The UK's Ivors Academy and Musicians' Union launch 'fix streaming now' campaign

By Emmanuel Legrand

The UK's Ivors Academy and Musicians’ Union have joined forces to 'fix streaming now' as part of the Keep Music Alive campaign. 

  The two organisations, that represent thousands of British songwriters, composers and musicians, have called for industry stakeholders "to come together to agree an equitable, sustainable and transparent model for royalty distribution in the streaming era."

Time for a new model

  Fairness is 'the key issue" behind the Ivors and MU calls for a government-backed review. Questions that the conversation about the reforms necessary to fix streaming for the future should include:

- What should be a fair split of streaming revenue for labels, artists, performers, songwriters and publishers?

- Why is subscription revenue being paid to music that the user has never listened to?

- Why is there a streaming black box and why is it being paid to the most popular music?

- Why are non-featured performers excluded from streaming royalties?

- Why aren’t collecting societies being more active and transparent in licensing and distributing streaming royalties?

- Do we need more regulation of the streaming market?

  “If people knew how little of the money they pay for music actually goes to the music creators they would be shocked," said Crispin Hunt, Chair of the Ivors Academy. "Donations are essential at this time because the hardship is real. But why are songwriters and composers being given donations when others make billions on their creativity? We cannot go back to the old, broken industry when the immediate crisis is over. It’s time to create something that works for everyone.”

Fight for a fair share

  As a first step, the two organisations have set up a petition calling on Government "to urgently undertake a review of streaming to ensure that the music ecosystem is transparent and fair." The petition has received so far support from close to 10,000 people.

  "It's high time that the people who create the music receive a fair share of the profits," said MU's general secretary Horace Trubridge, explaining the reason he signed for the petition.

  The organisations claim that the crisis "has brought into sharp relief the fact that creators and performers are sustained primarily by income generated by the live side of the music business and that streaming royalties are woefully insufficient."

A defining moment

  MU members have reported over £21m of lost income since the Covid-19 lockdown came into force and members of The Ivors Academy anticipate a loss of £25,000 per person over a six-month period.

  According to their calculations, It would take 62 million Spotify streams to break even on a £25,000 loss, "a figure that is unattainable for most music creators."

  Graham Davies, CEO of the Ivors Academy, said that consumers "want their £9.99 a month to be paid to the artists, performers, songwriters and composers of the music they love."

The Ivors' Graham Davies

  “This is a defining moment for the music industry," said Davies. "Music creators are clear that the industry must change. The current models are broken. It is wrong for a few corporations to make billions from streaming while thousands of creators seek hardship support as their livelihoods evaporate."

Review the streaming market

  Added Davies: "We are joining forces with the Musicians’ Union to make a powerful statement that change is coming. We encourage everyone who wants to see positive change, that builds a strong and sustainable industry for all, to join our campaign and sign the petition. We must keep music alive.”      

  Naomi Pohl, Deputy General Secretary of the MU, added: "We have been asking for a fairer deal on streaming for years and it is long overdue. Our members can no longer accept the record labels taking the biggest share of income. We have to fix streaming now.”  

   Davies said in a blogpost that it was important for the UK government to help the industry review the functioning of the streaming market. “This is because Covid-19 has prompted an important moment -- a moment of scrutiny and recognition amongst music makers, music lovers and industry players that there is a lack of balance in the industry. Specifically, there is a disconnect between perceptions that all are benefiting from the huge riches streaming brings, with the reality that many music makers need hardship support."    

A better split of value    

  Davies pointed to recent announcements from trade organisation the BPI that revenues were up by 7.3% in the UK year on year, fuelled by streaming, and from the IFPI reporting that 56% of $20bn global revenues last year came from streaming.    

  “It is great to see the industry returning to profit and streaming driving this growth, said Davies. "But these profits and the bright future will not be enjoyed by the vast majority of music makers."    

  Concluded Davies: “Many in the industry now see the benefits of moving to a more progressive model. We invite all sections of the industry to add their names to the petition and contribute to the discussion.”