It can be easy to forget how vital music is in social media. For all the editorial pumped out by the blogosphere and viral videos that do the rounds, nothing is ever going to change the fact that we all like a good tune. So good, you feel compelled to spell it beginning with a Ch. And tell everyone about it. But the musical side of social media has fallen out of time with other branches in recent years, with prohibitive royalty fees and licensing issues grinding innovation to a halt. Luckily, that’s about to change for the better.
A few years ago, everything seemed so rosy for free, legal music online. Last.fm brought in huge audiences and got snapped up by CBS while Pandora started bringing us songs and artists we’d never heard before. Now though, times are tough. Last.fm has been seriously considering charging, Pandora has had to block visitors from the UK, and YouTube has had to pull premium official music videos from its site. Yup, even Google has had its troubles. Startup Spotify has been the only shining light in recent months, with almost every other service feeling like they’ve hit a roadblock.
In the UK at least, that’s been down the Performing Rights Society (PRS), the organisation that collects royalties on behalf of musicians whose songs are played on these outlets and many more. Time and again, we’ve seen that all these companies have been unable to afford the levy it charges: the general consensus has been that the prices charged feel like the PRS extracting a pound of flesh rather than taking what a performer deserves, and that a more reasonable rate would be far better for all involved – even the artists.
Don’t get me wrong: I’d love to see musicians getting more, but there’s no point in higher fees if it means fewer companies can pay them. I’d go so far as to say that the costs involved have stifled innovation in the sector, but luckily, that’s about to change with two major changes looking to get things going again. Firstly the EU monolith has fixed its targets on the music industry, with the Competition Commissioner telling labels et al to sort out licensing online or pay a big price (And we know how the EU likes to dole them out, don’t we Microsoft?). Secondly, the PRS has performed the most magnificent U-Turn since Gordon Brown let the Gurkhas in. I can only assume Joanna Lumley is now campaigning for digital music rights, as the PRS is about to slash its charges per song to under half the price of before.
Now I love Spotify. I love the ability to share playlists on Twitter, Facebook and other social networks. But what I’d love even more are a few good rivals to Spotify popping up to give it a run for its money. Very soon, I hope we’ll have an environment where that’s possible. Anyone know any venture capitalists? I’ve got a few ideas…