Music Contracts in the Streaming Age

This book is for anyone who wants to know how the music streaming industry works, how the law seeks to counter the weaker bargaining position of musicians when they enter into a contract with a label or a music publisher and how we can make the contractual playing-field more level.

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This book focuses on music industry contracts and the contractual dynamics between composing and/or performing musicians and their primary partners in the digitised music industry, namely music publishers and record companies, taking account of the ubiquitous nature of music streaming. It focuses on the question of how the legal framework intervenes and should intervene in such contracts, both in theory and in practice. Its objective is to contribute to a level playing field that counteracts the imbalance in bargaining power between musicians and their corporate partners in a proportionate way. The book draws upon an analysis of copyright contract law at the European Union and national level, as well as relevant principles of general contract law, competition law and related applicable rules that curb business-to-business contract terms and trade practices characterised as unreasonable. The book studies the applicable legal framework in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.This title is part of the Flip it Open Programme and may also be available Open Access. Check our website Cambridge Core for details.