Artists’ earnings and copyright: A review of British and German music industry data in the context of digital technologies

Martin Kretschmer

doi:10.5210/fm.v10i1.1200

Abstract

Digital technologies are often said (1) to enable a qualitatively new engagement with already existing cultural materials (for example through sampling and adaptation); and, (2) to offer a new disintermediated distribution channel to the creator. A review of secondary data on music artists’ earnings and eight in–depth interviews conducted in 2003–04 in Britain and Germany indicate that both ambitions have remained largely unfulfilled. The article discusses to what extent the structure of copyright law is to blame, and sets out a research agenda.

Highlights

The relationship of the artist to the market, mediated by transferable copyrights, has evolved in several phases
The arts show an oversupply of creative ambitions (Hirsch 1972; Peterson & Berger 1975) combined with curious ‘winner-take-all’ demand patterns (Frank & Cook 1995; Kretschmer et al 1999)
(1) Since many more products want to enter the market than can be consumed, there is an important role for the commercial intermediary, acting as selector or gate keeper

Summary

Introduction

The relationship of the artist to the market, mediated by transferable copyrights, has evolved in several phases. Up to the 18th century, copyright was typically practiced as the one-off sale of an original manuscript to a market intermediary (stationer/publisher or performing entrepreneur/patron). Subsequent exploitation of a work, often very shortlived, was left to the discretion of the new owner. Under the English Statute of Anne of 1710, protection was granted for 14 years from publication (renewable once), and limited to reprints of books or other writings. With England as the trend setter, the subject matter of copyright soon embraced engravings (1735), music (1777), fabric designs (1787) and sculptures (1798)

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