Hi there -

It feels like there is a crossover point of a sort around two news items today. First comes the revelation that PRS is now suing the company responsible for the highly successful Dua Lipa livestream, regarding lack of licences.

This whole space has been a contentious one, largely due to the oddly high tariff PRS elected to place on live streams; between 8% and 17%, when an in-person show would be around 4%. To a layperson, that does feel strangely inconsistent and has certainly prompted protests from various artist managers. 

Now consider the DCMS committee streaming inquiry follow-up that was published this morning. In it, one comment was that the UK Govt needs  “a more strategic approach to policymaking regarding cultural production and the creative industries", a point seemingly universally agreed upon by all those contributing both for and against intervention around streaming royalties.

To me, this latter point maybe speaks to the PRS issue. Evidently these different areas of the music industry are too disconnected now, complicating matters and only generating in-fighting within different factions of this business.

Could that be resolved? In principle, absolutely. In practice, my cynical side thinks that this Government has only proven itself terminally inept, such that expecting swingeing changes to policy in this space may be optimistic.

If that is the case though - and I would argue that objectively, it really is - then it points the finger back to the industry itself. We need to be creating opportunities, exploring new paths and establishing ways in which all stakeholders get paid fairly. Hell, even the chairman of Universal Music is saying as much.

At the risk of sounding like an old hippy then, where are the moves for the music industry to fix itself? Should we wait for government intervention? I don't think so. There's every opportunity for more collaboration, more common sense conversation and more unification around a common concept - namely, bringing value back to music as a cultural commodity and export.

If Lucian Grainge is so keen to see fundamental changes in how artists are remunerated, perhaps he can lead the charge on this.

Have a great weekend,

D. 

🎶 written whilst listening to Bicep's "Isles" album. This record is a comfort listen for me. When times get generally testing, it's good to have something that pushes you along whilst lifting you up. Isles does that. I can't wait for their next album.