This informal event was broadly targetted at who provides the income in the current changing music industry. On hand to give various perspectives was, Dave Haynes (Soundcloud), Dom Hodge (Fruct Music), Hellienne Lindvall (The Guardian), Jon Mitchell (Spotify) and Richard Jacobs (MediaCom). Moderating the event was the ever entertaining Steve Bowbrick,

Each speaker being given a few minutes to answer the simple question “Who pays the piper?” gave rise to a variety of succinct and extended answers. Dave Haynes, discussed how his company operated a ‘ freemium’ model within the industry, and as a result he had as Steve Bowbrick put it “no concern with the overal economic model”. In other words Soundcloud can exist regards of who pays for the music, however I would argue that a majority of Soundclouds paying customers are deeply impacted by the overal economic model and therefore, there is a clear link between the two. Dave Haynes later went on to suggest that perhaps some more funding should be coming from the government.

Dom Hodge advocated the idea that through ad-funded models, advertisers and brands will provide the income in the future, however he did also point out that the industry as a whole “needs revenue flowing through it.” Hellienne Lindvall critised the free model, stating that it “leaves many indie and unsigned artists behind”, a point which TMV agrees with in the short-term, particularly with the current popularity of Spotify, which has yet to provide a deep enough catalogue.

Jon Mitchell, Sales Director at Spotify discussed their well publisiced model, but stated that they were “still building the proposition” and that stressed that “artists should be compensated.” It is no secret that Spotify is a very new service and still has some way to go in terms of perfecting its experience, Jon Mitchell did later concede that that they are aware that their recommendation service did need work. Who pays according to Jon; a mix of people, fans, advertisers and brands, the emphasis will always be on experience.

MediaComs, Head of Radio, Richard Jacobs expected to see an increase in services but ultimatly he expects advertisers to be paying the piper (he would say that). Personally this TMV writer expects it to be a mix of people, however there was very little mentioned about ISP Subscription service models, which we forsee to play a major role.

When put to the floor for some Q & A a variety of opinions emerged! Some great questions came out, such as “Which areas in the industry will shrink if the artist is already getting nothing?” and Wayne Rossos point “Has music been OVERvalued in the past?” Both provoked some mild debate from the panel and the audience. A third point that was raised, “Do Brands and Music Mix?”

Your thoughts on these three issues? There is plenty of space underneath here!

The evening closed with some debate on innovation in the music industry and how this can be helped in the future, with Dave Haynes accusing major labels of stifling innovation. A point TMV agrees with, and incidentally there was no one at the event representing a major to provide a counterpoint.

So, who pays the piper? Right now, it still is a mix, but how this mix will change in the future, still remains to be seen, and while this event didn’t provide too many answers to this question, it certainly raised some interesting issues on the factors that will shape it.

Another Great Article On The Event Here:

http://broadstuff.com/archives/1786-Facing-the-music-and-paying-the-Piper.html

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