Transparency – Nov 2024
At Music360, our mission extends beyond researching the value of music for its users and sharing these insights. We aim to provide music creators with a deeper understanding of the origins of their royalties. One of our key objectives is to offer musicians, through Music360, a global perspective on where their music is being played—whether in stores, on TV stations, or at events. This data can be invaluable for musicians, composers, and lyricists in marketing their music.
As part of our research, we developed a ‘demonstrator’—software that showcases how the platform works in real-time. This hands-on experience is far more insightful than merely reading about the functionality in a document. Seeing and interacting with the system provides a tangible understanding of its capabilities.
Recently, our consortium has been working diligently to prepare a functional demonstrator with usage and rights data. This was presented to a significant group of potential future users of the Music360 platform: the collective management organizations (CMOs) for neighboring rights. These organizations collect royalties on behalf of musicians for the public performance of their music and distribute these royalties transparently.
Currently, due to varying mandates and information exchange between countries, it is not always possible to report the exact origin of funds globally through a single portal. Music360 aims to change this by consolidating these revenue streams within one platform, making it easy for rights holders to access this information while ensuring it is protected from unauthorized access.
In September, we presented Music360 and conducted a live demonstration to a large group of neighboring rights organizations during the Technical Working Group of SCAPR. SCAPR, a non-profit organization based in Brussels, Belgium, serves as an international platform for cooperation between performers’ CMOs. Representing 61 CMOs from 45 countries, SCAPR strives to improve data exchange and performers’ rights payments across borders. The Technical Working Group, comprising IT and distribution representatives from these CMOs, supports technical developments and provides a forum for exchanging technical issues and knowledge.
The presentation and demonstrator were well-received, and a follow-up session is scheduled for the end of November. During this session, a group of CMO representatives will delve deeper into the platform to better align it with their needs and, more importantly, the needs of the rights holders they represent. The outcomes of these sessions will be incorporated into the second phase of our research.
We are excited about the future of Music360 and its potential to revolutionize how music creators understand and leverage their royalties. Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to develop and refine this innovative platform.
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