#Paysongwriters

#PaySongwriters is a campaign started by The Ivors Academy; they exclaim songwriters are not paid accordingly for their time and services. The Ivors Academy is an association for songwriters in Europe. Ivors Academy assists, safeguard and campaign for the interests of songwriters. Ivors Academy claim “Music streaming is fundamentally unfair and needs reform. We are campaigning to Fix Streaming”. With the recent pandemic people have struggled to make money. With festivals and concerts being cancelled one of the incomes Songwriters relied on is streaming. Streaming does not compensate the songwriters efficiently.  Rishi Sunak who is a member of the conservative party said people of performing arts should “should retrain and find other jobs”.  This is the unappreciative mind-set of people with power to change the way songwriters are compensated think. Many individuals from the global music industry have marked an open letter to record companies demanding improved monetary treatment. Over 2,000 songwriters and artists have signed the open letter.  Autumn Rowe who has written for Dua Lipa and The Saturdays signed this petition. Jimmy Napes who has written for Sam Smith, Madonna, Stormzy and Taylor Swift also signed the petition.  Powerful Songwriters in the music scene are backing this movement.

 

There are a few ways songwriters can make money-

Mechanical Royalty – mechanical royalty is from the sale of a song purchased physically or digitally. The percentage of the sale Songwriters receive is set by a Copyright Royalty Board. The board meet every five years to set rates.

Performance Royalty – A Songwriter receives a performance royalty when their song is performed on the radio, live performance venue and played on digital streaming platforms.

Synch Fees – Songwriters receive a synch fee when the song is licensed for use of videos i.e. TV, film and video gaming. This royalty is freely negotiated in the marketplace and is typically split 50% to the writers and 50% to the artist and record companies.

 

The Ivors Academy has two requests with this campaign which are:

“Pay writers a minimum daily allowance of £75 / $120 to each songwriter working with an artist to cover expenses. The allowance would be non-recoupable from the artist share”.

“Give writers at least four points (4% of the masters) on the master from the label share. These points should be on net revenue and shared amongst the non-performing songwriters on a record”.

There have been a few notable Singer/Songwriters who have spoken out about this cause.

Eyelar who is a Dutch Born Singer/Songwriters said “We are songwriters, in the room, dedicating our time and minds to the importance of the song and the artist. How can we do that the best we can when we only get paid if a song gets played on the radio, if a song gets big sync, etc. If we don’t get paid for our time, and only get paid on the performance of the song, how can we make it a welcoming place for new talent?” In her quote, she speaks about the future of music if songwriters do not receive better treatment. If this campaign fails to be heard by record companies and government bodies, the future of music does not look promising. The biggest acts in music have been documented working with writers. From the Queen of Pop Beyoncé to global superstars like Lady Gaga. Without Songwriters music will die.

 

#PaySongwriters

Link for the Petition

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdvN2FGMlD6M8hvxnJLW0bax7AqlruWorhiVifDsW0NB4O-Gw/viewform