UK music industry pledges to improve streaming metadata although it appears that the focus is on the commercial with little said over the other aspects of information tagging. The voluntary agreement is the work of the UK’s Intellectual Property Office (IPO) chaired working group of industry experts, who met throughout 2022. This initiative forms part of the UK Government’s programme of work to address issues identified by the DCMS Select Committee’s Inquiry into the Economics of Music Streaming.
The IPO’s statement said that:
- In the era of digital music, good quality metadata, which describes who contributed to a track’s creation and how, is essential to making sure music makers are accurately credited and paid.
- But metadata is often not as accurate or complete as it should be, in particular in relation to songwriters and their song or composition. Incomplete or inaccurate metadata can lead to significant delays to creators being paid for the use of their works, and in some cases not being paid at all.
The main points of the agreement are:
- a shared ambition to progressively improve metadata in new recordings and consistent crediting on streaming services over a two-year period
- agreement to take steps to ensure a core data set is associated with all new recordings
- agreement to follow and promote good practice in industry
- agreement to establish and support expert working groups on education and technical solutions to drive forward further improvements during the two-year period
The 12 UK signatories to the metadata agreement came from all sectors of the music industry including the BPI, ERA, PPL, PRS and the Musicians Union.
Kim Bayley, CEO of digital entertainment and retail association ERA said, “The agreement on music streaming metadata marks a real breakthrough for the entire music industry. Metadata is the vital information attached to a track which enables artists to get paid, but too often it is incomplete or inaccurate. We have all known for a long time the need to improve metadata to increase efficiencies for everyone and to speed the flow of royalties to songwriters in particular. The new agreement provides a roadmap to do exactly that, putting metadata right at the heart of the conversation about how we create a better streaming ecosystem for all.
The streaming revolution driven by ERA’s members has brought enormous benefits to musicians and fans alike, and streaming companies pay around 70 pence in the pound from streaming subscriptions direct to the music industry. It is unacceptable that musicians miss out on money simply because the industry does not know who to pay. Progress on improving metadata should ensure that even more of the money gets to the right people.”
It remains to be seen whether any of the technical deficiencies associated with existing metadata schemes will be addressed in this work. It would be nice if the metadata surrounding Classical Music works, musicians and others involved in the production of music titles could find their way into a unified metadata schema as well as information regarding rights holders.
The full United Kingdom Industry Agreement on Music Streaming Metadata can be downloaded here.
