The music industry’s stakes during the Internet era
By David EL SAYEGH
Directeur général du Syndicat national de l’édition phonographique (SNEP), nommé, en avril 2013, Secrétaire général de la Société des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique (SACEM)
After ten years of technological, economic and legal upheaval, the entertainment industry — in particular, the music business — must prove capable of sustaining new patterns of growth. The major issue for the French music industry in this deeply changing context is to maintain the diversity and momentum of its production, since these are its DNA. At present, 60% of the sales of recorded music are of works produced in France; and 30% of the income of producers derives from the sale of digital forms of music. Furthermore, 51% of music purchases are made on the Internet, a statistic that places the music business far ahead of other entertainment industries, with an average of merely 8% of purchases via the Internet. To win the battle of diversity: an effective system must be set up to protect intellectual property rights on the Internet; a wider and more qualitative exposure must be developed to music of all sorts on television and radio; and arrangements must be made for subsidizing local sources of production, which are menaced during this period of transition.