Select committee: Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Recommendation 16
Second Report - Economics of music streaming
Published 15 Jul 2021
Paragraph 142
Addressed to Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee Economics of music streaming All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The Government has repeatedly told us that it will not implement in UK law provisions akin to those established by the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market. We accept that the Directive is not a silver bullet to the music industry’s problems, but it is a step in the right direction in terms of protections and rights for rightsholders. The Government should ensure that creators in the UK are not worse served that they would have been had the UK remained in the European Union. As a minimum, the Government should introduce a right for performers (or their representatives) to have sight of the terms of deals where their works are licensed, on request and subject to non-disclosure. There should also be notification requirements, requiring relevant parties to provide clear information and guidance to creators about the terms and structures of every deal where creators’ works are licensed, sold or otherwise made available, and the means and methods by which monies that are being distributed to them are calculated, reported and transferred.
From: Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Second Report - Economics of music streaming (HC 50), paragraph 142, 15 July 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 22 September 2021 (deadline 15 September 2021).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Government welcomes the Committee's report but says "more targeted research and evidence is needed" before it decides action on some issues, and sets out a work programme of contact and working groups and research, with a review in spring 2022.
- On equitable remuneration and new creator rights, the Government says impacts are "difficult to predict" and will assess models, "including through potential legislation", with an update expected in spring 2022.
- On transparency, the Government's view is that the industry "can, and should, seek to fix itself"; an industry-led working group is to report after 6 months, and it "will consider whether legislative intervention is warranted" if the outcome is unsatisfactory.
- It will not take forward the recommendations on publishing royalty chain information or on black box revenues, giving feasibility and existing regulation as its reasons. It also "disagrees" with the recommendation on the Music Export Growth Scheme and a fiscal incentive.
- On the market study, it notes the Committee's concerns and says it is "for the CMA to decide" how to use its resources, while having written to the CMA. It will legislate on the Digital Markets Unit "as soon as Parliamentary time allows".