音乐经济学:流媒体vs. CD销售——更深入的观察

近年来，a 叙事出现了 pitting 流媒体 services against traditional music sales, particularly CDs and vinyl. Social media posts often circulate claiming that a single CD sale is worth hundreds of hours of 流媒体 for an artist. 虽然这些比较可能很引人注目, they often oversimplify a complex ecosystem and misdirect artists' frustrations. 本文旨在揭示音乐版税的错综复杂之处, 挑战常见的误解，突出真正的问题.

流媒体版税难题

乍一看，流媒体版税似乎微不足道. 根据… 英国知识产权局2021年的报告, Spotify 支付在0美元之间.003和$0.每个流平均为005. Apple Music支付的费用约为0美元.每流01元. These figures appear to support the narrative that 流媒体 undervalues music. 然而, this perspective fails to account for the full picture of how royalties are distributed.

流媒体服务并不直接向艺人付费. Instead, they pay rights holders, which include record labels, publishers, and collecting societies. These entities then distribute the royalties to artists based on their contracts and the prevailing royalty systems.

收藏协会的作用

收藏协会，也被称为表演权组织(pro)，在音乐产业中扮演着至关重要的角色. 他们为音乐的公开演出收取并分配版税, 包括广播剧, 现场表演, 现在, 流媒体. Major PROs include ASCAP and BMI in the United States, PRS for Music in the UK, and GEMA in Germany.

These organizations serve an important function, but they’re not without criticism. 2021年的一项研究音乐经理人论坛 found that collecting societies typically distribute only 60–80% of the royalties they collect. 其余部分用于运营成本, with the interest earned on held funds often covering a significant portion of these expenses.

这个系统产生了几个问题:

延迟支付: 版税可能需要几个月甚至几年才能到达艺术家手中.
缺乏透明度: The complex web of rights and royalty calculations is often opaque to artists.
不准确的地理分布: Many PROs use sampling methods based on radio and TV play to estimate royalty distribution, 哪一种会偏袒知名艺术家，并歪曲实际的流媒体数据.

CD销量vs. 流”谬论

The viral posts comparing CD sales to 流媒体 often ignore several crucial factors:

直销vs. 权限管理: 当艺人直接销售CD时, 他们经常绕过复杂的权限管理系统, 可能会保留更大的收入份额. 这并不是与流媒体的同类比较, 在哪里所有的权利都必须得到解释和支付.
长期价值: A CD sale is a one-time transaction, while a popular song can generate 流媒体 revenue for years.
全球影响力: 流媒体服务 provide access to a global audience that physical sales could never match.
较低的进入门槛: Streaming platforms have dramatically reduced the cost and difficulty of distributing music, 让更多的艺术家不需要厂牌的支持就能接触到观众.

根据… 国家经济研究局2020年的报告, the shift to 流媒体 has led to a 5% increase in the number of new artists entering the market each year.

流媒体服务:潜在的盟友，而不是敌人

与他们作为剥削实体的形象相反, 流媒体 services have expressed interest in more direct and transparent royalty systems. 例如，Spotify推出了它的 “大声&清楚”倡议在2021年提高其特许权使用费制度的透明度.

流媒体服务拥有高度精确的播放数据, 如果直接实施，这将彻底改变版税分配. 然而, legal constraints and the entrenched power of PROs prevent this more efficient system from being realized.

A 媒体研究公司2022年的研究 found that if Spotify were to pay artists directly based on individual user listening, it could increase payouts to smaller artists by up to 25% while reducing payments to top artists by a similar margin.

真正的瓶颈:过时的版权管理

当前的权限管理系统, 由专业人士和大唱片公司主导, 是前数字时代的遗迹吗. It’s built on estimations and sampling methods that made sense for radio and physical sales but are ill-suited to the precision of digital 流媒体./

主要问题包括:

低效率的分布: 伯克利法律中心2019年的一项研究 & 科技发现，高达25%的特许权使用费是 “黑箱”钱—unattributed funds that often end up distributed based on market share rather than actual plays.
缺乏创新: PROs have been slow to adopt new technologies that could improve accuracy and speed of payments.
利益冲突: 专业人士通常同时代表出版商和词曲作者, 这会导致版税分配的潜在冲突.
全球分裂: 不同的国家有不同的收藏协会, 使国际版税征收和分配复杂化.

直接许可和区块链的承诺

新兴技术和商业模式提供了潜在的解决方案:

直接许可: Some artists and labels are bypassing traditional PROs to license their music directly to 流媒体 services. 这可以导致更快的付款和更透明的会计.
区块链技术: Several startups are exploring blockchain-based rights management systems that could provide real-time, 透明的版税计算和分配.

A 德勤2021年报告 suggested that blockchain could reduce rights management costs in the music industry by up to 50% and increase the speed of royalty payments by orders of magnitude.

未来之路

To create a fairer, more efficient music ecosystem, several changes are necessary:

现代化的优点: 压力pro采用更准确, technology-driven distribution methods based on actual play data rather than estimations.
增加透明度: Demand greater transparency from all parties involved in royalty collection and distribution.
探索直接授权: Support initiatives that allow for more direct relationships between artists and platforms.
投资新技术: Encourage the development and adoption of blockchain and other technologies that can streamline rights management.
教育艺术家: Promote better understanding among artists about how the royalty system works and where the real inefficiencies lie.
监管改革: Push for updates to copyright law and regulations that reflect the realities of the digital music ecosystem.

结论

n将流媒体服务与艺术家对立起来的说法过度简化是否有害. 诚然，许多艺术家都在努力靠音乐谋生, 根本原因比低的每流速率要复杂得多.

The real challenge lies in modernizing an outdated rights management system that was never designed for the digital age. 流媒体服务, 凭借他们精确的游戏数据和全球影响力, could potentially be powerful allies in creating a more equitable music industry.

而不是在CD销售和流媒体之间进行误导性的比较, the music community would be better served by focusing on the systemic issues within rights management and pushing for meaningful reform. 这包括要求专业人员提高透明度, 支持区块链等创新技术进行版权管理, and advocating for regulatory changes that reflect the realities of modern music consumption.

通过解决这些核心问题, we can work towards a music industry that fairly compensates artists while embracing the global reach and accessibility that 流媒体 provides. 音乐的未来不在于回归旧模式, 而是在重新想象我们如何在数字时代重视和补偿创造力.

我正在继续收集有关这一主题的数据. If you’re an artist and you would be willing to share your 信息 on royalties for 流媒体 and physical media, 请把它寄到dom[at]id3as.co.uk