Music Streaming: German Artists want „Fair Share“

Up to now, music streaming services have been distributing shares according to the number of streams. This gives particularly popular artists a disproportionately high share compared to newcomers or niche genres. Not only do they have a particularly large number of fans, but they are also streamed by them very often – often in an endless loop as background music. In addition, this billing model allows manipulations through computer-generated mass retrievals. In a "Fair Share" initiative, numerous prominent German musicians are now demanding that the income should be distributed according to the user-centric model. Here, the number of listeners is decisive, not the number of streams. The share of the subscription fee of a user who streams the songs of artists A, B and C as part of his monthly flat rate would only be divided between artists A, B and C, regardless of what and how many other users stream. This model, which also gives newcomers a chance, is being promoted by established musicians – ones who actually benefit from the previous model – including Helene Fischer, Marius Müller-Westernhagen, Sarah Connor, Herbert Grönemeyer and Peter Maffay. The Deezer streaming service had already introduced the user-centered model last year. However, everyone involved would have to agree on this model. According to the Fair Share initiative, music companies are now called upon to act as a link between artists and streaming services.