Not empty “Sound” – Kommersant

The catalog of the music service “Zvuk”, which previously belonged to Sberbank, has new compositions from foreign major labels that have stopped work in Russia. Among them are the latest albums by Harry Styles (Sony Music), Cigarettes After Sex, Taylor Swift (Universal Music), Gorillaz (Warner Music) and others. Last year, Zvuk allowed artists to upload their work to the platform, bypassing a distributor: this, according to market participants, could be used by pirates. But lawyers allow for a variant in which a company from another country could obtain a license for new items with the right to distribute in Russia.

The catalog of the Russian music streaming service Zvuk began to replenish with compositions of foreign labels that left Russia, Kommersant drew attention. So, in the library of the service since spring, you can find the latest albums by Ariana Grande, The Weeknd, Taylor Swift, Demi Lovato (Universal Music Group label), Harry Styles, Maneskin, Grimes (Sony Music Entertainment), Lizzo, Gorillaz, Green Day (Warner Music Group), which are not available on other platforms – “VK Music”, “Yandex. Music”, “MTS Music”. In “Sound” they did not explain to “Kommersant” on what grounds the tracks ended up on the platform.

In August 2022, Sound provided musicians with the opportunity to upload works directly to the audio service through their personal account. The interlocutors of Kommersant in the market of streaming services admit that pirates could use the tool: “New items are accompanied by all the necessary design, including covers.” In the event that copyright holders complain about the platform, the tracks will likely be removed, Kommersant sources say: “These are the risks that streaming takes on, in an environment where catalogs are reduced, so it can attract subscribers.”

There is no such functionality on other platforms yet: in order for the artist’s official release to appear on VKontakte and in the separate VK Music application, it must be placed using one of the partner distributors, Yandex. Music” and MTS Music. However, Yandex has already tested the ability to allow users to add their own music to the public catalog (see Kommersant dated November 7, 2022). The VKontakte social network also has the ability to add songs to the service, but the tracks do not become publicly available.

Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Music suspended their work in Russia after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine in February 2022: major labels stopped entering into new contracts with Russian artists and limited the access of domestic streamers to foreign news. Only a few artists, for example, the British rock band Pink Floyd and one of its leaders, David Gilmour, reported about the removal of old songs from the catalogs of services until the fall. However, in October, catalogs began to decline rapidly (see Kommersant dated October 4, 2022).

As a result, according to analysts and distributors, in 2022 the music streaming market in Russia showed a decline for the first time (see Kommersant on February 2). In 2023, according to the services themselves, the segment can grow by 15–20%. But this can be prevented by pirated music applications, as well as services that allow you to buy subscriptions to Spotify, which has stopped working in Russia (see “Kommersant” dated April 4).

“First you need to understand the reasons for the appearance of tracks in the library. This is not necessarily piracy, various schemes are possible, including legal ones,” emphasizes Boris Edidin, Deputy Chairman of the Commission for the Legal Support of the Digital Economy of the Moscow Branch of the Russian Bar Association. According to him, a company from another country with the right to distribute on the territory of the Russian Federation can obtain a license for new items. Another option may be to determine the territory of distribution – by regions or continents without reference to the names of states.

Yulia Tishina, Yulia Yurasova