Study calls current salary model for music streaming services into question

(© Image: Pixabay) - How should profits from music streaming services be paid out to artists? The discussion is never-ending because with the current model, users also pay for music they don't listen to. A new study by marketing experts at Universität Hamburg and the Kühne Logistic University has now calculated the impact. The findings were published in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science . Currently, the profits that streaming services such as Spotify earn from user fees and advertising are paid to rights-holders using the pro-rata model. This means that all profits are pooled and, on the basis of the share of total tracks, paid out to the respective artists. This also means that users night be paying for music they are not listening to. -Because the share of all tracks determines the money paid out, short-song genres profit most, with a segment of users listening who listen longer and for less money,- explains the head of the study, Michel Clement from the Faculty of Business Administration at Universität Hamburg.