There is a bit of a gold rush in the music business these days. Berlin’s Soundcloud has been getting 60m $ in venture capital, Beats Electronics have invested heavily in their high profile music service that aims to tackle Spotify’s market dominance concerning stream subscription. From Apple’s iRadio to Google Play, everyone seems to need music to drive their business. With all that money floating around, we want to look at the cash flow. Who’s reaping the profits, who’s being left unpaid?

After years of decline the market for recorded music is on the upswing again. Music streaming subscription services are currently driving this positive development.With these new platforms new players have come into the market and some of the old ones seem well set-up, benefitting from their catalogues' value. How will this affect the music business, what are the impacts on the creative and independent stakeholders? Will Google’s YouTube soon swallow the whole streaming market anyway?

We are looking at the current and coming basic economic conditions of the music business. Following an introductory presentation by Sam Taylor (digital business strategist with CMU Insights/Unlimited Media) we will discuss these matters with Helen Smith, executive chair of the independent label organisation IMPALA.

The discussion will be hosted by Helienne Lindvall (songwriter, musician and columnist for the Guardian and Digital Music News).

Presented by Reeperbahn Festival.