Hiya! We’ve obtained some sizzling takes to dive into right this moment. Is the widespread, nearly obligatory use of RSS for podcasts a superb factor? Ought to songwriters (or Merck Mercuriadis) get an even bigger chunk of music streamers’ income? Is For All Mankind getting snubbed by the Emmys the peak of bullshit? Okay, that final one was a one-off, however let’s get into it.
To RSS, or to not RSS, that’s the query
Forgive me — I’ve been bingeing Slings and Arrows, and it’s bringing out my absolute worst theater lady impulses. Anyway, Mike Mignano, the Anchor co-founder who not too long ago left Spotify as the top of its podcasting tech stack, revealed a Medium publish on Wednesday that argues podcasting tech has been inhibited by its adherence to RSS as a regular. Podcast Twitter… had a lot of feelings.
Mignano mentioned that, whereas the widespread use of RSS has resulted in a wealth of various podcast apps, it disincentivizes innovation that might stray from RSS and doubtlessly push the medium ahead. “In some methods, this fragmentation is nice for customers, as a result of it means they’ve a ton of selection and suppleness in what product to make use of for his or her podcast listening,” he wrote. “However on the identical time, this fragmentation is dangerous for innovation, and makes it almost unattainable to innovate on experiences which are based mostly on RSS, which means the podcast listening expertise has remained stale and largely unchanged for nearly the whole lot of podcasting.”
He compares RSS to a different tech commonplace: SMS (textual content messaging). Whereas SMS is a regular, it doesn’t dominate digital message supply techniques. There’s additionally Apple’s iMessage, Snapchat, and Meta’s WhatsApp. All of them carry completely different options to the desk and, in mixture, make for a extra dynamic house than what podcasting is right this moment.
Some podcast tech freaks (that’s a time period of endearment, I promise) took umbrage with the concept that RSS doesn’t permit for innovation. Alberto Betella, co-founder of RSS.com, wrote his personal Medium publish in response, arguing that RSS has house for innovation with tags (additions that permit creators so as to add options like cowl artwork or specify a class) and, extra importantly, permits for an open podcast ecosystem relatively than one with proprietary tech owned by the large gamers like Apple and Spotify. “Utilizing innovation as an excuse to justify company technique is rarely a sensible choice,” Betella mentioned.
It’s an attention-grabbing debate, and I can’t say I do know the place precisely I land. One of the best factor about podcasting is its low barrier to entry, and the worst factor about podcasting can also be its low barrier to entry. Ease of use (and tech growth, apparently) with RSS is an enormous a part of that. I actually can’t think about what one other format would seem like, so I’m all ears if a few of you tech freaks (once more, a constructive factor!) have ideas.
The $8 billion music copyright case no one is speaking about and the way it impacts the podcasting biz
Together with me, apparently! Eriq Gardner wrote a deep dive for Puck a few case later this summer season that may resolve how a lot music streamers should pay in publishing royalties to songwriters (or those that personal songwriters’ copyrights). The choice, he wrote, “might resolve the destiny of Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Pandora, YouTube and extra.”
The Copyright Royalty Board will decide the share of income streamers should pay to cowl publishing royalties between 2023 and 2027, which proper now sits at 15.1 p.c. The streamers are angling for 10.5 p.c (the outdated price), whereas music publishers need 20 p.c. The distinction between these two extremes, Gardner says, accounts for $7.8 billion. Even when streaming is comparatively new for the music world, it boils all the way down to the identical outdated battle — artists accusing firms of creating ungodly quantities of cash off their work, firms claiming they’re the one cause why there’s cash to be made in music in any respect.
However within the age of streaming, it is a bit more sophisticated than simply artists vs. music firms. A major chunk of that publishing income goes to institutional traders which have snatched up publishing rights up to now few years from songwriters like Neil Younger and John Legend. And never all the streamers belong to music firms. Apple Music and Amazon Music every make up a small slice of their respective trillion-dollar mum or dad firms. Even when Apple and Amazon every need to pay a billion {dollars} or so extra between 2023 and 2027 than they have been initially planning, that may be a rounding error. The “destiny” of these firms shall be comparatively unaltered.
The scenario is completely different for Spotify and Pandora, which have a lot much less room for shock prices than the goliaths. Music is the very core of their companies, and a price improve would hit them a lot tougher. However that’s the reason each Spotify and Pandora mum or dad SiriusXM are investing closely in podcasting. For now (spoken-rights publishing squabbles however), podcasting is less expensive than the outdated, costly, and extremely regulated music enterprise. What occurs within the music trade essentially impacts how a lot effort and cash firms are prepared to place behind podcasts.
Canada to increase size of copyright
Talking of copyright, laws in Canada to increase copyright to the lifetime of the writer plus 70 years has obtained royal assent, which is the final step essential earlier than it turns into legislation. Below the Canada-United States-Mexico Settlement, Canada was obligated to alter its copyright commonplace to match that of the US. A date for when that may happen has not but been set, however in response to the settlement, it must occur by the tip of the 12 months.
Canada’s copyright commonplace is at the moment the lifetime of the writer plus 50 years. That 20-year hole implies that some properties are within the public area in Canada however not within the US (or within the EU, for that matter). Copyright size disparities could make operations for leisure firms harder, though some argue that it’s higher to have extra content material within the public area.
See you tomorrow! Hopefully — I’ll be on a aircraft to San Francisco, so ideas and prayers on the Wi-Fi scenario, please.
