The Copyright Environment of the Modern Streaming Industry with Financial Analysis

The Copyright Environment of the Modern Streaming Industry with Financial Analysis

Randle Thompson

Abstract

The birth of streaming has not only changed the way the recording industry is paid for their works but has also allowed new forms of piracy to persist. The music industry claims that large UGC sites such as YouTube are exploiting a value gap created by safe harbor provisions created before music streaming became the primary source of music consumption. This value gap seems more apparent with music being the most consumed form of content on their platform. While the music industry is attempting to extract more revenue from digital sound recordings through EU Directive on Copyright they have also lobbied to increase the statutory mechanical rates paid on the publishing side to publishers, songwriters and performing rights organizations through a ruling by the Copyright Royalty Board and modified the rate setting formula among other things outlined after a multi-year fight culminating in the passage of the Music Modernization Act. These legal battles have far reaching effects and I will attempt to shed light on their industry impact as well as calculate the potential financial impact of the CRBs rate increase on Spotify’s financial statements and the piracy effects on a large UK indie label, Beggars Group. This analysis will serve to further determine the need for this legislation.

Publication Date

7-1-2019

Campus

Valencia (Spain) Campus

Comments

Project Components: one reflection paper.

The Copyright Environment of the Modern Streaming Industry with Financial Analysis

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