Nearly $50m has now been withdrawn by artists and participants using Sony Music’s Cash Out and Real Time Advances features
In June 2021, WILLonly music show a global initiative called Artists Forward that it says is focused on “prioritizing transparency with creators in all aspects of their development”.
This initiative includes a variety of tools and policies, including the marquee policy, the Heritage Unclaimed Balance Program, which has seen Music Sony ignore uncollected balance for a wide range of artists to document the legacy on its books.
That policy was extend for musicians in July 2021, with Music Publisher Sony (SMP) revealed that it will also ignore future uncollected balances for eligible musicians.
May this year, sony extend program on a rolling basis, for eligible unreimbursed artists and musicians globally who have worked with Sony Music for more than 20 years and have not received an advance for more than two decades.
According to the 2022 summary of the Artists Forward initiative, published on Sony Music’s website this week, the Legacy Unpaid Balance Program “has paid out millions of dollars to thousands of creators our legacy” and that “over time, thousands of artists globally are poised to benefit from Legacy Uncollected Balance support when they become eligible for the program.”
Also included as part of Sony’s Artists Forward initiative is a set of ‘Real-time artist tool’which includes Sony Music Artist Portal and Real-time insights application.
The Sony Music Artist Portal is a mobile application and website that allows artists and ‘participants’ to track earnings, withdraw monthly accounts payable balances and receive projected earnings advances eligible.
The other half of Sony’s ‘Real-Time Artist Tools’ suite is Real-Time Insights, a separate mobile app that, according to Sony, provides artists with and their team access to marketing and creative data, “for detailed analysis of the platforms, playlists and audiences driving breakthroughs globally”.
A feature called Real-time progressavailable through Sony Music Artist Portalallows eligible artists (both legacy and non-legacy) to receive an anticipated earnings advance.
Eligible artists and “participants” can use the Sony Music Artist Portal to request a withdrawal of all or part of their payable balance each month as soon as SME’s becomes available. Withdrawal featurewas launched in 2020.
Sony has now published an update on these features, note in the Artists Forward 2022 summary that “artists and participants are now almost fully withdrawn 50 million USD combined using the real-time Withdrawal and Advance features available through our Artist Portal.”
“With all of our artist tools, we are focused on providing fast, convenient, easy-to-use solutions to support your career in a dynamic market,” said Sony said in the Artists Forward 2022 summary.
In addition, in September 2021, SME announced a major expansion by Artists Forward as a wellness-focused program called Artists Support.
In a letter sent to thousands of SME artists at the time and collected by MBW, SME described the program as a “massive global effort to promote the well-being of contracted talent.” us and provide them with relevant information and key resources for their careers.”
In an update published in its Artists Forward summary, Sony says it has “helped artists in the United States realize nearly 500,000 USD saving healthcare costs in just a few weeks of launching free artist wellness support services from the Music Health Alliance.”
Sony also offers free professional consultations for Sony Music talents. According to an update released this week, Sony has provided program-related information and support to more than 100 artists around the world since its launch last year.
“Putting our artists and their well-being first at all stages of the creative journey is a top priority in everything we do with the Artists Forward program,” Sony said in the synopsis. its 2022.Global Music Business
