Russian social networks introduce a paid subscription to music

Today it became known that “Vkontakte”, “Classmates” and “My World” introduce a paid subscription to music, they write “Vedomosti”. This was stated by a representative of Mail.ru Group, which owns all three social networks. The subscription works both in the web version and in the Boom application, which Mail.ru created along with United Media Agency (UMA). The agency works as an intermediary between the owner of social networks and rightholders.

It is worth noting that now in mobile applications of social networks it will be possible to listen to music only online, since caching is disabled. The only exception is the Boom application, which allows users to cache music tracks while listening to them offline. A source told Vedomosti that the lack of caching everywhere except for a special application is the wish of the right holders.

The fact is that they consider listening to offline music a function that should be available in a specialized application. Subscription will cost 149 rubles per month. It provides the ability to work immediately with all the services of the company.
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The introduction of a paid subscription does not mean that users have lost the ability to listen to music for free. The fact is that users who have purchased a subscription have additional features. For example, they can turn off audio ads on all platforms at once. Also in the paid version there is caching, so that you can listen to music without connecting to the network. Interestingly, in the iOS application, music caching disappeared in September 2016, when Vkontakte restored the music section after negotiations with the copyright holders.

A paid subscription became possible several years after the commencement of the Mail.ru Group negotiations with the right holders. The main purpose of the negotiations was to conclude an agreement with major music labels, including international companies and domestic publishers for licensing music. Previously, rights holders often accused Russian social networks of piracy. For example, the site "Vkontakte" for several years is in the list of pirated resources, which is the US trade mission.

According to experts, the total amount of contracts concluded by Mail.ru Group with publishers is about $ 8 million per year. This amount includes minimum guarantee payments that the right holder receives only for the right to use his music by third-party companies. In addition, Mail.ru Group will pay deductions to labels from each track lost on social networks. An additional source of profit - advertising placed in the tracks. Audio advertising is still working, but only in the web version. Although the developers have already promised that soon this type of advertising will appear in mobile applications.

In addition to music, now the social networks owned by Mail.ru Group are trying to work with a paid video subscription. Such a model is being tested by the social network Odnoklassniki.