9 July 2012

Study reveals business and emotional benefits of playing music in the workplace

Music is a great leveller. Old, young, rich or poor – most of us enjoy listening to a few tunes. It relaxes us, sets a tone – and can even make us happier and more productive.
And you don’t have to take our word for it. A new study of some 1 000 companies in the UK has revealed that around three quarters of business leaders think music at work is a good idea for both staff and customers – raising morale and creating a better atmosphere.
Pub, club and bar owners are the biggest advocates of music in the workplace. A remarkable 93% swear by playing tunes to keep staff and customers happy – and over half would rather shut up shop for a day than work in a silent environment.
And music is good for productivity too. Most of those surveyed believe that worker output increases if music is playing – a trend that is shared across all industries. Now that’s heartening news in today’s current economic climate!

Here are some more of the concrete results that emerged from the study:

• Over half of retailers think work place music can boost sales. That figure stands at 73% for pub owners!
• 64% of factory owners think music encourages team work and bonding.
• 88% of pub owners think music makes socialising easier, filling the gaps in those awkward silences.

The survey was carried out by the PRS for Music and PPL. Both organisations license the use of music and collect royalties for the music industry, but they represent different rights holders and grant separate licences. These two companies work together to raise awareness of the business and emotional benefits of playing music at work – and make sure employers understand the legal obligations they must fulfill, namely obtaining a license for the music they wish to play.
Music licenses ensure artists get paid for the entertainment they bring. No one should have to work for free and music licenses – administered by collecting societies – are there to make sure ¬artists don’t have to.
You can find more information on the study – and the benefits music brings to the workplace – by checking out www.musicworksforyou.com – a site dedicated to explaining the financial and economic gains music can bring.

Policies

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence brings about many new opportunities for our lives, including in the field of culture and creativity, but its applications also raise a number of ethical and legal questions due to their wide-spread uncontrolled and unchecked usage.

Policies

Music Streaming

Music streaming has unquestionably become the predominant means of enjoying music, replacing traditional physical media and expanded far beyond the live sector by providing user-friendly, high quality, and affordable access to the largest possible repertoire anytime, anywhere, online, or offline.

Songs and compositions are at the heart of this thriving market, which counts 524 million users on subscription-based music services globally, reaches more than 2 billion users including the streaming on UGC platforms, and offers more than 70 million tracks from approximately 8 million artists.

Yet, the authors and composers cannot benefit adequately from this success, and the debate over unfairness of this market is gaining traction across Europe and around the world.

There is a need to look more closely at how songwriters and composers are connected to this thriving economy and what can be done to improve their currently neglected situation.

Read below to find out more about the Music Streaming market.

Policies

Buy-out contracts: a dangerous threat to European creators

European music creators (composers, lyricists etc.) are being forced to forsake thousands of euros in future earnings by draconian ‘work made for hire’ (WMH) and buy-out contracts.

Online audiovisual services and broadcasters that are mainly US-based are forcing music creators to accept such contracts, which enforce a one-time payment in exchange for their rights.

Given the worldwide popularity of shows and series on platforms like Netflix, Amazon, Disney etc., and their replay value, the audiovisual market represents an important revenue stream for creators. Soundtracks alone are part and parcel of series and often attract a similar amount of popularity, massively boosting sales, streams and the worldwide fanbase of their authors.

Read below to find out how video on demand (VOD) platforms and broadcasters are circumventing EU law and what can be done about it.

Policies

Authors’ societies & the collective management model

Authors’ societies are hugely beneficial to both authors (creators), users (platforms and services), and the broader public.

Beyond benefiting these different groups, authors’ societies also support the broader cultural ecosystem by funding and promoting cultural and creative initiatives.

Below are five key benefits to authors’ societies and the collective management model.

Policies

The Copyright Directive

In April 2019, the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market was formally adopted, a change that will positively transform authors’ rights throughout the EU. Each member state now has until 7 June 2021 to transpose the Directive into their respective national law.

This reform is an opportunity to address pressing issues for authors in the Digital Single Market and will promote the growth of Europe’s creative and cultural industries (CCIs) – a major driver of Europe’s economy.

One of the biggest achievements of this new piece of legislation was to address the
‘Transfer of Value’ problem, a priority issue for all European creators.

Below are some of the Directive’s key areas that will affect creators and those who profit from their work.