Fair MusE calls for stronger EU action to improve transparency and fairness in digital music markets

Behind every stream, playlist and recommendation lies a web of data few creators or regulators can see. A new Policy Brief from the Fair MusE project argues that closing this transparency gap is essential for fair remuneration, accountable platforms and a healthier European music ecosystem, and sets out concrete steps for EU action.

Fairness in digital music markets will not be achieved without changes to how data, platforms and institutional governance interact in Europe. In a new Policy Brief, Fair MusE sets out a coordinated policy roadmap aimed at strengthening transparency, improving oversight and rebalancing power in a platform-driven music ecosystem.

Drawing on three years of legal, economic and technical research, the Policy Brief argues that many of today's debates about fairness in music streaming cannot be resolved without better access to data and clearer governance frameworks. While digital platforms have become central gatekeepers for music discovery and monetisation, key information about recommendation systems, visibility mechanisms and revenue flows remains largely inaccessible to creators, users and public authorities.

The brief highlights that this lack of transparency is not merely a technical issue, but a structural one. Fragmented metadata systems, proprietary data silos and uneven bargaining power continue to limit the ability of rightsholders, regulators and researchers to understand how value is created and distributed in the digital music economy. As a result, policy objectives related to fair remuneration, accountability and cultural diversity are difficult to monitor and enforce in practice.

Among its key recommendations, Fair MusE calls for stronger European coordination on music data governance, including clearer rules on access to platform data, improved interoperability of metadata systems, and more robust transparency obligations for dominant market actors. The Policy Brief also points to the need for institutional solutions, such as a European Music Observatory, to provide independent, evidence-based insight into market dynamics and platform practices over time.

In addition, the document stresses the importance of aligning copyright harmonisation and online enforcement, platform regulation and data policy. According to the authors, tackling issues such as unfair distribution of visibility, opaque recommendation systems or disputed remuneration flows requires a cross-cutting approach that goes beyond isolated regulatory interventions.

The Policy Brief builds on Fair MusE's broader research outputs, including the Music Data Dashboard and the Fairness Score, which explore both the possibilities and the limits of current data-driven approaches to transparency. Together, these tools underline a central message of the project: without structural access to reliable information, fairness in digital music markets cannot be meaningfully assessed or safeguarded.

The Fair MusE Policy Brief is intended to support ongoing discussions at European level on platform governance, cultural policy and digital regulation, and to provide policymakers with a practical, evidence-based roadmap for strengthening transparency and accountability in the music sector.

The full Policy Brief is now available here.

Credits:

Cover image: Photo by Guillaume Périgois on Unsplash

Contacts:

Coordinator: UCP, Giuseppe Mazziotti, gmazziotti@ucp.pt

Communication officer: ICONS, Cesar G. Crisosto, cesar.crisosto@icons.it

Website: https://fairmuse.eu/—LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fair-muse-project/

Provided by iCube Programme