Artists tapping into streaming royalties!

Most people associate neighboring rights (NR) with radio/TV airplay royalties. Streaming income is often seen as belonging to the record labels’ domain. However, a growing number of NR collectives (most notably the artists-only-ones!) have been very successful in lobbying for a separate right for artists to receive streaming royalties directly. Many of the developments have been triggered by the local implementation of EU Directive 2019/0790, article 18 which recognizes the right for artists to receive a “appropriate and proportionate” remuneration for this type of exploitation. Although article 18 lays the foundations for the implementation of a mechanism improving the remuneration of artists, at the same time it leaves it up to the member states how to arrange this.

In the next weeks, Zanoise will zoom in on where individual countries stand when it comes to artists’ individual remuneration for streaming. This week we are starting with Spain, definitely far ahead in this area.

Since 2006, there has been an inalienable right in Spain for artists with regards to exploitation revenues linked to their recordings (article 108 of the Spanish Intellectual Property Law). When an artist signs a recording contract, it is presumed by Spanish law that the artist assigns the exclusive exploitation rights to the record label. However, the artist automatically retains an inalienable right to equitable remuneration with respect to the use of his recordings on radio and television as well online. This includes streaming platforms. The recording artists’ equitable remuneration can only be administered by a management collective, i.e. @AIE in case of Spain. In 2021, AIE collected an impressive amount of more than EUR 5.6 million from Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Google Play but also from audiovisual platforms like Netflix, Filmin and Movistar.