an agreement with Sacem for better remuneration for artists

Aware that the current remuneration model for artists on platforms only benefits a minority, Deezer and Sacem are throwing a spanner in the works.

The dawn of a revolution for artists? We will have to wait until this reform produces its first effects to be convinced of this. Still, on paper, this announcement from Deezer and Sacem (the Society of Authors, Composers and Music Publishers) is something to rejoice those who are trying to make a living with their music – without being called Drake or Chappell Roan.

A fairer remuneration model

Deezer and Sacem adopt a so-called remuneration model artist-centricthat is to say centered on the artists. An approach to be opposed to that called market-centricwhich aims to redistribute subscription money to artists based on their market share – and which therefore benefits the biggest generators of listening, to the detriment of small emerging artists.

In short: Deezer wants to better remunerate artists and musicians “that the fans really appreciate”. In detail, this means that songs from artists with at least 1,000 streams from 500 different subscribers each month will receive twice as much money as before. “This double boost also applies to songs that are actively searched for or found in non-algorithmic playlists”specifies Deezer, while emphasizing that these ceilings are there to encourage artists to cultivate their fanbase and avoid fraudulent behavior.

Deezer was already showing itself to be more concerned about the fate of artists by offering them a model user-centricwhich only pays artists listened to by subscribers and does not serve as a contribution to a “common pot”. But this new approach is likely to benefit as many people as possible, and even perhaps to lift some musicians out of precariousness.

Spring cleaning

However, a thorny problem arises: quid fake artists created by AI, who produce music with promptness and aim to earn money by managing to position their titles in thematic playlists? And quid still tracks containing only noise (white, ambient)? Will they too see the share of their income increase, to the detriment of real artists?

The answer is no, assures Deezer. Music categorized as “noise” is excluded from the catalog and is not taken into account in royalty calculations, assures the French streaming platform. Furthermore, a cleanup is reportedly underway to rid Deezer of fraudulent content and tracks that have not been listened to for 12 months.

A spring cleaning which, in addition to the model artist-centricshould logically significantly increase the share of artists’ remuneration. However, those who do not manage to reach the threshold of 1,000 monthly listens are still excluded from these new features.