IMPALA Responds To The Deezer/UMG Artist-Centric Streaming Announcement

BRUSSELS, Belgium (CelebrityAccess) — Following last week’s announcement that Deezer and Universal Music Group plan to launch an “artist-centric” streaming model to reconfigure royalty distributions, IMPALA, the European indie label trade association has expressed some concerns about the plan.
According to IMPALA, concerns raised by the organization’s membership include the potential negative impacts for the indie label community, which, according to IMPALA, accounts for 80% of new releases.
IMPALA also raised concerns that the UMG/Deezer plan was developed “in a vacuum” without meaningful input from stakeholders across the independent sector, noting that without agreement from all participants, the new system would be challenging to implement outside of UMG repertoire.
Along with their concerns, IMPALA praised several aspects of the UMG/Deezer plan, including its focus on fighting streaming, which diverts revenue away from artists and creators.
“We appreciate Deezer’s commitment to improve the streaming market. It will be interesting to see the modelling and understand if this has been discussed with other stakeholders, as well as with regulators. The gap between bigger and less streamed artists should be addressed and our plan sets out a number of different ways to achieve that. If Deezer’s approach were to create a two-tier market that would have a negative impact on our members, that would not be good for diversity,” stated IMPALA’s Executive Chair Helen Smith.
“More debate is needed on this vital question and we look forward to further discussions to clarify the specifics of the Deezer proposal and its potential impact on the music ecosystem before commenting further. In the meantime, it can only apply to UMG repertoire unless or until other licensors were to agree, and we invite all interested parties to read IMPALA’s plan and let us have their views,” Smith added.