EU urges music industry to change online rights
EU antitrust regulators have told the music industry that it needs to change the way it licenses music online in Europe.
The Commission says that online music sales in Europe lag behind those in the US because licensing is handled separately in each country, meaning that online stores are unable to introduce one store and pricing model that caters for all European countries.
Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said: “There is a clear willingness expressed by major players in the online distribution of music in Europe to tackle the many barriers which prevent consumers from fully benefiting from the opportunities that the Internet provides.”
Kroes said that regulators’ talks with EMI and French music copyright group SACEM had been promising and both were now willing to license their music across Europe, but urged the industry as a whole “to move quickly to adapt their licensing solutions to the online environment.” She added that regulators will be reviewing progress, which suggests that the EU is considering action against rights holders if they don’t offer more flexible licensing terms.
Last July, the Commission found 24 European collecting societies – music publishers and copyright groups – guilty of breaking EU antitrust rules, but interestingly didn’t impose any fines at the time.
Apple has also said it would be willing to offer the music it sells to all European customers if it could obtain EU-wide rights for it, but some artists have complained that they may lose out on royalties from increased sales if current licensing agreements are changed.
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Discuss in the forums ReplyBecause Bono doesn't make enough?
Artists, like game developers, deserve there money. However, I fail to imagine a business model that would so nerf their royalties that they fall into bankruptcy (or even middle-class citizen).
$0.02
I've been expressing my opinion about this for quite some YEARS. Yeah years. And I think I'm not alone in this. This ONE of the main issues we have here in Europe. And one of the major reasons behind piracy. Yeah piracy. Why? The current business model that obviously many in the industry want to maintain is EXTINCT. People want to get stuff quickly and without hassle without region imposed restrictions. We have a tool called the internet where everything can converge, but yet many in the world want to keep it fractured. Guess what industry experts. Your customers are out there. And instead of you investing on getting the means for fast and quality delivery of your products to them, you worry about college teenagers building pirate networks. Get this straight, when I HEAR my buddies in the US talk about the latest Heroes episode I want to see it, but the stupid thing is I CAN'T. I got the money to rent it. Got the connection to watch it online. I'm willing to watch ads and all that. But I'm restricted by my localization. I want to rent movies on Netflix. No can do. I want easy access to ALL the albums in iTunes despite territory. And guess what. Not possible. I want to buy games online straight to my PC. Sorry but that service is not available in your region.
And even if I do try hard to get what I can I still have to deal with issues such as. Credit card verification where you're buying a product in X country but your CC is from Y country. I want Full-HD movies streamed straight at home with great visual quality and nice features. I don't want to be pushed into going to the theaters because unfortunately NOT EVERYONE likes the movies that I like. So I eighter go alone, or I DON'T. Thing is I don't like going to the cinema alone. So one question. What services does the industry provide for such a person? Yeah you have to wait 6 months for dvd release. And yet I don't want the DVD. I just want to watch the damn movie. Why won't you instead have your own online cinema and stream the movie to my home. I'll pay the same ticket price and everything. Point is you're asking people born in the internet age to put the internet aside and use the traditional model. Sorry to tell this but. Adapt OR Die
I agree with you that we have to tackle those hurdles and finally go global! Why is it so much easier to sell the same shoes, shirts, trousers, drinks, food and what not globally but something that is not bound to any country like music or movies fail to be sold world wide?
In iTunes you can get movies now. Can you get movies in their original language in Germany? I don't think so. Why not? Business models.
There are so many people in the industry talking about how great globalization is but when it comes to music and movies for example the industry fails miserably. :(
+1
Look at how Steam failed with just the introduction.
Went from a viable alternative to buy games to just an acceptable DRM system.