Introducing our guests: Ros Lynch (Intellectual Property Office, London)

In the 10th anniversary Vienna Music Business Research Days on the “Future of the Music Business” at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (Anton-von-Webern-Platz 1, 1030 Vienna/Austria) music business researchers and music business professionals look into the recent past of the music industry to learn more about its future. Find the program here.

Ros Lynch of the Intellectual Property Office (IPO, London) is one of our panelist in the discussion on “The Future of Music Copyright” at mdw’s Joseph Haydn-Hall on Sep. 13th from 10:00-11:00 with Karl Ryan (Government Affairs and Public Policy, Google UK), Cliff Fluet (Lewis Silkin LLP, London, UK) and Steve Stewart (vezt, Los Angeles, USA) moderated by Sally Gross (University of Westminster, London, UK).

Ros joined the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) in February 2014 as Director of Copyright and IP Enforcement. As Director, Ros leads the work to shape the direction of policy and operational work in copyright and enforcement, ensuring that the UK legal framework is up-to-date and fit for purpose. The role also involves extensive international engagement both within and outside Europe. She holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Hull and is the co-author of the report ‘Copyright Works’ with Richard Hooper CBE which recommended measures aimed at streamlining copyright licensing in the digital age.

 

 

 

 

 

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Spotify goes public – an economic background analysis

April 3^rd 2018 is a historic moment in the digitized music industry, when the Swedish music streaming company Spotify is listed at the New York Stock Exchange. Spotify’s stock exchange listing is not just a touchstone for the music streaming service’s business model, but for the entire recorded music industry that is back on a path of growth. Spotify is the darling of the big music industry players. It provides a legal business model that can be monetized by hefty advances and royalty payments. This allowed the music majors and the indie label licensing agency MERLIN to become Spotify’s shareholders in return for advance payments Spotiy could not afford. Sony Music Entertainment’s Spotify stake of 5.7 percent (Spotify 2018: 148) e.g. is worth US $500m to 1.3bn.[1] The following analysis highlights Spotify’s success story, but also outlines potential risks of going public. It also analysis who benefits from Spotify’s stock exchange listing and assesses the impact on the music streaming market.

Is Streaming the Next Big Thing? – The Labels’ Perspective

The Beggars Group chairman, Martin Mills, recently told the Guardian that “(…) 22% of the label group’s digital revenues came from streaming – and that the majority of its artists earn more now from track streams than track downloads” in 2012. Though the article does not report absolute figures, the revenue can be considered rather high with a roster including Adele, Jack White and The xx.

A member survey of the global rights agency Merlin representing more than 20,000 indie labels including Beggars Group/XL Recordings, Rough Trade, Naïve, Tommy Boy, Cooking Vinyl and Naxos unveils that “92% of respondents saw streaming and subscription revenues grow between 2011 and 2012, with a third enjoying increases of more than 100%” as recently reported by Musicweek. The same study shows that 24% of indies across the world and 30% of European indies generated more income from streaming than downloads in 2012.

These figures suggest that music streaming seems to be a promising revenue source for record labels. In the following the economic potential of music streaming and the underlying business model are analysed from the record labels’ perspective.