The CEO of the Ivors Academy – the umbrella organisation for songwriters in the UK – has threatened that the organisation could call for legislative action to ensure that publishers gain a fair share of increased digital revenue.
Roberto Neri issued a statement saying that: “Publishers are important partners for songwriters and composers, yet their ability to secure fair revenues is often constrained. Record labels typically negotiate with digital service providers first, leaving publishers to compete for a smaller share of revenue allocated to the song. This imbalance must be corrected to ensure digital revenues are distributed more fairly.”
He underlined the Ivors Academy’s determination to advocate for “streaming models that fairly value compositions and provide equitable royalties to songwriters and composers” as well as for transparency in AI music and protections for musicians.
“We are working with industry partners to ensure transparency in AI-generated music and robust protections against the unauthorised use of songwriters’ work,” Neri said, before warning: “If industry solutions on AI fall short, we are prepared to call for legislative action.”
Neri’s statement comes a day after the publication of This Is Music 2024 report. Published by the industry body UK Music, this is an annual report that analyses the economic contribution of the music industry. Containing figures for 2023, it showed a UK music sector that continued to bounce back from Covid.
The key stats are that the music industry added £7.6 billion of ‘Gross Value Added’ (GVA) to the economy, which was up 13% on 2022’s figure of £6.7 billion. UK music exports revenue grew by 15% to £4.6 billion, and the number of full-time equivalent jobs in the industry grew by 3% to a record high of 216,000.
Let’s hold the champagne though. The report also flagged up a number of challenges and threats. These will be all-too familiar to those at the sharp end – the closures of grassroots venues and festivals, a declining global stream share of British artists and yes Brexit – the national folly which, with its added red tape and increased costs, continues to act as a dead weight around any UK artist who wants to play and sell their music in mainland Europe.
Then there’s AI, which the Ivors Academy sees as the greatest threat to musicians, songwriters and indeed the whole music industry. “Unauthorised use of songwriters’ work to train AI models that then compete with their music, and a lack of transparency in AI-generated music pose significant challenges,” says Neri. “To address these threats, we need robust protections for creators while ensuring AI tools are used ethically and transparently.” Whether the tech companies will put those protections in voluntarily remains very much in doubt...
