Renting royalties: How the assetization of music copyrights contributes to inequality for musicians

Abstract

This study presents a critique of assetization in the music industry through a case study of royalty shares and their effect on musicians. A royalty share is a form of securitized music copyright that is packaged and sold as an investment asset to buyers on royalty sharing marketplaces (RSMs). Royalty shares represent an evolutionary step in financialization of music markets that contributes to deepening inequalities by transforming copyright ownership, introducing new kinds of socio-legal obligations between musicians and financial rentiers, and shifting the way recorded music is valued. Drawing on field ethnography at music industry trade events, qualitative interviews with RSM executives, and document analysis of corporate communication and music business trade press, this article answers the question: to what extent does the rise of assetized music copyrights traded on RSMs contribute to inequality for musicians. This article argues that the assetization of musical copyrights introduces new legal frameworks to exploit musicians while maintaining existing inequalities and poor working conditions in the music industries. The conclusion reflects on the consequences of royalty shares becoming more normalized in music markets and indicates directions for future research into the assetization of cultural production.

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