Open catalog – Newspaper Kommersant No. 205 (7406) dated 11/07/2022

“Yandex.Music” may allow users to add their own music to the general catalog, Kommersant’s sources told. This possibility is being tested in the context of a reduction in the service’s media library against the backdrop of the departure of foreign labels after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine. Usually, music services don’t combine user-generated content with licensed music, but there are exceptions, such as SoundCloud. The Yandex initiative is unlikely to lead to a conflict between the platform and distributors, but it will not be popular either, experts believe.

Yandex is testing uploading user-generated content (UGC) to the Yandex.Music streaming service, three sources in the music industry told Kommersant. According to them, the company is exploring the possibility of uploading music to the public, while the downloaded tracks will be checked for copyright compliance and marked as user. Yandex did not comment on this information.

At the expense of UGC, Yandex expects to expand the music catalog, which has been reduced due to the consequences of Russia’s military actions in Ukraine, one of Kommersant’s sources says.

Sony Music, WARP and others remove their music from Russian streaming services (see “Kommersant” dated October 4), as well as individual artists such as the rock band Pink Floyd.

Most music streaming services do not allow users to directly upload their tracks for public listening. To get into their catalogs without a label deal, artists must use digital distribution platforms (like TuneCore or Zvonko Digital).

Among the popular platforms, the German SoundCloud is an exception, positioning itself as a platform for independent artists. The professional use of such services involves a commission or payment at a rate. On SoundCloud, a music download subscription is charged independently of a listening subscription.

By itself, the ability to upload tracks to the Yandex streaming service appeared back in 2017, but such recordings do not fall into the general catalog.

The function is intended “for listening to music purchased on other platforms, downloading your own tracks and other similar scenarios,” Kommersant was told in the company’s press service. You can add custom audio recordings on VKontakte, however, they are separate from the licensed content available on VK Music.

Streaming services “are trying to work on a hybrid model” – that is, both cooperate with content distributors and distribute it on their own, says Sergey Babich, producer of the Colisium International Music Forum: “If user tracks are not monetized, then Yandex is unlikely to ruin relations with distributors “. But, in his opinion, in this form, the function will only be of interest to small music communities and niche artists, “who have two or three hundred fans.”

The function can become popular among aspiring artists if Yandex catalogs their tracks with high quality and promotes them through recommendations to users, Evgeny Safronov, editor-in-chief of the InterMedia agency, admits.

At the same time, he believes that user music for the most part is unlikely to be of interest to the listener: “All the music in demand, on which you can at least earn something, has already been signed by labels and is placed by them in Yandex.Music.” He also admitted that Yandex would have to resolve new conflicts for him – for example, about music from artists who first uploaded it to the service themselves, and then signed a contract with the label.

Both in Russia and in the world there are quite a lot of platforms that allow you to post copyright content, the scheme for combating the uploading of pirated records to Yandex.Music is unlikely to differ from the typical one for them, says Yury Fedyukin, managing partner of Enterprise Legal Solutions: “Usually platforms use pre-moderation and a system of sanctions up to a ban. He added that UGC services, unlike publishers, usually do not require the conclusion of contracts for the transfer of exclusive rights to a work.

Yuri Litvinenko, Yulia Tishina