Artists, Managers and Performers alliance (AMP) calls for 50/50 split on streaming royalties
AMP (Artists, Managers, Performers), the recently formed alliance between the Musicians’ Union, the Music Managers’ Forum and the Featured Artists Coalition, is calling for streaming royalties to be split equally between the artist and the label in a submission to the EU consultation on copyright.
AMP argues that streaming is not a sale in the traditional sense and does not involve any of the associated costs for the label. The alliance believes paying streaming royalties on a sales basis, the current standard practice, makes no sense and is unfair to the artists.
Jon Webster, CEO of the Music Managers’ Forum:
“The MMF have long campaigned for digital services to be treated differently from analogue, so we are obviously pleased to support the call for an equitable rate for artists and performers when dealing with streaming income.”
John Smith, General Secretary of the Musicians’ Union:
“It is no longer necessary for a record company to pay to manufacture, store and distribute physical product. In the pre-digital era, artists understood that these costs went some way to justifying the low royalty rate. There are none of these costs associated with streaming, so why are the labels paying a royalty based on a physical sale?”
Crispin Hunt, Co-CEO of the Featured Artists Coalition:
“Musical artists’ royalty rates must be modernised to reflect the digital environment in which their music is now largely consumed. The FAC joins AMP in calling for artists to be accounted to with complete transparency at an equitable rate on all digital income, including advertising revenue, catalogue access fees, unrecouped advances and any other income based upon the value of the licensing of artists’ catalogue, and in any future third party deals which impact artists’ earnings. The industry must be able to sustain its investment in music, but artists and performers must also be able to sustain their investment in creativity.”
For further details please email Keith Ames at the Musicians’ Union or tel 020 7840 5531 or 07967 449096.