The copyright market is worth 10 billion a year
How much is the music copyright market worth? According to the latest report by Cisac (International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers) “Global Collections Report 2022”, royalties collected worldwide in 2021 amounted to 9.6 billion of Euro. and theEuropain this market, is in first place with 5.29 billion (55.2% of the total) of revenues, more than double the share of Canada and the United States.
The clash between Siae and Meta
Copyright is the editorial part of music royalties covered, for Italy and Italian authors, by Siae and object of the dispute with Meta (Facebook/Instagram). The US big tech giant has not renewed the usage agreement of the musical pieces published in his social networks. And therefore, if the contract is not signed, the “stories” of the users will be deprived of musical columns chosen. These are not trivial numbers. In fact, again according to Cisac, the revenues from copyright on the “digital” front (streaming and social) amounted to 3.1 billion euros in 2021, up 30% from the previous year. The short circuit between Meta and Siae is due to the fact that the company Mark Zuckerberg does not want to communicate the number of stepsi.e. listens, of the music tracks on the platform and wants to pay a “fixed” amount.
How much do the online giants pay
Sure Facebook and Instagram are social platforms free, at least for the moment, who live off advertising. The business model of streaming platforms born only to listen to music is different. The most famous is Spotify which communicates the number of “views” and pays around 6 euros for every thousand visits. Richer Apple Music which pays around 8-9 euros around a while YouTubewhich is of Googlealways between 2 and 3 euros for every thousand passes.
“Copyrights are very important for those who write music- he explained Marzio Schena founder and CEO of Write downinvestment platform in music royalties – because they guarantee the authors constant income over time. Furthermore, they are part of the hereditary axis and are extinguished only 70 years after the death of the author himself”.
On this music revenue, expected to grow thanks to streaming, ANote has built its business by connecting music rights holders with music enthusiasts and investors.
Invest in royalties
“The idea came in 2017 during the San Remo Festival – Schenaio explained- I and my partner in ANote who would become we wanted to invest in a song in the competition but we realized that it was impossible without having large budgets available. Now with our platform we give this possibility. It’s basically sort of music rights grant. Whoever owns the copyright puts his catalog up for auction. Anyone who wants to invest buys a share and then receives the royalties from the songs acquired”.
Of course, not all authors can sell their catalog to the platform. “We choose music that has been on the market for at least 3 years – adds Schena -. Since 2020 we have concluded agreements for the introduction of catalogues on platform and partnership for a value of 20 million euros. And distributed over 250 thousand euros in royalties. We have about 21,000 users who receive a good return on their investment”.
The catalogues
Music catalogs made available by rights holders undergo a due diligence process. During which the history, contracts and future potential of the catalogs are examined before they are auctioned. Every time music is “consumed”, whether through radio, online streaming, live concerts or when it is used on TV or in movies, it generates royalties which are collected and distributed pro-rata to investors on the platform. The company’s business model is based on a “listing fee” on the catalog value at the end of the auction phase. And on distribution fees when royalties are periodically distributed to investors. The ANote platform is integrated with the provider blockchain Algorandto ensure maximum protection for each transaction.