On October 16, a webinar entitled “Recently Introduced Rights for Artists” took place, organised by IAO, AEPO-ARTIS and the author of the Streams and Dreams (part 2) report, Daniel Johansson. This event provided a platform to present the findings of the report, which explored the implementation and effectiveness of new rights for musicians introduced in the DSM directive and was attended by musicians from almost all countries covered in the report.
Over 9,500 musicians from 19 member states participated in the survey leading to the publication of the report. In addition to presenting an overview of the EU wide situation, the report contains an appendix containing country specific findings for each of those countries.
The session opened with introductions by AEPO-ARTIS and IAO, setting out the work they do aiming at improving life for musicians in the current streaming ecosystem. It was explained that it was clear that many artists were not fully benefiting from the rights afforded by the DSM directive and that was what had prompted the need for the “Streams and Dreams Part 2” report, i.e. to provide actual evidence of this widely held belief.
Following the introduction, Daniel Johansson presented the survey findings, detailing the report’s methodology and its analysis of specific articles in the directive. He highlighted that, while article 18 of the DSM directive mandates appropriate and proportionate remuneration, there remains an overwhelming lack of satisfaction with streaming revenue. The survey results also indicate the very low usage of articles 19-22 and that many musicians still lack formal contracts entirely. It was acknowledged that some musicians do have positive relations with their record label, but the overwhelming majority do not.
AEPO-ARTIS addressed the current political and practical landscape for the directive’s implementation. The discrepancies in implementation across Europe were referred to. It was pointed out that while most countries had opted for a copy/paste approach, some countries had taken a more targeted approach.
The Croatian implementation was referred to which directly addressed one element shown in the study i.e. that the vast majority of studio musicians had never signed a contract. This has put record labels on the defensive and forced them to negotiate with our Croatian member on account of the labels’ inability to show that they have the contractual right to make available numerous recordings.
Issues around transparency and contract adjustment were also discussed, in particular, the fact that major labels claim that they already comply with the transparency provisions and that independent labels support the introduction of a minimum digital royalty.
The event concluded with a Q&A session, where presenters addressed a wide range of questions submitted by participants. The event was recorded and since it took place in English, we are in the process of adding subtitles in a number of other languages, after which we will make it available to you.
