Select committee: Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee

Fifth Report - Economics of music streaming: follow-up

HC 874 Published 13 January 2023

Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee Economics of music streaming: follow-up Report on parliament.uk ↗

At a glance2 recommendations and 2 conclusions · Government response published 27 March 2023 (deadline 13 March 2023)

The government's response

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The government sets out progress on transparency, metadata and research into copyright changes, says it is considering performers' rights and remuneration, and will publish a Sector Vision for the creative industries "in the coming months".

On working group transparency, the government says it "will also soon publish agendas and minutes" for the transparency working group, and agendas for the metadata working group, as no minutes were taken for those meetings.
It says the draft metadata agreement has been shared with industry, and that once the outputs are "finalised among industry" the Government "will publish them".
On remuneration and performer rights, the government "is considering its approach" and "will take a decision on these matters in due course", having deferred detailed conversations while research was ongoing.
On a more strategic approach to creative industries policy, it "recognises the importance" of this and says the Sector Vision, developed with all relevant departments, will set out a "living policy framework".

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error

What the committee recommended 4

1
In welcoming these announcements, the Committee would like to see evidence of the amount of... Conclusion · paragraph 5
2
We commend the Government and Intellectual Property Office (IPO) for their work in commissioning and... Recommendation · paragraph 12
3
The current approach to cultural policymaking by Government is too scatter-gun to be effective, particular... Recommendation · paragraph 16
4
We will continue to monitor developments in the sector as the music streaming market matures... Conclusion · paragraph 20

Sources

Fifth Report - Economics of music streaming: follow-up ↗The committee's report, HC 874, parliament.uk
Eighth Special Report - Economics of music streaming: follow-up: Government Response to the Committee’s Fifth Report ↗The government's response, 27 March 2023, parliament.uk

Recommendations and conclusions 4

1
In welcoming these announcements, the Committee would like to see evidence of the amount of... Conclusion · paragraph 5 · addressed to Department for Culture, Media and Sport Conclusion (the committee's words)
In welcoming these announcements, the Committee would like to see evidence of the amount of consequential royalties that are now being distributed by all three Major rights holding groups, and request that they each provide this information to us.
2
We commend the Government and Intellectual Property Office (IPO) for their work in commissioning and... Recommendation · paragraph 12 · addressed to Department for Culture, Media and Sport Recommendation (the committee's words)
We commend the Government and Intellectual Property Office (IPO) for their work in commissioning and convening further research, industry contact group meetings and the two working groups on contract transparency and metadata. However, we believe that there is room for improvement regarding the scope and practice of the groups. We recommend that the IPO, at minimum, ensure that there is greater transparency around the groups by ensuring that its memberships, agendas and deadlines are made public and that the groups have reporting functions at reasonable, practical intervals (e.g., at certain milestones or on conclusion of negotiations). We also hope that Ministers and departmental officials will take a more active role in the groups where appropriate, particularly where negotiations become deadlocked or deadlines are missed. We also recommend that the IPO continue to build on the current momentum and good-faith engagement by all parties in the process by establishing working groups on remuneration and performer rights to consider the current evidence base and monitor developments in other countries in these areas.
3
The current approach to cultural policymaking by Government is too scatter-gun to be effective, particular... Recommendation · paragraph 16 · addressed to Department for Culture, Media and Sport Recommendation (the committee's words)
The current approach to cultural policymaking by Government is too scatter-gun to be effective, particular in comparison to other successful countries with whom we are competing for market share. We recommend that the Government take a more strategic approach to policymaking regarding cultural production and the creative industries. Responsibilities are dispersed across too many departments, which has created persistent issues, including in international trade, visas and the ongoing skills shortage. This could be addressed by DCMS more regularly setting the overall direction by publishing its overall strategy (with reference to specific disciplines, including music, film and television, theatre, etc), with tangible, measurable outcomes, at more regular intervals, that the work of various departments and arm’s length bodies can then work in concert to implement. We also recommend that part of this work should revisit Creative Industries Forums with other markets, including South Korea, and ensure these lead to tangible outcomes that re-energise the commercial collaboration with our most important overseas partners.
4
We will continue to monitor developments in the sector as the music streaming market matures... Conclusion · paragraph 20 · addressed to Department for Culture, Media and Sport Conclusion (the committee's words)
We will continue to monitor developments in the sector as the music streaming market matures and as new technologies emerge.