Wednesday, July 20, 2016

“VKontakte” promised to provide free listening to music – RBC

Photo: Yekaterina Kuzmina / RBC

After as the social network has agreed to the legalization of music with all the major studios, in “VKontakte” can appear and pay functions for sharing audio content. This will happen before the end of 2016, hoping to rights holders

The largest Russian social network “VKontakte” has no plans to introduce a fee for listening to audio in mobile VK applications for operating systems iOS, Android and Windows Phone, and on the desktop. On Wednesday, July 20, RBC spokesman “VKontakte” Evgeny Krasnikov.

On the possibility of the introduction of value-added functions relating to the playback of music in the social network, at the round table in the framework of “VKontakte” Festival 16 July said the representatives of music studios, major labels – Universal music Russia, Warner music Russia and Sony music Russia. According to their forecasts, before the end of 2016 “VKontakte” will have new options for users, through which the content will be monetized.

«That functionality that we are now discussing with the” VKontakte “, involves the preservation of the free model streaming that is, the music is free, but will have an additional functionality of the service, which will be available for the money & lt; … & gt; playlists, caching, and a number of additional features, “- said CEO of Warner Music Russia Alexander Blinov. According to head of the Russian division of Sony Music Entertainment Arina Dmitrieva, it is, for example, the “search the whole the album discography by artists.” “I like music fans would like to receive information on a single, a description of the artist, and it’s all right now will appear, and the service will be steeper,” – she added. New features will be paid and available to users under the subscription model, Dmitrieva clarified.

Will there be paid features in mobile applications, “VKontakte” and on the desktop, representatives of rightholders and “VKontakte” at the round table did not specify.

July 16 Mail.Ru Group, which owns the “VKontakte”, and United music Agency (UMA, is engaged in “cleaning” the rights to the music in the online services of Internet holding company) signed an agreement on the licensing of audio and video content with the latter three majors – Universal Music Group (UMG). Under the agreement, Mail.Ru Group may use the legal owner of all content on the sites, particularly social networks “VKontakte”, “Classmates” and “My World”. Thus, in the application “VKontakte” in the iOS operating system-based return music: in February 2015, Apple removed the social network from the AppStore application for copyright infringement, then the “VKontakte” to return to the store, had to be removed from the music section of the application <. / p>

Even before the world with UMG in the social network appeared the first legal music application for mobile devices on iOS «Music VKontakte” – it was presented in April 2016. While in the application can free save 60 minutes of music per month (about 11 songs), ways to monetize the social network has not yet been disclosed. Leaders music majors did not say how much it could cost subscription to “VKontakte”. However, Blinov of Warner Music Russia noted that Russia is the low cost of subscription to the music in the world: “We have a subscription for a month is equal to the cost of a cup of coffee.” Earlier, a source of the newspaper “Vedomosti” close to shareholders “VKontakte”, specified that the price will be “significantly below” market. For example, the Apple Music subscription service manages users in 169 rubles. per month (after a trial period of three months), on the Google Play Music – 159 rubles. per month.

In addition to the agreement on the licensing of music “VKontakte” and Universal Music have signed an amicable agreement on the settlement of litigation. For social networks, this means the end of many years of disputes with the owners. In April, “VKontakte” this year signed a similar settlement agreement and a cooperation agreement with Warner Music, and in summer 2015 – with Sony Music. All three studios filed lawsuits against the social network in connection with the illegal use of the compositions belonging to them in the spring of 2014. The total amount of claims for the violation of the rights to phonogram three majors was 51 million rubles.

Director General of “VKontakte” Boris Dobrodeev described the signing of an agreement with Universal Music «a historic moment.” A CEO of the National Federation of Music Industry (together the leading rights holders and struggles with illegal distribution of music) Leonid Agronov in conversation with RBC noted that legalization of music in “VKontakte” means the elimination of 95% of music piracy in RuNet. The amount of Mail.Ru Group contracts with the owners was not disclosed. Sources of the newspaper “Vedomosti” told earlier that only with Universal Music, he will be about $ 8 million over three years – this is the amount of the minimum guarantees that the right holder receives for the fact of the use of music. The whole trio music majors Internet holding company can pay $ 7 million per year, despite the fact that the contracts themselves are designed for three years, wrote “Vedomosti”. Also, licensing contracts involve revenue sharing, if Mail.Ru Group will earn on advertising or subscription model.

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