Ireland in the Streams

A little bit of music history was made on July 11 when the first Irish singles chart to include streaming data was topped by Ella Henderson, the former X Factor star, who remains signed to Simon Cowell’s Syco Entertainment, looked after here by Sony Music.

“We also had John Legend’s ‘All Of Me’ go in at number two so we were all delighted,” enthuses Sony Music Ireland MD Annette Donnelly. “Ella’s ‘week one’ was 23% streaming with 100 streams the equivalent of a physical sale. I haven’t double-checked the figures, but I think she’d just about have topped the chart under the old system as well.
“John Legend’s significant because he’s only the second artist, after Pharrell, to cumulatively go over a million streams here. John’s been a chart act for ten years now, but streaming has taken him to a whole new level of success.”
Were the charts in danger of becoming redundant prior to their re-structuring?
“I wouldn’t say redundant, but not with-the-times or indicative of how people are consuming music these days,” Annette resumes. “Ed Sheeran had 12 songs in that Top 100, which is the whole album, so he’ll be pleased with the changes! I think you’re also going to see the original versions of songs performed on the likes of X Factor and The Voice charting and social media trends and chatter being reflected. The unpredictability of what’s going to be in the charts next week is very exciting.”
According to Donnelly, the range of people streaming has “become as broad as those watching Netflix. It might be Mum and Dad who are paying for subscription services, but the phenomenal number of streams One Direction have been getting shows the kids are using them too.”
The GfK Chart-Track Irish Top 100 currently includes streaming data from Spotify, Deezer, Xbox and Qobuz with discussions taking place for Google, Sony Unlimited and Rdio to join the panel.
“In addition, there are lots of services already available in other countries that are looking to do deals here although I’m not in a position at the moment to divulge names. With the technology side of things taken care of, it’s quite easy to roll these new services out.”
These new entrants are almost certain to include iTunes Radio which is free with ads, $25 a year without in the US; Apple’s recent acquisition, Beats Music, which is ten bucks a month; and YouTube’s proposed music subscription service, more of which anon.
As regular Hot Press readers will know, Spotify has had a polarising effect on the creative community, with Thom Yorke in the anti-camp describing it as “the last desperate fart of a dying corpse” while former Eurythmic Dave Stewart, a fan, believes it to be “one of the few companies that’s transparent and actually pays properly.”
“I think a lot of the negativity comes from artists who are well-established and mainly making their money from touring,” Donnelly opines. “With streaming services it’s a long tail – if the music’s good enough to endure and be listened to over a lifetime, it’ll create the same revenue as physical and download sales, possibly more.”
Last week saw 700 independent record labels from 23 countries – XL, Domino, Sub Pop and Secretly Canadian among them – sign the Worldwide Independent Network’s Fair Digital Deals Declaration, the distillation of their argument being that the majors get preferential treatment from the likes of Spotify and iTunes. Fair comment?
“No, I don’t think so,” she avers. “An independent artist can be on Spotify the same way as an artist on a major record label. If the music’s good enough, people will listen to it and they’ll get paid fairly.”
An oft-quoted figure is Lady Gaga receiving just €136 for a million Spotify plays of ‘Poker Face’.
“I don’t know the details of Lady Gaga and her million plays, but all artists get paid fairly by Spotify and the other streaming services. Don’t forget that every artist deal is different. What they get paid depends on their contract.”
A sizeable number of the Fair Digital Deals signatories are also members of the American Association of Independent Music who accuse YouTube of offering them a lower royalty rate than the likes of Sony and Universal on their new subscription service.
“We’re getting treated fairly by Spotify, Rdio, Rhapsody and a lot of other services,” charges AAIM President Rich Bengloff. “We’re not being treated as equitably by YouTube.”
“That’s obviously an issue for them. YouTube is a huge part of the social media world and, in time I imagine, will also appear in the charts because of how relevant they are. Both visually and from an audio point of view, that’s where the younger generation consumes their music.”
What was the first single Annette bought?
“You’re making me feel very old,” she laughs. “George Michael’s ‘Careless Whisper’. Still a classic!”
In addition to their dominance of the singles chart, Sony Music are also top of the albums here with Garth Brooks’ The Ultimate Hits.
“We finalised the Irish licensing of Garth’s new music before the Sony worldwide deal was done,” Donnelly reveals. “Having been one of the last ones to hold out, he’s now embracing the digital world. Going back, he perhaps didn’t think it was relevant to the people listening to him, but now he does. The Croke Park cancellations were very disappointing – I’ll limit my comments to that – but knowing Garth as I do the new album will be well worth the wait.”