Today, the Swiss publicly funded broadcasting organisation SRG signed an agreement with multiple private publishers. In this agreement, the SRG makes a series of significant concessions to the private media corporations. Amongst them:
- Limited online text to 2400 characters
- Interactive and visual digital storytelling as an exception
- Significantly reduce the use of social media like Instagram or YouTube to distribute content
The SRG signed the agreement in exchange for the publishers’ promise to stand against the so-called „halving referendum“, which seeks to slash the broadcasting fees.
With these concessions, the SRG basically signed its own death sentence. While I’m not a fan of the big social media companies, they remain a vital channel to reach younger generations with high-quality content. Primarily because social content is not monetisable, private media usually produces forgettable slop.
The SRG is becoming increasingly less relevant due to its own misguided actions.
Swiss music will be impacted quickly
Over a year ago, I already wrote about the „halving referendum“ and its potential impact on the local music scene.
Janosch Troehler
However, even without the costs being cut through legislation, the impact will be felt. While many music formats may survive, they won’t be visible on social media anymore. People working for social-focused formats, which sometimes include local artists, will lose their jobs. Extensive festival reporting or snippets from essential events like the „Bounce CYPHER“ will be restricted to SRG’s channels if they are even continued in the first place. And a platform like mx3.ch, where the SRG is the majority stakeholder, could now also face an existential threat.
While radio remains a vital part of music’s revenue streams, the younger audience has moved away from it. And if the audio and visual content can no longer reach them on the platforms they use, building a fan base and showcasing yourselves to bookers becomes increasingly harder for musicians.
That’s what the SRG’s limited use of social media will ultimately mean for Swiss musicians: less exposure through their large social accounts.
And forget about private media actually picking up the ball here. They’ve abandoned serious music reporting a long time ago because it remained a niche interest and seemed non-essential to the business of selling ads.
Aside from the smaller, independent radio stations, the SRG was the last big media to truly champion Swiss music across various channels. This will not or cannot be compensated by any other offer on the market.
This is a massive loss for the local music scene.