Changing the beat on how music is valued
Music is omnipresent. While it tends to take centre stage at concerts, clubs and karaoke nights, it also provides the soundtrack of some of the most mundane aspects of life – elevator trips, browsing at shopping malls and waiting at the dentist office, to name but a few places where music tends to play in the background. But what is the value of this background music? That’s the question the EU-funded Music360(opens in new window) project wanted to answer. “Rights holders like performers and authors are paid for the use of their music based on the principle of fair renumeration, however the definition of what’s fair is largely open to interpretation,” says Jaap Gordijn, a researcher at VU Amsterdam(opens in new window), the project’s coordinating partner. According to Gordijn, the idea of fair renumeration should reflect the value that the music brings to the user. “Our goal is to calculate what that value is, thus ensuring that the rights holder receives fair compensation for their work,” he adds.
The value of music played in different settings
To achieve this goal, the project conducted a series of living labs in Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. The labs allowed researchers to study the economical, societal and therapeutic value of music played in different settings. Using a fully decentralised software platform, they were able to collect data about the use of music and the effect the music had on, for example, sales, employees or patients. Based on this information, the project was able to better convey the value music has to performers, authors, users and policymakers. It also allowed researchers to identify whether the same individual is both a performer and an author, as well as relate recordings to the underlying musical work. “The net result is an international portal where users can view the value of their recordings in the role of performer and/or author in a fully integrated, easy-to-use way,” explains Gordijn.
Ensuring that rights holders are fairly compensated for their work
Now that researchers have a way to understand the actual value music brings to different stakeholders, the project is confident the music industry can take steps to ensure rights holders are fairly compensated for their work. “In the world of generative AI, this becomes even more important, as a large database of recordings and works is now being used to create new pieces without compensating the original rights holder,” concludes Gordijn. The project is currently in conversation with SCAPR(opens in new window), the global body for collective management organisations handling performer rights, and CISAC(opens in new window), the worldwide body for collective management organisations dealing with author rights, about utilising the Music360 decentralised platform.
