
Noting with concern that the current imbalance in revenue allocation in the music streaming market, Members welcome any efforts towards fairer remuneration for authors and performers.
The Commission is called on to:
- assess the impact of existing contractual practices in the European music streaming market, as well as of the current revenue distribution model for music streaming services, on cultural diversity and the principle of appropriate and
proportionate remuneration for authors and performers;
- explore, in cooperation with the relevant stakeholders, appropriate measures, including alternative and fairer models to reallocate streaming revenues.
Towards a sustainable ecosystem for authors
Parliament emphasised that the key role of authors should be reflected through greater visibility on the music streaming services. It called on the industry to explore new models for allocating streaming revenue in order to ensure the most equal and fairest distribution possible for authors and performers.
The Commission should evaluate whether the use of new technologies, such as blockchain, and the international identification codes of rights holders, musical works and sound recordings have the potential to improve transparency and cost efficiency within the music streaming market.
According to Members, it is essential to improve the identification of anyone involved in the creation process, in particular authors and performers, on music streaming services. They called all music industry players to intensify their efforts to ensure the comprehensive and correct metadata allocation of songs by identifying and accurately reporting authors’ data for their musical works on streaming services.
Parliament recalled the need to ensure the value of authors’ rights, regardless of what music streaming services offer. It called for the revision of pre-digital royalty rates to bring them into line with fair and modern rates. It insisted on the need to end unfair competition practices by online content-sharing platforms and music streaming service providers in the music streaming market, such as those enabling users to illegally stream or download protected content.
Prominence and discoverability of European musical works
Members called for action to be taken at Union level to guarantee the visibility and accessibility of European musical works. They asked the Commission to propose adequate measures, including a legal framework to ensure the visibility, accessibility and prominence of European musical works on music streaming platforms. Such a legal framework should include specific diversity indicators that would allow for an independent assessment of the use and visibility of European musical works and its diversity of genres, languages and independent authors.
Towards the ethical use of AI
Parliament called for maximum transparency and stressed the need to ensure compliance with all Union legal requirements on the development, production and delivery of musical works by means of AI technologies.
In this regard, the Commission is called on to propose legal targeted provisions to ensure the transparency of the algorithms and content recommendation systems on all relevant music streaming platforms, with a view to preventing unfair practices and streaming fraud. Members stressed the need to work towards ensuring that consumers are well-informed, and stressed the need to set up a clear, timely and visible label to inform the public about purely AI-generated works that do not involve the expression of the author’s personality or creativity.
Perspectives
The Commission is called on to:
- set up a European music observatory to provide information on music markets in the Union by collecting and analysing data in the Member States;
- analyse and report on legal issues affecting the music sector, in particular the music streaming market, with a view to developing the sector;
- further improve the Creative Europe programme, through comprehensive action on music;
- establish a structured dialogue between all stakeholders to discuss current issues affecting the music streaming market and to work together to find common solutions towards a fairer distribution of the revenues from music streaming platforms, in particular for authors, performers and small and micro independent producers;
- introduce a European industrial strategy for music to make the Union play a role in promoting the diversity of its artists and musical works, focusing on the strength and diversity of the European music sector, boosting smaller players, acquiring more investment, providing more exposure to artists and quantifying the results.