来源：《卫报》
2020年12月26日
The music-streaming revolution has turned old songs into one of the world’s most precious commodities. Back catalogues are being mined on an industrial scale. When Bob Dylan sold all his work to Universal Music for an estimated $300m earlier this month, the company described it as “the most significant music publishing agreement this century”.
音乐流媒体革命把老歌变成了世界上最珍贵的商品之一。以往歌曲正在以工业规模被发掘。本月早些时候，鲍勃迪伦将自己的全部作品以3亿美元的价格卖给环球音乐，该公司称之为“本世纪最重要的音乐出版协议”。
Investors such as Hipgnosis Songs Fund are meanwhile hunting through the pop charts of the 1970s and 80s, looking for low-hanging fruit that can be streamed to a new generation. Songs from Blondie, Chrissie Hynde and, yes, Barry Manilow, have helped turn Hipgnosis into one of the top performers in the FTSE 250. Merck Mercuriadis, its founder, has said that proven songs are a better bet than oil or gold.
与此同时，Hipgnosis等投资机构正在搜寻上世纪70年代和80年代的流行音乐排行榜，寻找那些可以播放给年轻一代的唾手可得的作品。金发美女(Blondie)、克里希海德和巴里曼尼洛的歌曲，帮助Hipgnosis成为富时250指数成分股中表现最好的股票之一。该公司创始人默克墨库利亚迪斯曾表示，经过时间检验的歌曲是比石油或黄金更好的投资选择。
The music economy is heading into its own version of the roaring 20s. Streaming last year accounted for well over half of global music industry revenue. Successful subscription models have unlocked huge wealth for companies such as Spotify. After a year of rapid growth, the Swedish giant is now worth $60bn. Famous artists such as Dylan can more or less name their price, and investors are benefiting from the bull markets. Hipgnosis floated only two years ago, but has already reached a market capitalisation of $1.25bn. The major labels are making a good profit too. Universal, Sony and Warner were making almost $20m a day even before Covid accelerated the digitalisation of everyday life.
音乐经济正走向自己版本的“奔腾的20年代”。去年，流媒体音乐收入占全球音乐产业收入的一半以上。对于Spotify这样的公司来说，成功的订阅模式释放出了巨额的财富。经过一年的快速增长，这家瑞典巨头目前的市值为600亿美元。像迪伦这样的著名艺术家或多或少都能随意出价，而投资者正从牛市中获益。Hipgnosis两年前才上市，但市值已达到12.5亿美元。各大唱片公司的利润也很可观。甚至在新冠病毒加速日常生活的数字化之前，环球(Universal)、索尼(Sony)和华纳(Warner)每天就能挣到近2000万美元。
For most artists of the music industry, however, the outlook is very different. As Covid puts paid to the possibility of income from live performances and touring, the sheer inequity of the streaming economy has been thrown into sharp relief. Only a small fraction of total revenue makes its way to most artists. And songwriters, as opposed to performers, are at the very bottom of the heap.
然而，对于音乐界的大多数艺术家来说，前景却截然不同。随着新冠疫情使现场演出和巡演带来收入的可能性化为泡影，流媒体经济的绝对不公平愈发明显。只有一小部分收入流入了大多数普通艺人的腰包。而词曲作者，相对于表演者，处于最底层。
One leading songwriter said that the writers of some of Britain’s biggest hits were struggling to make ends meet. The singer Nadine Shah has also gone public about the dark side of the streaming boom. Ms Shah, who was nominated for the Mercury prize two years ago, revealed to the Guardian that she was making so little money from streaming that she had to move back in with her parents last summer.
一位著名词曲作者说，英国一些最热门歌曲的作者正在勉强维持生计。歌手纳丁沙阿也公开了流媒体热潮的阴暗面。沙阿两年前获得水星奖提名，她向《卫报》透露，她通过流媒体赚的钱太少了，去年夏天她不得不搬回父母家。
The digital-subscription model for consuming music is, of course, a huge improvement. For a while, piracy meant artists’ work was being enjoyed for free. But a new era requires a new deal for those whose creativity is generating such vast sums. It is not fair, for example, for the major labels to treat each play of a song as a sale rather than a broadcast, allowing them to avoid paying out royalties to artists. And efforts should be made to channel more money away from back catalogues to emerging talents, whose best work lies in the future rather than the past.
当然，消费音乐的数字订阅模式是一种巨大改进。有一段时间，盗版意味着艺术家的作品可以免费欣赏。但一个新时代需要对那些凭借创造力创造巨额财富的人采取新政。例如，让各大唱片公司把每首歌曲的播放视为销售而不是广播，从而避免向艺人支付版税，这是不公平的。同时，应该努力将更多的资金从过往歌曲转移到新人身上，因为他们最好的作品是在未来，而不是过去。
There’s nothing wrong with listening to a bit of Blondie now and then. But in the years to come, time and space should be made for new kids on the block.
时不时地听一点金发美女的歌没什么不对的。但在未来的几年里，应该为乐坛新人创造时间和空间。