Spotify, EMI, FAC & Management Join Streaming Think Tank
MusicTank Add Steve Savoca, Spotify; Mark Mulligan; Mark Kelly, FAC; Paul Loasby, One Fifteen Management and Cosmo Lush, EMI to Panel
26 January, London:- As the streaming debate reaches fever pitch MusicTank will hold their first think tank of 2012, ‘The Big Question: Can Streaming Go Mainstream?’ now augmented with panellists from EMI Music, The FAC and Spotify.Once heralded as the an industry saviour, a stigma is beginning to form around streaming services, spurred on by the abstention of high profile acts like Coldplay and Bob Dylan as well as the radio silence from labels on the detail of licensing deals.MusicTank will place this misunderstood issue under the spotlight, with a panel made up of industry luminaries including Steve Savoca, Head of Content, Spotify; Paul Loasby, Owner, One Fifteen Management; Mark Mulligan, Digital Media Strategist; Mark Kelly, CEO, The FAC; and Cosmo Lush, Senior VP Digital Business Development, EMI Music.The issue could not be more important – some argue that unless streaming is both understood and embraced, the recordings business will be thrashing around a fifth percentile of licensed consumption for many years to come. This think tank will drill to the heart of the issue, answering the two central questions – ‘how does the model work?’ And ‘how do the artists get paid?’Keith Harris, MusicTank Chairman said “We're still desperately searching for the silver bullet that will fix our business model on recorded music, we hope that this Musictank session will act as a torch helping to illuminate that search.”Event DetailsTitle: The Big Question: Can Streaming Go Mainstream?Date: 23rd February 2012Time: 18:30 to 21:00Venue: Fyvie Hall, 115 New Cavendish Street, London, W1W 6UWCost: Standard – £35 / MT members – £25Final PanellistsSteve Savoca Head of Content, SpotifyCosmo Lush Senior VP Digital Business Development, EMI Music Simon Wheeler Director Of Strategy, Beggars GroupMark Kelly CEO, The FACMark Mulligan Digital Media StrategistPaul Loasby Owner, One Fifteen ManagementDanny Ryan Managing Director, Kudos RecordsChairman: Keith Harris Keith Harris Music Ltd / MusicTank Chairman / Director of Performer Affairs, PPL Tickets must be purchased in advance from www.musictank.co.uk/events/streaming ------------------Full Event CopyThe Big Question: Can Streaming Go Mainstream?The recordings business begins 2012 at a make-or-break crossroads.Digital is growing, and in under a decade, the download business has emerged to constitute approximately a quarter of all UK music consumption – a considerable slice of the pie.Streaming is still a niche activity, but with Spotify already regularly used by about 10% of households, it is showing potential. The model is very much at a delicate point in its infancy however, which makes the growing disquiet that ‘streaming isn’t paying’ - fuelled by artists from Jon Hopkins to the Black Keys - all the more problematic.These artists are not on their own. Many across the business, from labels through to lawyers, question the industry’s approach to this new model. And the questions aren’t just about pennies per stream – some wonder whether streaming is cannibalising downloads. Several draw parallels with the business’ response to the original Napster, the implication being that ‘get this wrong and the recordings business is going to be thrashing around a fifth percentile of licensed consumption for years to come’.Many also feel that the services themselves could be more open. The streaming model alters our relationship with music from standard ownership to a pay-for-access model – realistically the biggest change in consumption of recorded music since its invention, yet, just when an extra effort to encourage understanding is needed, silence is fueling fear.In some ways it’s a testament to the success of the model that industry stakeholders care to voice their concerns, though in the end, if people in the value chain don’t see value then there is a problem.Ultimately there are two questions at the heart of the issue that this session aims to address:1. How does the model work?2. How do the artists get paid?The discussion is sure to raise many issues – from artist contracts, the potential erosion of performers’ equitable right of remuneration for radio play, also the question of chart eligibility – however this session will avoid getting immersed in the finer ramifications for the rest of the business at this stage.The immediate need is to understand what impact the biggest change in music consumption since the wax cylinder might have on the future of all in the recordings business - especially artists.About MusicTankUnique among the music business’ many and various interest bodies, MusicTank is the country’s leading, independent, sector-specific business development network for the UK music industry.Established in 2003 to inform and guide the future shape of the music business through engagement with industry, change and innovation, MusicTank has built an enviable reputation for its ongoing and unique programme of think tank debates, events, occasional courses and conferences, a natural progression from which has been the delivery of incisive reports commissioned from key industry figureheads.Its content-rich website - www.musictank.co.uk - contains a wealth of industry information and resources, together with event transcripts and podcasts, news and research papers. 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