Ever since the emergence of music streaming platforms like Spotify and Soundcloud, people find it really easy to browse through millions of songs and find ones they like from artists they enjoy listening to.
This has revolutionized the digital audio era, making a wide variety of tracks cheap and accessible to the masses, resulting in a profound digital transformation that has created the need for strict rules and regulations to protect the music producer and artists’ rights due to claims of copyright infringement.
Copyright infringement prevents people from posting others’ music as their own since it is unfair to the rightsholders not to capitalize on sales if their music is being made accessible through sketchy platforms.
Let’s explore music streaming and copyright protection in more detail.
The Emergence of Music Streaming
The digital revolution has changed the music industry completely since streaming has reduced the need for the physical distribution of CDs and LPs, providing opportunities for artists and musicians to make their songs and albums available on various streaming platforms for public consumption.
However, there has also been a rise in unlicensed streaming and music piracy, costing the music industry in a variety of ways and creating the need for licenses to give the rights back to artists and music producers.
The ability to stream music online requires artists to work in alignment with streaming services that require recording licenses and royalty fees paid to the relevant authorities and owners, protecting artists from the illegal distribution of their music.
All of the legitimate streaming platforms like Spotify, Tidal, and Apple Music have strict procedures that help them fight against copyright infringement, such as tracking processes for detecting misuse and identifying unlicensed streaming.
There are also strict procedures in place to prevent artists from remixing songs using others’ original recordings, giving music creators the respect they deserve for creating record-breaking songs.
However, even if piracy is detected, many artists do not pursue legal action because their songs may not be as valuable or worth the hassle.
Despite all of the measures taken by streaming platforms to prevent copyright infringement, it is a reality of the music industry that illegal streaming will occur, and there is not much that can be done to eradicate it completely, which is one of the problems that came about from steaming, making it a double-edged sword.
COVID-19 has also played a major role in advancing the digital era because many people have been stuck indoors and increased their consumption of music, driving movements and initiatives granting greater ownership to the relevant parties.
Copyright certificates are mandatory in today’s digital environment, making it possible for producers and record labels to earn the revenue they deserve for music creation.
Final Verdict
There is no doubt that music streaming has been a net plus for the music industry and revolutionized it completely, but there have also been billions of dollars of loss due to music piracy and unlicensed streaming.
However, artists and relevant authorities can take measures to ensure that illegal distribution of their music is kept to a minimum and their rights are protected due to stringent measures taken by streaming services and platforms.
Eric Dalius is The Executive Chairman of MuzicSwipe, a music and content discovery platform designed to maximize artist discovery and optimize fan relationships. In addition, he hosts the weekly podcast “FULLSPEED,” where he interviews innovative entrepreneurs across multiple industries. Eric also established the “Eric Dalius Foundation” to provide four scholarships for US-based students. Connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Entrepreneur.com.
