Report On Transparency And Fairness In The Music Industry
Rethink Music, an initiative of BerkleeICE, released an in-depth study focused on promoting fairness and transparency within the music industry. Entitled “Fair Music: Transparency and Money Flows in the Music Industry,” the report is the culmination of a year-long examination of the $45 billion global music business, and explores the underlying challenges within the current compensation structure while proposing solutions to improve licensing, revenue transparency, and cash flow for musicians.
With streaming services becoming the dominant means of listening, the flow of money from end users consuming music to creators continues to be a huge mystery. Our study exposes current inefficiencies within the music business, including the millions of dollars that goes undistributed to rightful creators while recommending solutions, like implementing the adoption of existing technologies to power the back-end, to increase transparency.
We’ve already received some powerful feedback from industry influencers, recording artists and those with a stake in the industry “The Rethink Music/Berklee[ICE] study is a thing of beauty… and much needed,” said recording artist David Byrne. “The music business is notoriously complicated, but they have presented their findings in a clear manner that anyone can understand- though it’s still not simple! The picture the study paints is spot on and fairly devastating- as it should be. It’s essential reading- and given the lack of vested interests at work it should be explosive and wide ranging in its impact. The recommendations give one hope- that there is indeed a way for this industry to flourish and benefit everyone involved.”
“The timing, findings and recommendations of this report are important. Lawmakers both in Europe and North America should take note as they look to promote and foster the interests of creators in the digital age, shielding them from the practices of major rightsholder corporations who distort the music market for their own gain. The mistakes of the post Napster era should not be allowed to roll on, to the detriment of many and the benefit of few,” stated Brian Message, co-manager, of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, PJ Harvey, and Radiohead.
Source: Berklee
