Alternative payment models in the music streaming market: A comparative approach based on stream-level data

François Moreau, Patrik Wikström, Ola Haampland and Rune Johannessen

Information Economics and Policy, 2024, vol. 68, issue C

Abstract: Music streaming platforms’ models for sharing revenues with content providers have been the subject of intense debate for nearly a decade. The dominating model involves pooling platform revenues and allocating these funds to songs based on a song's share of the total number of platform streams. Since this model has several controversial consequences, alternative models have been proposed. This paper uses a novel approach to assess the two most discussed models – the “user-centric” and the “artist-centric”. Our approach relies on a unique data set of 154,505 streaming platform users (890 million streams) and simulates how a large-scale implementation of these models may reallocate revenues across different songs and rightsholders. We disentangle the static effects of a transition to a “user-centric” or an “artist-centric” model across each of six different song characteristics. We then compare the results of the two models. We show that contrary to its objective, an artist-centric payment system does not significantly improve remuneration to professional artists while the user-centric payment system would generate more significant changes in revenue reallocation, mainly at the expense of Rap & Hip-hop songs, superstars and new releases. Finally, we analyze the positions of the various stakeholders with regard to each of them.

Keywords: Streaming; User-centric; Music industry (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Working Paper: Alternative payment models in the music streaming market: A comparative approach based on stream-level data (2024)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:iepoli:v:68:y:2024:i:c:s0167624524000258

DOI: 10.1016/j.infoecopol.2024.101103

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