New Study on Licensing and the Availability of Czech Music on Global Streaming Platforms

Is Czech music available abroad in the catalogs of global streaming services? What happens behind the scenes when licensing agreements are negotiated? Who negotiates with whom, and what is the position of individual players in the digital music market? A new study by Pavel Zahrádka, Rostislav Sliwka, Michal Tomčík, and Václav Hodonický on EU cultural policy in relation to music licensing for digital distribution – and its consequences for the availability of Czech repertoire on global streaming platforms – has just been published.

The study Frontline Trenches or, Rather, Open Borders? The Multi-Territorial Licensing and Digital Export of Czech Music was published in open access in the International Journal of Music Business Research.

 

The article examines the impact of Directive 2014/26/EU on collective rights management and multi-territorial licensing on the music industry in the Czech Republic. The analysis focuses on transaction costs associated with granting multi-territorial licenses for online distribution of music content, the position of Czech collective management organizations vis-à-vis online music service providers, and the availability of Czech repertoire in the catalogs of streaming services offered worldwide. For contextual analysis of how the EU digital music market functions and its impact on the availability of Czech music in foreign online services, the authors compare these findings with results from their previous research on licensing in the audiovisual sector and its influence on the availability of Czech audiovisual content on online audiovisual services. The aim of this comparison is to describe differences and similarities between licensing regimes in both copyright-protected content markets and to identify the causes of better or worse international availability of Czech music and audiovisual content on digital services abroad.