The Economic Impact of Music Streaming

Dimiter Gantchev
University of National and World Economy

https://doi.org/10.53656/str2025-1s-6-the

Abstract. Streaming has established itself as the predominant model for music distribution. It brings undisputed benefits through its global outreach and appeal, speed and convenience, and innovative revenue-generating potential. These benefits are, however, not distributed equally among the stakeholders. The issues of revenue distribution, pricing, transparency, metadata, overall industry effects, and impact on consumption, among others, are posing serious questions about the efficiency of the streaming model and its overall impact on the music industry.
The article reviews the literature and stakeholder views on this topic and analyzes the various economic and non-economic effects of streaming to provide a balanced overview of music streaming. It discusses the elements to be considered in a robust policy on streaming and provides recommendations for a more sustainable growth model for the music industry. A key element in this policy remains the balanced copyright framework, which needs to address the interests of the various stakeholders in music.
The research methods used in this article are a comparative analysis of business practices and data, a review and analysis of legal and stakeholder initiatives, a comparison of existing theoretical and practical approaches in the economic, legal, and business literature, and research on the topic.
The research findings point to several inefficiencies in music streaming in its current form and frame the question of whether the problem is in the music streaming model or its current application.
Keywords: streaming, economic efficiency, copyright

JEL: О31, 034, L82

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