By akademiotoelektronik, 29/04/2022
Will SoundCloud (finally) revolutionize streaming?
The German platform has conducted an experiment based on “user-centric service”, a model that could ultimately lead to a fairer redistribution of streaming revenue.
Alongside blockchain, NFTs and artificial intelligence, this is one of the technological applications that is shaking up the music industry: the user-centric streaming service. Praised by many artists who struggle to earn a decent income from streaming but shunned by the streaming juggernaut Spotify, this model of wealth redistribution could allow the most modest professional artists to coexist with the superstars of the industry. who, for the time being, accumulate the vast majority of wealth.
Caste struggle
In this maligned ecosystem, the small thumb of the SoundCloud streaming world (and its paid version, SoundCloud Go) launched in March 2021 an experience based on the user-centric model for around 100,000 artists who monetize their music on the platform.
The principle is simple and is based on a paradigm shift. Gone is the pooling of income from subscriptions or advertising and their redistribution according to the market shares of the artists, hello the direct remuneration of the user to the musicians he or she listens to. Thus, a person who does not stream the songs of superstars like Drake or The Weeknd will not see the money generated by his subscription (or by advertising) falling into already well-filled pockets, but into those of his favorite artists. your.
>> To read also: Streaming platforms and artists: towards fairer remuneration?
Concrete case
On July 8, Bristol-based trip-hop outfit Portishead released a cover of ABBA's SOS to SoundCloud using this new template. Although the company was initially discreet about this user-centric experience, recent results seem to corroborate the idea that such a compensation system could have a real impact: in the space of a month , Portishead's track generated six times more revenue than it would have in the traditional model.
New world ?
Encouraged by this concrete case, SoundCloud has expressed its willingness to continue on this path. As clarified by Pitchfork, a representative of the platform commented: “The model is working as expected and the Portishead stat is confirmation of the design of this model – fan engagement drives significant revenue.” In this configuration, the excuse according to which the use of this functioning would increase the administrative and operational costs of streaming platforms by making the current model more complex then seems very little compared to the possibilities of the user-centric service.
However, this mode of operation is unlikely to radically change the situation according to a study conducted by the National Music Center (CNM) in 2020. With user-centricity, a planetary star like The Weeknd – who benefits from payment at the proportionate to the traditional system used by Spotify and others – would lose 15% of its streaming revenue to other musicians. But only a small proportion of artists present on listening platforms would benefit from this redistribution of earnings: the 10,000 most listened to (all genres combined) would benefit from a significant increase in income while the rest would continue, at the margin, to share the crumbs. No miracle solution therefore, but an alternative to consider.
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