The music business ecosystem is full of artists, creatives, corporate businesses and independents all aiming to generate income from music to help sustain their careers.
For some songwriters, earning money might never have been an ambition – but if they want to continue to follow their passion and devote time and energy to their creativity, they will likely need to generate income. On the flip side are the music business companies and ventures, many of whom are equally driven by their passion for music and their desire to share the music they love with the wider world.
Within this industry of artists, labels, distributors and other music industry professionals, there are core ethics, processes and a framework that shapes business practices. This has evolved to provide creatives with some confidence that the intrinsic value of their creative output will be recognised.
However, as we will see, this has not always been the case with music composition often impacted by new technologies and means of consuming music. Despite the ever-changing nature of the sector, studying SAE’s Music Business degree will arm you with the knowledge to understand what these ethical questions are and why the answers to them are important for the entire music industry landscape.
Our blog will explore ethics, transparency and the ethical challenges and opportunities that the changing sector has created in relation to artistic expression. Looking to join our course and enhance your understanding of music industry ethics to create positive change? Then contact our team now and discover how you can boost your music business skills.
Ethical considerations
The music industry is in a constant state of flux, shaped by the musical creativity of artists and musical innovation in tech – both have led to new means of music production, distribution and consumption.
But why are ethical considerations important in the music industry? As it is a business, based on transactions between artists, songwriters and creative companies, the flow of money through this collaborative ecosystem depends on trust.
Without it, the system falters and there have been numerous examples of this taking place over the course of music industry history.
From the days of digital piracy in the late nineties and early noughties to the emergence of streaming platforms and contractual wrangles for artists such as Taylor Swift, there have been numerous high profile stories, shifts and issues surrounding ethical standards.
What are the key ethical principles
There are some fundamental principles surrounding the music industry’s ethics and the way in which artists and their work is treated. There are different power dynamics and involved parties at play but by adhering to the below, then a positive and ethical landscape has the potential to evolve and survive despite what changes.
Some essentials include:
Respecting Copyright and Intellectual Property (IP): One of the main pillars of the industry is to recognise the importance of IP. If you are the writer or composer of a piece of music, then you should be fairly compensated for your work.
Adopting Clear and Transparent Financial Practices: Ensuring clear, honest accounting and revenue sharing and implementing fair contracts is essential. From the majors to independent labels, ethical practices in the financial side of the music industry are key in holding it up.
Professional Integrity: Maintaining truthful communication and avoiding manipulative tactics demonstrates mutual respect between industry stakeholders. Ultimately, this leads to greater business trust.
Copyright law and creative freedom
Music copyright law grants automatic, exclusive rights to creators of original musical works and sound recordings, protecting them from unauthorised use.
Copyrighted music covers both the composition (including notes and lyrics) and the sound recording for 70 years after the creator’s death, or 50 years after a recording’s release.
There are two types of copyright when it comes to a song or composition. They are:
The Musical Work: Covers the composition, melody, and lyrics.
Sound Recording: Covers the specific audio recording of that composition.
In the UK, copyright applies automatically as soon as the music is recorded or written down; no registration is required but the splits between writers need to be decided as close to the completion of a piece of music as possible.
There is no set way to copyright a piece of music, and you do not need to register, pay a fee, or use a copyright symbol to ensure copyright protection. In fact, copyright arises as soon as the music and lyrics are recorded or written down but you can enhance your ownership claim by documenting the creation date. This can be done by electronically emailing or saving the work. This will provide a time-stamped copy and is another way to evidence creation and ownership.
How has the digital age impacted ethical issues, transparency and fair compensation
The advent of peer-to-peer file sharing such as Napster at the end of the nineties was driven by consumer demand for access and convenience in how they listened to music. It also challenged the traditional, high-priced, physical-album-only model of the record labels.
While consumers viewed sharing as a liberating, anti-corporate act, it also raised serious implications around the artistic value of music and led to a huge decline in record industry profits. Recorded music revenue in the UK was at a high of approximately £2.22bn in 2001. The industry lost more than half its income over the decade following 2001 as the CD market crashed.
At the end of the 2000s, streaming services including Spotify revolutionised music consumption with vast amounts of music from around the world now available for a wider audience via smartphones and tablet devices. However, ethical concerns also arose regarding the low royalty rates for artists.
The demand for fair compensation has caused significant concern, with artists like Taylor Swift and Prince removing their music from certain platforms in protest, resulting in lost revenue.
It has also led to a crisis of sustainability for emerging and mid-tier artists. Without a significant income from music streaming, how can songwriters and bands breakthrough and grow careers? It has led to a shift in mindset with artists turning to other areas of revenue such as music licensing or merchandise.
Various campaigns have been launched by music professionals and emerging artists to raise ethical challenges including Fix Streaming, an initiative aimed at championing the creative process of composers and songwriters within our cultural landscape.
AI generated music and human creativity
Artistic freedom has also been called into question thanks to the use of AI. While it is being used to enhance and speed up studio workflows, there have also been questions asked about what this means for copyright and IP.
If AI has been used to come up with creative work, who owns the IP? Is it whoever utilised the platform or is it the owner of the original source material that GenAI has farmed?
The use of AI to clone the voices of artists (e.g., the viral Heart on My Sleeve song using AI Drake and The Weeknd) has created a crisis over IP.
This has led to emergency takedowns and legal battles, creating immense uncertainty for music labels regarding the ownership of AI-generated content. At this point, fundamental questions surrounding AI and copyrights laws have still yet to be answered with artists needing to adhere to a delicate balance between tech and the human element.
Other ethical dilemmas – diversity and sustainability
Of course, there are also other area of debate and ethical challenges. Environmental responsibility is now an issue for many of the bigger touring artists with acts like Coldplay, Billie Eilish and, perhaps one of the most vocal bands on systemic issues faced by the music industry and wider society, Massive Attack, choosing greener business processes.
There have been concerns raised about diversity in festival and gig line-ups too. PRS Foundation’s Keychange is an international initiative that aims to encourage festivals and music organisations to include 50 percent women and underrepresented genders in programming, staffing and beyond.
While the industry has clearly progressed, the work to embed ethical considerations into the sector continues.
Study Music Business at SAE
Studying our leading Music Business course will give you a comprehensive education in labels, publishing, management, touring, distribution, and live events.
You will have the opportunity to collaborate with an exciting student body to record your artists, film music videos and begin to plan your own career in one of the world’s most exciting industries.
