The U.K. has created a Code of Good Practice on Transparency in Music Streaming to improve transparency around licensing and royalties that will take effect 7/31.

The Government’s Intellectual Property Office has oversight of the code, which has been developed and agreed by 12 music industry bodies.

It sets out agreed standards of good practice, forming part of a shared ambition across the music industry to build greater trust in music-maker contracts, streaming licensing deals, royalty payments, usage data, audit rights, and communication to music creators.

The code aims to help improve creators’ understanding of how their music is licensed, administered and used, helping build confidence and clarity that they are being paid correctly when their music is played via streaming services. It’s described as “a pledge from the music industry to a race to the top on transparency” and is said to be the first such commitment of its kind in the world.

Bodies who have signed up include label trade body BPI, the Association of Independent Music, retailers org ERA, the Music Managers Forum, PRO PRS for Music and the Musicians’ Union.

The agreement of the code is part of the commitment made by the Government in response to the recommendations of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee’s Inquiry into Music Streaming, which called for a “complete reset” of the recorded music industry.

After enacted, signatory organizations will meet every six months to consider how it’s working, with a formal review set for 2026.

The agreement “articulates what good practice looks like in terms of transparency and communication throughout the digital music supply chain,” said BPI Chief Exec Jo Twist. “This success builds meaningfully on the recent progress around metadata and other significant measures addressing creator concerns around music streaming.”

The Council of Music Makers—an umbrella body that reps various music creator orgs—welcomed the code, while calling the commitments “modest.” “It provides a framework that can be used to start tackling the ‘systemic lack of transparency’ in music streaming that was identified by the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee in 2021.

“Since then, the lack of transparency in streaming has increased, with individual streaming services announcing new business models, such as payment thresholds and spatial audio uplifts, developed without consultation with music-makers or their representatives, making it even harder to understand how they are paying through.

“We now need everyone working in the industry to fully embrace the code, and to go above and beyond in providing music-makers with the information they need to properly manage, understand and audit the digital side of their individual music-maker businesses.”