Separately, a Washington, D.C.-based advocate called Russell’s claim “essentially correct.” Kevin Erickson of the Future of Music Coalition, a nonprofit that says it supports a “musical ecosystem where artists flourish and are compensated fairly and transparently for their work,” added by email: “For a variety of reasons, it can be difficult to get complete information on which countries pay for the performance right. Iran and North Korea do not currently pay. China is a bit more ambiguous right now; there may have been a deal struck. We’ve also gotten some conflicting information on Afghanistan and Rwanda.” read more

Once the Beatles do accept streaming — well, if they do — it could mark a point of no return for a record industry still not totally convinced of streaming as its future. “It could signal to consumers that the format shift is complete,” says Casey Rae, CEO of the Future of Music Coalition, an artists’ advocacy group.

[…]

According to Billboard magazine, “25” is expected to sell more than 1 million units in North America in its first week, and will very likely be the biggest album release of 2015.

Casey Rae, chief executive of Future of Music Coalition, told the New York Times that Adele’s decision to withhold the new album on streaming for a certain period of time was sending a “strong signal to other artists.” However, in reality not all artists are able to make those same choices, he added.

[…]

Panelists at the Future of Music Policy Summit’s “Cracking the Streaming Code” explained that the current pro-rata model incentivizes clicks, which favors big-name artists rather than those with a smaller but devoted fan base. The pro-rata system counts the total number of clicks in a given period, then divides the subscriber fees proportionately based on artists’ total clicks. If a subscriber pays $10 per month to use a streaming service and exclusively listens to a non-mainstream band, most of that money goes to other artists that get more clicks.

[…]