U.K. SETS STANDARD FOR MUSIC STREAMING

The U.K. has unveiled its Code of Good Practice on Transparency in Music Streaming, which will take effect 7/31.

The government’s Intellectual Property Office has oversight of the code, developed and agreed to by a dozen music-industry bodies. It will help build greater trust in music-maker contracts, streaming licensing deals, royalty payments, usage data, audit rights and communication with music creators.

The code further aims to help improve creators’ understanding of how their music is used, helping build confidence that they are being paid correctly when their music is streamed. It's described as “a pledge from the music industry to a race to the top on transparency” and is said to be the first such commitment of its kind.

Label trade body BPI, the Association of Independent Music, retailers org ERA, the Music Managers Forum, PRO PRS for Music and the Musicians’ Union are signatories.

The agreement stems from recommendations of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee’s Inquiry into Music Streaming, which called for a “complete reset” of the recorded-music industry.

After enactment, participating organizations will meet every six months to consider how the pact is working, with a formal review set for 2026.

Said BPI Chief Exec Jo Twist, "This articulates what good practice looks like in terms of transparency and communication throughout the digital music supply chain. It builds meaningfully on the recent progress around metadata and other significant measures addressing creator concerns around music streaming.”

The Council of Music Makers—which reps various creator orgs—welcomed the code while calling the commitments “modest,” saying: “It provides a framework that can be used to start tackling the ‘systemic lack of transparency’ in music streaming that was identified by the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee in 2021. Since then, the lack of transparency in streaming has increased, with individual streaming services announcing new business models, such as payment thresholds and spatial-audio uplifts, developed without consultation with music-makers or their representatives, making it even harder to understand how they are paying through. We now need everyone working in the industry to fully embrace the code and go above and beyond in providing music-makers with the information they need to properly manage, understand and audit the digital side of their individual music-maker businesses.”