Who owns Deezer today?Access Industries is Deezer's biggest shareholder, with ownership of over a third of the company
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UMG, Deezer ‘double boost’ launch upends streaming payments to artistsUniversal Music Group (UMG) has launched its long-promised artist-centric payment model with EU-based music streaming service Deezer. But unlike some of UMG’s other royalty experiments, this reveal comes with details. Continue reading
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Should you Release Music as an Album, EP, or Track by Track?What are the pros and cons of releasing new music as an album, an EP, or as individual tracks? You’ve recorded new music and are trying to decide whether to. Continue reading
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U.S. Copyright Office pledges to keep an eye on the implications of AIThe U.S Copyright Office is to study AI and how generative artificial intelligence should or not not play a role in the music industry. by Bobby Owsinski of Music 3.0. Continue reading
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SM Entertainment artists including EXO, Red Velvet and aespa to join HYBE’s superfan app Weverse next weekSM Entertainment artists will officially be joining Weverse on September 12
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How to make artist centric artist centricDeezer and UMG announced a major (in both senses of the word) shake up of streaming music royalties. This is arguably the biggest streaming market development in years, as it will set the tone for market-wide change. There is no doubt that streaming royalties require a revamp. The system built for the music business of 20 years ago was always going to struggle to be fit for purpose in today’s business. There are some really positive elements to this proposal, but it can be even better. Indeed there is a risk that as it stands it will break as much as it fixes.

The problems with today’s streaming market are well known, but for the record, a few of the key ones are:

Music listening is becoming commodified

The volume and velocity of music released is excessive

Cynical entities are able to game the royalty system

Most artists do not earn enough

Artists are building audiences rather than fanbases

Artists struggle to cut through the clutter

The full list, of course, is far longer, but the selection shows how pervasive and structural the challenges are. Royalties are an important part of the fix, but nonetheless, just one part. The UMG / Deezer initiative addresses the top three in the list, but not the bottom three. And crucially, it rewards success at the expense of emerging artists.

Among a raft of elements, the UMG / Deezer initiative:

Halves the royalty ‘weight’ of artists with less than 1,000 monthly streams and 500 unique monthly listeners, while doubling that of the rest

Further ‘double boosts’ music that has been actively searched for by a user

The second item is a very welcome and long overdue move. Streaming has thrown together two old business models (retail and radio) and thrown them into one pot, pretending lean-back and lean-forward consumption are the same. They are not. This move will go a long way to disincentivising the commodification of consumption by rewarding active listening. If you get your listeners to pay attention, to look for you, then you are rewarded with higher royalties. So, top marks for this move.

The first item, though, is an entirely different issue and far less welcome. Why? Because it does a reverse-Robin Hood. It is redistribution of wealth in reverse, taking income from struggling, emerging artists and sharing it among those who have already found success. 

Between 2000 and 2022, artists direct (i.e., artists without record labels) grew streaming revenue by 60% while the majors grew streaming revenue by just 35%. As of 2022, artists direct represented 8% of global streaming revenue. This fastest-growing part of the streaming market accounts for the majority of the long tail of artists with less than 1,000 streams. Crucially, the number of artists in this group grows at the same rate as their revenue, so most are unlikely to ever break the 1,000 streams threshold. 

Which means that the fastest-growing and most dynamic part of the music business could become a permanent funding mechanism for the biggest labels and stars. The way funding programmes usually work in the wider world is that the better advantaged fund the less well advantaged, not the other way round. The idea of a teenage, aspiring bedroom producer having half their royalties taken to pay the likes of Taylor Swift feels like an odd reward for effort and creativity.

The 1,000-stream threshold is not actually a bad idea in itself. In fact, it could actually be used in a dramatically different way that would truly help rebalance the streaming economy.

Artists with less than 1,000 streams represent roughly 80% of all artists. Most generate less than $100 a year of streaming royalties. So, taking away the income from these emerging and long-tail artists may be morally questionable, but it is not going to exactly affect their ability to pay the rent. 

Roughly speaking, the total income from these artists accounts for about 1% of all streaming royalties. Which means that the impact on big artists is going to be pretty small. 

Sidenote: it is difficult to see how >1,000-stream artists will get an over ‘double weight’ without more money being put in the royalty pot or being taken from somewhere else. The “500 monthly listeners” might actually ensure the pool of the 1,000-stream artists. These are artists who are making the step up, beginning to get real traction, and need all the support they can get to kick on to the next level. The extra income would make a big difference to them. Supporting the next generation of artists is something that can truly be called ‘artist centric’.

Record labels are in the business of finding, nurturing, and investing in new talent. It is the single most important role the music business plays. A streaming royalty mechanism that takes from 80% of artists to redistribute to 20% does not feel very “artist centric”. But shift the equation slightly, and push all of the royalties of the

Criminal gangs use fake Spotify streams to launder money, says Swedish newspaper investigationCriminal gangs involved in shootings and bombings in Sweden are using fake Spotify streams to launder money, respected Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet reported Tuesday. For several years, criminals have been. Continue reading
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Chris Shiflett at The Venice WestChris Shiflett, lead guitarist for one of the most successful music acts of our time as a Foo Fighter, crossed The Venice West stage with a humble nod and wave. Grabbing his guitar, he immediately kicked out the country jams with the anthemic, riff-rousing “Liar’s World” from 2019’s Hard Lessons, followed by the slide-centric “Sticks & Stones” from 2017’s West Coast Town. The pair of songs cemented the foundation for the show which highlighted Chris’s solo work and his take on country - a West Coast blend of alt-Americana wrangled together with a punch of punk rock and polished with a smidge of a Nashville sheen.  

Shiflett moved forward from there at full throttle. His ability to fuse rock-styled hammer-ons and pull-offs with string-bending country licks was evident in tales about love gone awry (“The Girl’s Already Gone”) and life on the road (“Goodnight Little Rock”).  His genuine nature and captivating energy pulled the audience closer toward him while he leaned into his newest single “Damage Control,” a cool combo of dub-style reggae meets two-step country from his forthcoming release, Lost at Sea.

Chris showcased his songwriting skill with relatable real-life experiences and the “three chords and the truth” approach found in country and punk alike with the powerful “Fool’s Gold.” A consummate touring pro with past punkers No Use for a Name and present-day Foos, Chris seized a moment in the set to tune his guitar and acknowledge the fans as well as some long-time friends in attendance.  Tuning complete, the shredder reflected, “I auditioned for a band, hit the highway, and never looked back,” before belting out the rhythm-driven honky-tonk of “Dead and Gone” (2023’s Lost at Sea) and the beautiful country ballad “Long, Long Year.”

Chris circled back into his alt-Americana set, pulling up sky-high songs with wailing guitar solos in “This Ol’ World” and “Marfa on My Mind” before he leapt into the tender “Welcome to Your First Heartache.” Shiflett ended with “West Coast Town,” a nostalgic nod to where his love for punk, rock, and country all began.

Check out Chris’s new album, Lost at Sea, out Oct. 20th on Blu Elan Records.  Look for Chris on tour with Foo Fighters through the end of 2023 and into 2024. 

Setlist:Liar’s World

Sticks and Stones

The Girl's Already Gone

Thought You’d Never Leave

Blow Out the Candles

Goodnight Little Rock

Damage Control

Room 102

Fool’s Gold

Leaving Again

Dead and GoneLong, Long Year

Black Top White Lines

This Ol’ World

Marfa on My Mind

Welcome to Your First Heartache

Overboard

I’m Still Drunk

Honky-Tonk Nighttime Man (Merle Haggard)

West Coast Town

Multiple criminal gang members confirm they’ve used Spotify for money laundering in bombshell new report in SwedenAn explosive new report from Svenska Dagbladet in Sweden focuses on the end purpose of streaming fraud on Spotify for organized criminals: laundering money.
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Songwriters, publishers must be paid late fees, U.S. Copyright Office confirms, NMPA respondsThe U.S. Copyright Office (USCO) has confirmed that late fees must be paid to songwriters and music publishers if digital music services do not make royalty payments by the deadlines. Continue reading
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France’s recorded music revenues grew 9.4% YoY in H1 – and the entire Top 10 best-selling artists in the market were local actsIndustry body SNEP published its H1 recorded music revenue numbers for the market
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Apple just bought a record label…Apple has acquired the major Swedish classical music record label BIS Records and will fold it into Apple Music Classical and Apple’s distribution and creative services platform Platoon. BIS Records. Continue reading
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Timothy Xu, former Sony Music boss in China, named CEO and Chairman of Universal Music Greater ChinaChina broke into the world's Top 5 recorded music markets in 2022, according to IFPI data
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The UK’s One Media IP renews distribution deal with The Orchard, securing $1m advanceAIM-traded One Media IP raised £6.04 million (approx. USD $8m) in 2020
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TOP POSTS – Last week’s most-read: ASCAP takes on BMI • Stop chasing streams • Live Nation’s pay gap • moreCatch up on what everybody has been talking about with this week’s most-read posts. We’ve got topics ranging from a powerful song causing controversy, ASCAP throwing shade on BMI, to rich. Continue reading
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