Without proper license deals, the offer, which is in its early planning stages, wouldn’t be viable, says a trade group.
The U.K. music industry’s trade group has warned the BBC about a music streaming service planned by the British public broadcaster, saying it must be underpinned by proper royalty deals.
BBC director Tony Hall on Monday announced plans for a service that would offer about 50,000 tracks for a limited time after they are played on BBC radio or TV stations.
“Audiences would be able to access this music via playlists curated by the BBC, and they would be able to build their own playlists,” the BBC had said.
U.K. music industry body BPI expressed some worries about the plans. “The starting point for some of the BBC’s suggestions, around how such a service might work, involved launching such a service but paying no money for it,” CEO Geoff Taylor said, according to music business strategy and information company Music Ally. “I just don’t think that’s viable.”
He added: “There will have to be a sensible deal behind it if it is going to happen.”
The BBC said it plans to use the music service as a champion of British music, saying: “We are working with the industry to develop this proposal in a way that achieves that objective.”
