Merck Mercuriadis slams ‘tragedy’ of UK streaming inquiry outcome for songwriters, as record labels applaud industry’s ‘strong progress’

In July last year, an inter-parliamentary committee in the UK Is called for the country’s government to take action on some of the music industry’s problems related to online payments.

In that investigative report, MPs called for a “complete reset” of music streaming.

One of the salient recommendations from the DCMS report was that the dominance of specializations in the UK record industry should be directed to the UK competition watchdog – the Competition and Markets Authority. school (CMA).

The Members of Parliament (MP) behind the streaming investigation, carried out by the Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) selection committee, also called on the UK government to introduce rights for artists to earn from ‘fair remuneration’ on digital platforms.

Introducing a ‘fair remuneration’ that would make tracks non-interactive on platforms like Spotify under UK law considered “rental”, with 50% of recorded music royalties paid directly to performers through a collection association.

In September 2021, the British government announced that it would take no legislative action following recommendations from the inquiry.

The CMA announced in October 2021 that it planning to release a study of the following domestic online music market UK government response arrive report on the economics of streaming.

In January of this year, the competition regulator in the UK officially did just that, and then in July the CMA confirmed that it was proposing Not to pursue a comprehensive investigation of the UK music streaming industry.

Tuesday (November 15) one session held by the DCMS Selection Committee to monitor the findings and progress following recommendations made as part of last year’s investigation.

The session was attended by representatives of music labels and musicians Make a question “on whether the ‘streaming reset’ urged in the Commission’s report is underway.”

Among those attending the session was Tom Gray, President at The Ivors Academy; Naomi Pohl, General Secretary at the Musicians’ Association, and Geoff TaylorCEO of BPI, Trade body representing major and independent brands in the UK.

You can See the hearing here.

“Artists today enjoy greater success and more selection than ever before, but with 100,000 tracks uploaded Spotify Every day, the role of brands has never been more important in helping them realize their commercial and creative potential.”

Spokesperson for BPI

After the hearing, a BPI spokesperson said in a statement: “We are pleased to update the Commission on the strong progress the industry is making.

They added: “Artists today enjoy greater success and have more choices than ever before, but with 100,000 tracks being uploaded to Spotify every day, its role has never been more important in the help them realize their creative and commercial potential.

“Our collective focus must be on growing the streaming economy for the benefit of all, while avoiding policies that could harm the next generation of talent and undermine the ability UK global competition.”

PURPOSE CEO Paul Pacifico, who gave evidence in the initial investigation, said the following in a statement: “It is good to see the Selection Committee maintain its focus on the key issues surrounding online debates and promote collaborative dialogues among stakeholders.

“The industry needs to continue to move closer to agreeing on solutions that will improve opportunities for creators while not undermining commerce or affecting the UK’s position in the global streaming market. bridge.”

“It is a tragedy that the excellent work and recommendations of the DCMS Selection Committee on how to improve the streaming economy for musicians and artists are being ignored.”

Merck Mercuriadis, misdiagnosis song manager

Merck Mercuriadis, CEO and Founder of Hipgnosis Song Management welcomed the sessions in a statement released on Wednesday (November 16), but said that “It is a tragedy that the excellent work and DCMS Selection Committee recommendations on how to improve the streaming economy for musicians and artists are being ignored.”

He added: “Yesterday’s hearing revealed that a year has barely made any progress in implementing the recommendations of the Commission and notably the Transparency Working Group operating behind closed doors. ”

“The Commission’s July 2021 report asked the Government to refer major recorded music companies to the CMA and the competition regulator to investigate market failures, particularly addressing those The Commission’s concerns around distortions in the streaming market have resulted in musicians not being paid fair and equitable pay in the streaming fortunes.

“The Commission report identified problems caused by a lack of transparency, continuing market dominance of major record music companies and adverse impact this affects musicians, meaning musicians have no right to speak and don’t know what they do or when they will be paid; Non-disclosure agreements (NDA), interception and legal denial of information about payments to musicians and artists; and perpetual contract, never intended to stream but used to bind musicians and artists to terms and conditions that are outdated and do not reflect How the market has changed over the decades.

Mercuriadis continued: “Although in its July 2022 interim report the CMA acknowledges these problems, the CMA has so far failed to to address these obvious failures.

“Musicians and music publishers should be free to negotiate terms that acknowledge that they are bringing The currency of our industry, song. Currently, the music companies are owned and controlled major publishing companies lead to a distorted streaming economy for musicians because labels can dictate that most of the money spent on music is recorded where they have the most escrow at the expense of musicians and artists.

“I have written to the Committee and I am very grateful to the DCMS Selection Committee and Sir Julian Knight for not giving up their demand for better compensation for musicians and their efforts to remedy broken music system where artists continue to be poorly compensated for revenue brought from streaming music.

“The CMA has the power to remedy the distortion in the music streaming economy by mandating, in their final reporting, true transparency, removes unnecessary NDAs and allows musicians and artists under perpetual contract have the right to convert. This will go a long way to providing a fair share of the streaming revenue for artists and musicians. Global Music Business