BPI boss Geoff Taylor has called on the BBC to focus on licensing deals for its planned music-streaming service, saying that any attempt to avoid paying royalties will not be “viable”.
The plans were announced in the broadcaster’s latest strategy document, published earlier this week, and will see a catalogue of around 50,000 tracks made available for streaming after they are played on BBC radio stations.
“The BBC is concerned that it may lose its audience share to the new additional services, particularly the on-demand ones. We understand why the BBC would want to be where the audience is, and make sure it is as relevant as possible – particularly to younger music fans,” said Taylor during the BPI’s annual general meeting in London this afternoon.
“If the BBC is going to launch such a service, then it needs to bring the industry with it. The starting point for some of the BBC’s suggestions around how such a service might work involved launching such a service but paying no money for it – and I just don’t think that’s viable.”
