Having been in digital music for nearly two decades, I often get the question: How will the music industry innovate and grow? While we are always look

Why Music APIs Are Exactly What the Industry Needs

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2021-06-20 10:30:03

Having been in digital music for nearly two decades, I often get the question: How will the music industry innovate and grow? While we are always looking to do more, my answer is typically –it has! Major labels have learned a myriad of lessons from the early days of the internet, returning to profitability and growth thanks to an early embrace of streaming services, the unbundling of services, and a willingness to work with tech companies who ask permission for music licenses rather than forgiveness for infringement. So how do we keep this momentum going? By making it easier for tech companies to get permission.

Anyone who has spent even a day in the music industry knows the significant complexities around music licensing. One label might own the master recording, but publishing rights are likely split between multiple songwriters and producers, who each could be represented by a different publishing company. It’s natural for these rightsholders to be protective of their content considering the costs to produce, develop, and market artists and songs. And ,like VCs, they need to evaluate the risk/reward trade-off before approving a license. So how do we make it worth their while? It helps to get some perspective from the major labels, so I recently spoke with Oana Ruxandra, Chief Digital Officer, WMG.

“One of our key goals at WMG is to make it far easier to license all music. Among other things, reducing frictions around licensing will enable us to accelerate innovation, support the startup community, engender competition, excite our fans with new and evolving ways to interact with music, and get our artists and songwriters more value for their art,” said Ruxandra. “We want to help drive innovation and spark creativity, and Adaptr will help us do just that.”