APRA says streaming services should match Australian music quotas set for radio

APRA AMCOS has called on streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music to commit to a 25% Australian music quota on the playlists they curate.

If adhered to, the figure will bring the services in line with the 25% quota expected of commercial radio stations in Australia.

"We're in ongoing discussions with the major streaming services as to how they can better support Australian music and show their commitment to the market here, on their local platforms," incoming APRA CEO Dean Ormston told the ABC.

"We are calling for a minimum of 25 per cent Australian content on their own locally curated playlists."

The move comes after a recent announcement that APRA AMCOS, ARIA and CRA are set to begin meeting every month for the next 12 months to obtain and review airplay data – an acknowledgement how essential radio quotas are.

Last September, as the biz gathered in Brisbane for BIGSOUND, The Music Network had published an article alarmed that AMPCOM (Australian Music Performance Committee) which preiously monitered quotas had been quietly and effectively dismantled.

The independent sector took its figures on the issue to APRA AMCOS at BIGSOUND, which in turn sourced third party data from different sources to ascertain if there was a problem.

It showed that some stations were not compliant with the Code.

A report by former artist manager and publicist Chrissie Vincent, who is now head of entertainment management at Collarts (College of the Arts) in Melbourne.

Vincent began researching radio quotas as part of a masters thesis in 2014 by monitoring, data and was startled to find that in a typical week, Nova played 7% local in a 24 hour period, FOX 11%. KIISFM 13% and Triple M was 24%.

Her report stated: "Overall, during the week commencing June 5th to June 11th, 2017, between 6am and 6pm, Nova Melbourne played a total of 68 Australian songs compared to a staggering 437 American, 297 UK, 134 songs by artists of the European Union, 77 songs by Canadian acts and 20 artists from New Zealand.”

“I didn’t think figures were going to be that bad,” Vincent said. “They were definitely shocking.”

Vincent alerted both AIR and APRA AMCOS to the figures.