Score one for the power of collection rights management. The International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC), which represents over 230 authors societies in the music, audiovisual, literary, dramatic, and visual arts industries around the world, released its annual Global Collections Report this week which showed global royalty collections by its member organizations reaching a record €9.2 billion (US $10.8 billion) in 2016, up 6 percent from 2015.
Music royalties, which make up the bulk of CISAC-member collections, rose 7 percent for the year, to €8.0 billion (US $9.4 billion) powered by rapid growth in streaming services in several major markets. The U.S. and Canada saw the biggest increase, at 12.5 percent, followed by the Asia-Pacific region, which grew 10.3 percent.
Use of collectively managed works, primarily music, in traditional TV and radio programming accounted for the largest slice of the collections pie, at 42.8 percent, followed by live performances and background uses, at 29.6 percent. Digital uses, however, which include music and video streaming, saw the fastest year-over-year growth, surging 51.4 percent, and now account for 10.4 percent of all collections worldwide.
The reported noted that sluggish growth in collections from video streaming services in some markets prevented the digital category from growing even faster. Declines in traditional TV viewing and the loss of viewers to over-the-top services actually led to a 1.4 percent year-over-year decline in collections from the traditional TV and radio channel.
Whether the overall surge in royalty collections by CMOs is translating into higher payments to artists and creators, however, remains a matter of contention in many creative industries, particularly music. Many songwriters, for instance, have seen their incomes fall as the bulk of music industry revenue as shifted from the sale of individual recordings to collectively managed streaming licenses.
CISAC executive director Gadi Oron, however, sees the latest results as a vindication of collective management.
“This year’s report shows the system of collective management of creators’ rights is robust, successful and ready for more growth, he said in a statement. “The big traditional revenue streams, led by broadcast and live performance, remain stable and strong. Digital royalties continue to surge and in some markets already overtake other forms of income.”
CISAC president Jean-Michel Jarre, however, himself an electronic music composer, acknowledged artists’ frustrations with current revenue flows, but put the blame on digital platforms rather than on any shortcomings in the collective-management system per se.
“Despite [the sector’s]growth…collections are nowhere near the level they should be,” he said. “Large industries that use creative content are driving down the value of our works. A simple illustration of this is the ‘transfer of value’ in the digital market where platforms such as YouTube are paying mere crumbs to authors.”
The full, 72-page report can be downloaded here.