Outdoor Gig Restrictions Ease & U.K. Streaming Probe | Music News

While mosh pits are essentially still punishable by death in this COVID-19 hell we call 2020, NSW is taking a step in the right direction with a big loosening of restrictions around outdoor music events.

Under changes announced by Premier Gladys Berejiklian, which kick in effective immediately, “500 people will be able to attend outdoor seated music performances and rehearsals, subject to the four square metre rule and people being seated (previously 20 people were permitted)”.

This opens the door to small-scale seated outdoor concerts and festivals to kick back into gear.

Meanwhile, the pittance paid out by streaming music services will be put to the test in the U.K., where MPs are preparing an inquiry into the big players.

From next month, parliament will examine what economic impact music streaming is having on artists, record labels and “the sustainability of the wider music industry,” as part of a landmark probe into Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Google Play and others.

The “Economics of music streaming” examination promises to be more than a talking shop.

Based on its findings, MPs will be expected to consider whether government should take action “to protect the industry from piracy in the wake of steps taken by the EU on copyright and intellectual property rights,” reads a statement issued by Britain’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS).

In 2019, the Aussie record business rolled to a fifth successive year of gains, according to ARIA wholesale data, with revenue up by 5.5 per cent to $555 million. Streaming was the cash cow, raking in $445 million, a $70 million rise on the previous-year figure.

With a typical play on a streaming platform netting an artist less than 0.005 cents, a song needs to be streamed 1,000 times to make back the cost of an average coffee in W.A. Musicians who make a career out of their craft are rare, according to a study titled “Global Music Streaming And its Impacts on the Local, Original Music Communities.”

Less than 8,000 Australians make music as their sole source of income, and the average musician earns just $7,200 each year, the 2019 report found. After crunching the numbers, researchers concluded one million streams on YouTube earns an artist approximately $690, the same number of hits on Spotify about $4,370, and Apple Music is around $7,350. Many artists won’t see anything like a million streams for their songs.

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Homebrewed is a radio program and podcast dedicated to supporting the Australian Music Industry. Cameron Smith and Eamonn Snow have been presenting Homebrewed since November 2017 and have received excellence awards and the admiration of local bands for their presentation of Homebrewed and their continued support of the Australian music scene. This podcast is designed so you can enjoy conversations with musicians, industry representatives and music media personalities.