A War In The Digital Music Market

Lawyer for stars such as Rihanna and Jay-Z, Miles Cooley sees the traditional music monetization system fall apart and worries: “I foresee a lot of fights”

[Translated from original in Portuguese by FTLLP]

Considered today one of the most coveted lawyers in the entertainment industry, the American Miles Cooley has made his reputation by representing world-renowned artists in court, such as Rihanna, Jay-Z, 50 cent and Lenny Kravitz. This year, along with his Brazilian wife, producer Cláudia, and his son, little Enzo, he visited Brazil and took the time in the country to meet with some clients and put into practice his project to represent Brazilians who intend to continue their careers in the United States. In an exclusive interview with VEJA, he talked a little about the digital music market in the United States and the impact of streaming services on the finances of his customers.

His client, rapper Jay-Z, took all his discography from the existing streaming services and created his own, Tidal. What is the difference?

Jay-Z was extremely dissatisfied with the transfers he received. He created Tidal with the intention of giving artists more control over the digital distribution of his music. The adhesion of phenomena such as his wife, Beyoncé, and also Rihanna, Kanye West and Taylor Swift (who are not exclusive, but launch first on Tidal), has less to do with making money and more with unity and awareness. My concern here is with the new ones, those who are entering the market. Jay-Z can say “give yourself Spotify”, but who will disclose who is not yet known?

What is the repercussion that services such as Spotify and YouTube, which provide music for free or almost, are having in your business?

It is a completely new world and so far no one has been able to find a way to make money with it. In traditional contracts, record labels invoiced with the sale of CDs and artists received a percentage of each unit sold, as well as an amount each time the work was performed, by way of copyright. Now that music has migrated to digital platforms, this whole system of rules is collapsing. We who act on behalf of the artists are still trying to understand how to negotiate and make agreements that favor them.

Are the rules changing?

Very slowly. In the United States, artists have always complained a lot about record labels. The digital market exacerbated the conflict. The record companies still insist on the old-fashioned format of making and selling music, where the percentage of them is very high and the participation of the artist, decreasing. And the worst thing is that, as CD sales do not stop falling, they are appealing to the “360-degree contracts”, in which they grab a part of all the collections, whether with advertising, merchandising, disclosure or show. His intention is to maintain control over the musicians and the market. My job is to prevent this from happening.

Music production no longer depends on the record labels. The distribution is not either. Are they moving towards extinction?

Their role is decreasing, without a doubt, but I can’t imagine a world without them. It is true that any artist can put his songs on the internet, but they have to be heard, known. The public needs to know that they exist, reach them. For this, marketing and radios are still essential. That’s where the record labels come in. Nowadays they are mainly responsible for promoting the artist and his work.

How do you see the future?

I think it is possible that streaming services, such as Spotify, decide to take control of all stages of the music industry and exercise the role of record companies, starting to control production, promotion and distribution. But the opposite can also happen: record labels decide to have their own digital platforms. In this war scenario, everything is possible, even there is no war. Who said that Spotify and Universal can’t get together someday?

Have you ever caught any cause involving streaming services?

Not yet, but I know it will happen. Streaming moves money in today’s music market. This will still be a lot of fighting.

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