Will we soon see links to Soundcloud, rather than to Deezer or Spotify?
The German platform has just announced a new system of remuneration for artists, based on the number of listenings rather than the share of total listenings.
This is the first time that the “user centric” model has been adopted by a platform, in a context where many artists deplored the “market centric”, which reigns supreme.
“This is a demand that has been coming back for years in the industry.
We are happy to be the first to bring this innovation to support artists, ”said Michael Weissman, Managing Director of Soundcloud, to AFP.
Until now, the operation of music streaming platforms has been simple: a subscriber who pays 10 euros per month sees a large part of this sum migrate to the most listened to artists.
Concretely, this “market centric” system favors the big stars like Drake or Ariana Grande, to the detriment of the smaller ones who only collect crumbs.
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At Soundcloud, this new system will be available from April 1 for artists who monetize their creations using the Soundcloud Premier, Repost by Soundcloud or Repost Select services.
In total, “nearly 100,000 independent artists” around the world are affected by this change of method, out of the 30 million present on the platform.
French artists in particular should be the big winners of this change: they would see the total amount paid to them collectively increase by nearly 25%.
At the end of January, the National Music Center (CNM) estimated, in a study carried out by the firm Deloitte (on data from Deezer and Spotify only), that changing the distribution system of musical platforms, from the common pot to listening per artist, would have little impact on the remuneration of currently marginalized musicians and would have the main effect of stabilizing the “middle of the ranking”.
Another interesting element of this study, a change in remuneration would generate much greater musical diversity: royalties would increase by + 24% for classical music, + 22% for hard rock, 18% for blues.
Conversely, “mainstream” music such as rap would see their royalty drop by 21%.
"Compensation increases significantly"
“Things are moving a lot in the streaming world, that's a good thing.
Now we will have to see precisely what this will change for artists, ”reacted CNM boss Jean-Philippe Thiellay.
On the side of the British Academy of Songwriters, which is currently leading a campaign demanding fairer remuneration for artists, we welcome the announcement of Soundcloud.
“When you switch to a
market-centric
system
, the remuneration of artists who have an audience increases significantly,” explains its chairman Crispin Hunt.
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“The basic principle of every market is that the more new customers you attract, the more your income increases.
Remuneration of artists based on listening time is precisely based on this idea, ”continues Crispin Hunt.
It remains to be seen whether other music streaming platforms will follow this model.
