By Karl Quinn and David Crowe
Music streamers in Australia could be forced to change their algorithms to ensure Australian artists and songs are more prominent, federal arts minister Tony Burke has suggested.
Having made clear his intention to impose local content quotas on video streaming services with the launch of the government’s national cultural policy on Monday, Burke used his speech at the National Press Club on Wednesday to open a new front in the campaign: music.
Tkay Maidza, Flume and Amy Taylor from Amyl and the Sniffers.Credit: Rick Clifford/Dominic Lorrimer/Rhett Wyman
Though the policy document, titled Revive, does not address music streaming directly, it does flag the imminent creation of a new body, Music Australia, “to support the Australian music industry to grow, including through strategic initiatives and industry partnerships, research, skills development and export promotion”.
Asked at the National Press Club for his view of music streaming and the possibility of seeking better terms for Australian artists on such platforms, Burke said “Music Australia could address this”.
Naming Spotify and Apple Music specifically, Burke did not specify a quota directly. However, he did question how their algorithms worked, and the impact they have on the visibility and discoverability of Australian artists.
“Play an Australian album on one of those and have the feature on that it keeps choosing music for you after, and by the third or fourth song, if you haven’t gone to North America in the choices it’s taken you to, then you’re getting a different experience to what I get.” he said.
“The [music] streaming services don’t only have available what you might choose – they also push music to you,” he said.
“Getting inside those algorithms, and getting a better deal for Australian music, will make a huge difference for Australian artists. But I need the expertise and the advice of Music Australia for us to be able to take that next step.”
The importance of music streaming to artists’ profile and income is enormous. Revive claims 67 per cent of music in Australia was consumed through online streaming services in 2021. Steps to elevate Australian artists’ share of that listening could have significant results.
But any attempt to regulate what music is prioritised in suggested listening for users would have to extend beyond Spotify, Apple Music and the like. It would also need to consider Google-owned YouTube and the Chinese-backed TikTok – which is where 60 per cent of 16- to 19-year-olds in Australia found new music in 2021 (again, according to Revive, citing research from the Australian Communications and Media Authority).
Whatever the challenges that going head-to-head with some of the world’s largest tech companies might present, Burke is not alone in thinking some sort of action is necessary.
Annabelle Herd, chief executive of the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), said it was essential to “pay close attention to what streaming platforms and the algorithms do to promote discovery of and listening” to new music and Australian artists.
“This is an urgent problem that requires an urgent focus and response from government, industry and the streaming companies,” she said.
APRA/AMCOS, which represents music songwriters and publishers, has in the past argued for a 25 per cent Australian content quota on the streaming services.
Burke might also find an unlikely ally in Sir Lucien Grainge, the London-based head of Universal Music Group, the biggest music company in the world.
Writing to his staff last month, Grainge said the economic model for streaming needs to evolve. He promised that Universal – which is a part owner of Spotify – would work to foster “a healthier, more competitive music ecosystem, one in which great music, no matter where it’s from, is easily and clearly accessible for fans to discover and enjoy … and one where the creators … are fairly compensated.”
Email the author at kquinn@theage.com.au, or follow him on Facebook at karlquinnjournalist and on Twitter @karlkwin.
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