Over the past few months, the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes have sparked a public discourse about the urgent need for improved and fairer agreements in the film and TV industry. These agreements are a much needed adaptation to the immense transformation witnessed in the past decade, primarily fueled by the rapid rise and dominance of SVOD platforms including Netflix NFLX, -1.65%, Amazon Prime Video AMZN, +0.13%, Hulu, Disney+ DIS, -0.06%, Max, Apple TV+ AAPL, -1.04%, Paramount+ and others.
Looking back at the history of the entertainment industry, digital innovation has transformed both the music industry and the TV and film industry in similar ways. But the response has differed, with music often in the vanguard due to the more simplistic, audio-only format of music content . Now, streaming, digital and physical sales, airplay and other music data is used daily across the music business, from A&R to marketing departments, from live event promoters to independent artists, in order to make informed creative business decisions. This summer, for example, Taylor Swift is promoting a song from an album released four years ago as a radio single, with it just now reaching its peak on the charts.
Streaming services need that same information from their competitors if they want to have negotiation leverage with the creatives, whether they be established award winners or up-and-coming talent. This is not just about empowering one side, but about ensuring there is a level playing field for every participant from the largest studios and streamers to the up-and-coming actors and writers with dreams of making it big.