Music streaming is embarking on an artist-centric shift
This partnership hopes to set a new benchmark in the industry: Deezer and Sacem are joining forces to ensure fairer remuneration for copyright, thanks to the artist-centric remuneration model.
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Apart from the price assigned to each stream – as recently analysed by Duetti – this new model differs radically from the current model, known as the ‘market-centric’ model.
This is an opportunity to take stock of the situation:
– The market-centric model calculates royalty payments in proportion to total streams: this means you could listen exclusively to niche artists, yet pay the majority of your subscription fee to the industry’s heavyweights, without even listening to them. This model, which is the default across all DSPs, is disadvantageous for niche genres and less popular artists.
Historically, this remuneration model has its roots in Spotify’s early years, when the company was teetering on the edge of illegality. The major labels, having learnt their lesson from years of piracy, were able to dictate rules that worked to their advantage and are in no hurry to change the model.
– The artist-centric (or user-centric) model, promoted by Deezer and Sacem, aims to remunerate the artists actually listened to by the subscriber. This model is weighted to include a bonus for established artists: tracks by artists with at least 1,000 streams from 500 different subscribers each month are paid twice as much per stream as those by artists who do not meet this target. This model seeks a balance by weighing up popularity and listener loyalty. It is also criticised by some in the industry, as it is said to continue to benefit major artists disproportionately.
Sacem has not provided precise figures on the increases in royalties that songwriters can expect: its chief executive, Cécile Rap-Veber, cautioned in an interview with Musically: “I’m not talking about 10 per cent or 20 per cent growth, but it is significant enough, I think, to adopt the system.” As the world leader in the collective management of creators’ and publishers’ rights, Sacem has the clear objective of creating a ‘ripple effect’ with this partnership, by compelling other DSPs to follow suit.