[ENG.] Streaming subscription prices will soar, but to whose benefit?

Cet article est bien sûr également disponible en français sur www.couacs.info

The Majors seem to be pleased that streaming service subscription prices are on the rise, and that this trend is set to continue.

In fact, even before the implementation of the disastrous Franco-French streaming tax to finance the Centre National de la Musique the major streaming services, starting with Spotify, recently announced increases in their subscription prices.

However, as I explained earlier, the increase in the platforms' revenues always remunerates the rights holders on a pro rata basis; in other words, the additional money collected from subscribers, far from going into the pockets of the services for their development, goes first into those of the rights holders and only then, and to a lesser extent, into the platforms' revenues.

These future increases in the revenues of rights holders, if achieved without prior reform of the distribution of revenues for minority repertoires, i.e. cultural repertoires :

• through new subscription options

• and the simultaneous implementation of a…