The Value of Music
The music industry is in a flux as music becomes more an more accessible through the internet. While some artists values the internet as a marketing tool, pirating and free music has made people question the true value of music and what kind of compensation the musicians are getting for their work. One such musician in a blog post shares how he makes much less money from online streaming than radio.
Another side to this issue is that online music subscription services such as Pandora and Spotify have not been profitable because they cannot make enough revenue from subscriptions and advertising to pay royalty fees. Most recently, Pandora won a lawsuit against the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), who where trying to prevent Pandora from licensing songs so that they could renegotiate higher royalty fees. So far, Pandora has focused on increasing the revenue by allowing for more advertising. However, I think this is a short term solution, and they will have to alter their business model in order to counter the higher royalty fees once their contract with ASCAP expires and they renegotiate.
“Court Gives a Victory to Pandora Over Licensing Streaming Music,” New York Times, accessed Sept. 20, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/19/business/media/court-gives-a-victory-to-pandora-over-licensing-streaming-music.html
“Pandora and Spotify Rake In the Money and Then Send It Off in Royalties,” New York Times, accessed Sept. 20, 2013, http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/24/pandora-and-spotify-rake-in-the-money-and-then-send-it-off-in-royalties/?_r=0
Picture: “Internet Music – How Are You Listening?” Compete.com, accessed Sept. 20, 2013, https://blog.compete.com/2012/04/12/internet-music-how-are-you-listening/