Campaign calls on record labels to 'Pay Songwriters'

By Emmanuel Legrand

Over 2,500 songwriters, performers and industry executives have endorsed the “Pay Songwriters” campaign calling for record labels to better take into account the contributions of songwriters to the success of their artists.

  Swedish songwriter Helienne Lindvall, Chair of the Songwriter Committee & Board Director of The Ivors Academy of Music Creators, has penned “An Open Letter to Record Labels” in which she called for "a sustainable model of compensation for music writers that reduces the risk of writers quitting the business or taking on second jobs due to the increasing costs of operating."

  Lindvall noted in the letter that "100,000 streams of a song will not cover the price of a cup of coffee," when in turn the record industry has "experienced a huge upturn in revenues whilst songwriter profits have collapsed." 

Fixing the model

  Lindvall said that in there conditions, there is "a sincere danger that we may lose a whole class of writers before people truly comprehend the situation and the model is fixed."

  She proposed the following mechanisms to help songwriters enjoy a better share of the value they create:

  > Pay writers a per diem (a per day allowance) as a simple cost-covering exercise, when the presence of songwriters is necessary in studio or in a writing session with performers. 
"[We] believe paying a minimum per diem of £75 / $120 to each songwriter working with your artist would be a sensible and structure-preserving measure," writes Lindvall. This per diem would be non-recoupable from the artist share and should not be considered in any way as a "work-for-hire" upon which songwriters forfeit their rights.

  > Give writers points on the master from the label share. For Lindvall, this would "enable writers to be properly rewarded when their work is used, and to participate in the rewards of the success of your artists." A minimum of four points on net revenue to be shared among the non-performing songwriters on a record "would be a sensible and structure-preserving measure."

Covering songwriters' cost of working

  Speaking to Legrand Network, Lindvall said the project has been years in the making and is based on her own experience as a songwriter, being called to a studio, at her cost, and not having any financial compensation for showing up. "Labels sign artists and put them in a studio with songwriters to develop the sound of what the album should be," she said. 

  "But for songwriters, the cost of working is not necessarily covered. In the current situation this is unsustainable; that's why we think per diems are the solution. They cannot be confused with work-for-hire, and they are not so difficult to put in place and not prohibitive."

   She added that through discussions with "high-level managers to see how we could change the paradigm and make it better for songwriters," the idea of having points on the master to be shared with the non performers on the recording made economic sense.

  The letter was endorsed by the likes of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Don Black, Giorgio Moroder, Mikkel Eriksen of Stargate, Merck Mercuriadis of Hipgnosis Songs, Jess Glynne, Rick Nowels, Natalie Hemby, Robin Millar, among others. It has also been endorsed by Songwriters of North America (SONA) in the USA.

Negotiate with labels

  "We've had incredible response to the letter," said Lindvall. "Our goal was to bring the value of songwriters in the conversation. It's nice to see artists being supportive, and also see people such as Andrew Lloyd Webber supporting us. And the signatures keep coming."

  The next step, according to Lindvall, is to start a discussion with labels and see how these proposals can be implemented. "We want to help songwriters and managers have confidence when they enter the room for that conversation," said Lindvall.