A proposal to revise music service fees has been promoted, raising the possibility of a significant increase in consumer prices.

According to related IT industry sources on the 10th, domestic copyright management organizations such as the Korea Music Copyright Association recently submitted a proposed amendment to the 'Music Transmission Usage Fee Collection Regulations' to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The proposed amendment is based on increasing the revenue share for music creators in the prices of music service products currently sold by major music providers such as Melon (Kakao Music), Genie, Olleh Music, and Bugs.

If the amendment is passed, the creator's share will increase from the current 60% (based on streaming services) to 73%.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is reportedly showing a positive response to the proposed amendment.

The problem is that this is likely to lead to an increase in consumer prices.

An industry official stated in relation to this, "Currently, 40% of the industry is the minimum cost for providing platforms for server management and other uses," and added, "A significant increase in consumer prices is unavoidable."

According to the explanation, if the amendment is implemented as proposed, a 30-song download product, currently around 9,000 won, could increase to a maximum of 16,000 won, and unlimited streaming products, currently around 10,000 won, could surge by more than three times to a maximum of 34,000 won.

 

These are English translations of articles from our GTTOUR Japanese website.