{"id":140503,"date":"2023-09-19T12:42:26","date_gmt":"2023-09-19T16:42:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrityaccess.com\/?p=140503"},"modified":"2023-09-19T13:23:35","modified_gmt":"2023-09-19T17:23:35","slug":"140503","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.celebrityaccess.net\/2023\/09\/19\/140503\/","title":{"rendered":"Streaming\u2019s Problems Will Not Be Fixed By Royalties Alone"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Hypebot<\/a>) —\u00a0After\u00a0Universal and Deezer\u2019s royalty proposal<\/a>\u00a0made headlines, Mark Mulligan of consultancy MIDiA explained that much more needs to be considered to fix the over-arching problems troubling music streaming.<\/p>\n

by\u00a0Mark Mulligan<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>from the Music Industry Blog<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

UMG and Deezer\u2019s artist-centric royalty proposal got the amount of attention both parties probably wanted<\/a>, if not necessarily the type of attention they were after. However, the intent was to kick-start an industry debate, and that objective was clearly achieved. Yet, while the discussion has understandably focused on royalties (as, after all, it is a royalty system), these are more symptom than cause. Streaming royalties are not adding up because streaming is not adding up. Fixing royalties is only part of the solution.<\/p>\n

In the early days of streaming, DSPs provided platforms for\u00a0listening\u00a0<\/strong>to music. Over time they have become places for\u00a0consuming<\/strong> audio. As streaming mainstreamed, its role as successor to retail became subsumed by its role as music radio\u2019s replacement. Passive playlists, lean-back listening, functional music, and \u2018noise\u2019 are a series of inevitable second-order consequences, as streaming chases the needs of consumers, following the behavioral data. All in stark contrast to when radio programmers and digital store managers chose what consumers got. In those days, it was a case of the public wants what the public gets, now the public gets what the public wants.<\/a>\u00a0The problem is that what the public wants creates a system that neither creators nor rightsholders want. Consumers have, at least in part, chosen this path.<\/p>\n

Perhaps, as Steve Jobs was fond of saying,\u00a0\u201cit\u2019s not the customer\u2019s job to know what they want<\/a>\u201d\u00a0<\/em>or as Henry Ford (may or may not have) said\u00a0\u201cif I had asked my customers what they wanted they would have said a faster horse\u201d<\/a><\/em>. But whether you believe consumer choice should shape product strategy or not, consumer-led innovation is the defining characteristic of today\u2019s digital world. This means that any innovation that looks to push against prevailing behavior risks can alienate the very customer base that the system depends upon. So how do we square the proverbial circle?<\/p>\n

Solutions must understand the audience\u2019s needs<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Many years ago, my former employer,\u00a0Forrester Research<\/a>,\u00a0devised the fantastic\u00a0POST framework<\/a>\u00a0for defining product strategy:<\/p>\n