Blog

In the week where recorded music companies hit stellar valuations due to the streaming boom, we are pleased to see that the systematic inequalities faced by generations of artists, songwriters and musicians, which were highlighted by this groundbreaking inquiry are now being acknowledged by the Government. It’s encouraging to see the Government agree that regulatory frameworks, including copyright laws, have not kept pace with the changes brought about by streaming.

As the FAC and MMF have continually advocated through our Dissecting the Digital Dollar work, addressing these issues will require both legislation and industry change.

On this front, we are especially pleased that the majority of arguments detailed in our recent White Paper have been acknowledged. We fully support the push for a full-blown investigation of the recorded music market by the Competition & Markets Authority building on their recent work with AWAL and Sony.  We also have long called for the creation of an industry forum overseen by Government – now called the ‘contact group’ – to drive forward changes across the recorded and publishing sectors in areas such as contracts, licensing, transparency and welfare. 

However, we find it a pity that the issues around royalty chains, transparency and black box distribution have not been adequately acknowledged, as current legislation overseeing CMOs is ineffective. We hope that these can be explored further within the contact group. 

The Government using its influence to pressure our sector to agree to a modern code of practice covering all these issues would be a big leap forward and, as part of the contact group, both the FAC and MMF stand ready to contribute.