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In this week's edition of Indie Insider, we dive into the latest industry news, including Alexis Lanternier's appointment as Deezer's new CEO, the formation of the Organization for Recorded Culture and Arts (ORCA) by leading indie labels, and Spotify's impressive growth in Q2 2024.
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Hey everybody!
Welcome back to the Indie Insider newsletter, today is June 28th and I’m your host Calvin Windschitl. We have a couple of really interesting stories this week but first some housekeeping items.
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Alright on to the news:
A recent survey by International Artist Organisation - IAO, encompassing over 9,500 artists across 19 European countries, reveals that 69.1% of musicians are dissatisfied with the payments they receive from streaming services. Interestingly, this is an improvement from 2022, when a whopping 87% expressed dissatisfaction. The slight uptick in satisfaction is attributed to increased payouts from digital service providers (DSPs) and new EU regulations ensuring fairer payments to artists.
While the improvement is a positive sign, the fact that a significant majority of artists are still unhappy highlights the ongoing struggle for fair compensation in the streaming era. For independent artists, this dissatisfaction continues to underscore the importance of diversifying your income streams. Relying solely on streaming revenue is risky, so consider other avenues like licensing, brand partnerships, and merchandise. It’s interesting that this finding seems to fly in the face of the overall vibes and conversations that many are having at industry conferences. I’d love to see a version of this study replicated in the US and Worldwide.
The new EU regulations, such as the right to appropriate remuneration and contract adjustments, are steps in the right direction, but there seems to be a gap in education about them amongst artists and even many small indie labels. If you're an indie artist in Europe, it's crucial to stay informed about these rights and how they can benefit you. Knowledge is power, and understanding your entitlements can help you negotiate better deals and ensure fairer compensation for your hard work.
Spotify is introducing a new "Basic" plan at $10.99 per month, which focuses solely on music streaming, excluding audiobooks. This move comes after criticism form National Music Publishers' Association, Sony Music Entertainment, and quite honestly the entire publishing industry, that bundling audiobooks with music negatively impacted songwriter compensation. Existing Premium subscribers will still have access to audiobooks, while new users can choose between the music-only Basic plan or the standard Premium plan that includes audiobooks for $11.99 per month.
This unbundling is a small win for musicians and songwriters who felt shortchanged by the previous model. Independent artists should see this as a positive step towards ensuring their music receives its fair share of revenue and signals that collective action and speaking up against streaming giants can create positive—albeit modest—improvements for the independent community.
However, the broader issue of fair compensation in bundled services remains top of mind for many of us in the industry. Users already on the premium plan will be grandfathered into a “bundled” service and research suggests that it’s unlikely that most subscribers will make a change to their monthly subscriptions. As the debate continues, indie artists and labels must continue advocating for fairness in streaming models. Consider joining trade groups if you can or speaking out in support of increased payment rates on social media.
AI music companies Suno and Udio are facing lawsuits from the major labels Sony, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group for allegedly using copyrighted music to train their AI models without authorization. The Recording Industry Association of America® (RIAA), a trade organization that represents recorded music companies is leading the charge, claiming that these AI-generated songs compete directly with copyrighted material, potentially undermining the market for original works.
This lawsuit marks a significant moment in the intersection of AI and music. For independent artists, the rise of AI-generated music and AI-powered tools presents both opportunities and challenges. On one hand, AI tools can assist in the creative process, offering new ways to experiment and produce music. On the other hand, the unauthorized use of copyrighted material for AI training raises serious ethical and legal concerns. Especially when those models are used to generate low-quality music that could compete with high-quality artists, saturate the market, take revenue from royalty pools, and generally make music created by humans harder to find.
If you're an indie artist or label, it's crucial to stay informed about these developments and understand your rights. Protect your work by registering your copyrights and staying vigilant about how your music is used. Embrace AI as a tool, but advocate for ethical practices that respect and compensate human creativity. Consider partnering with responsible AI developers to explore innovative collaborations that benefit all parties involved.
That's it for this month's Indie Insider! I hope you found these updates as interesting as I did. As always, I'm here to connect and discuss these topics further. Feel free to reach out with your thoughts, questions, or just to chat.
