In the ever-evolving landscape of the music industry, a groundbreaking development is set to revolutionize the way musicians earn from streaming services. Universal Music's recent collaboration with the French streaming giant, Deezer, is poised to reshape the economics of music streaming, with a particular focus on benefiting professional artists. In this blog post, we'll delve into the details of this transformative partnership and its potential to create a fairer playing field for artists.

The Changing Face of Royalties

For over a decade, the way streaming platforms paid royalties to artists remained largely unchanged. However, Universal Music and Deezer are set to challenge the status quo. Under this new approach, professional artists who consistently generate a minimum of 1,000 monthly listens will receive a more substantial share of royalties. This marks a significant departure from the previous model where artists, regardless of stature, earned royalties at the same rate.

Deezer's Unique Perspective

Deezer's CEO aptly described their vast music library, which comprises a staggering 90 million tracks, as sometimes including "noise" rather than music. This distinction forms the core of their new royalty calculation methodology. The goal is simple: to direct royalties away from amateurs, bots, and lesser-played tracks toward recognized and professional musicians.

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Payday for Professional Musicians

Deezer intends to further reward professional musicians by granting them higher royalties when users actively search for their profiles or specific songs. For instance, if you search for an artist like Taylor Swift on Deezer and listen to one of her songs, that single stream would be counted as four streams for royalty calculations. This innovative approach aims to ensure that established artists receive the recognition and compensation they deserve.

The Industry-Wide Impact

Universal Music, the world's largest record company, welcomes this paradigm shift in music streaming economics. The model promises increased revenue not only for Universal and its artists but also for the entire music streaming industry. Labels and artists alike hope that Deezer's innovative approach becomes a template that other streaming services adopt.

The Stakes Are High

Goldman Sachs estimates that the music streaming market will generate a staggering $38 billion in revenue this year. While artists typically earn around $5 for every 1,000 streams, the proliferation of fraudulent uploads and noise tracks has eroded earnings for legitimate musicians. With Deezer's new approach, there's renewed hope for a more equitable distribution of streaming royalties.