Appeal by the German professional music associations
In a joint appeal, the German professional associations of composers (DKV), lyricists (DTV) and music publishers (DMV) criticize the "completely inappropriate mini-licenses" of streaming services. They are calling for a higher share of the revenue from internet music services.
They also criticize "a lack of transparency in the settlements" and speak of discrimination against creative services on the music market. With this appeal, the German professional music associations are joining the demands of the worldwide International Council of Authors in Music Collecting Societies (CIAM) that after a deduction of 20 percent of streaming revenues for the music services, the remaining 80 percent should be distributed equally, i.e. 40 percent to labels and artists on the one hand and 40 percent to authors and publishers on the other.
According to the appeal, the 15 largest steaming services such as Apple, Spotify, Deezer, Napster and Wimp generated sales of over 100 million euros in Germany in the first half of 2015 alone, according to the music industry. 2.5 million Germans already use monthly subscriptions for 9 to 10 euros. In three years, market researchers expect 12 million streaming customers in Germany alone. On the global market, the use of paid subscription services for music is growing by almost 40 percent and accounts for 23 percent of the digital market.
In over 37 countries around the world, the share of streaming is already greater than the share of downloads. For composers, lyricists, music publishers and artists too, this could turn into a million-dollar grave, because although streaming services are taking millions of euros worldwide, they are not giving creatives a fair share. The largest share of streaming revenues would be taken by the multinational recording companies, who would often only pass on small portions to their artists.
