Pop icons including Kate Bush, Annie Lennox, Marc Almond a more have united to demand an overhaul of the music streaming industry.
A total of 156 musicians have penned a joint letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, via the Musicians’ Union in association with the Ivors Academy and the #BrokenRecord campaign, calling for a minor change to the 1988 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act.
According to the stars, the alteration will allow “the value of music” to be put “back where it belongs – in the hands of music makers.”
The letter states that platforms have “not kept up with the pace of technological change and, as a result, performers and songwriters do not enjoy the same protections as they do in radio,” and insists that “only two words need to change in the 1988 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act… so that today’s performers receive a share of revenues, just like they enjoy in radio.”
And that the proposed change “won’t cost the taxpayer a penny but will put more money in the pockets of UK taxpayers and raise revenues for public services like the NHS.”
Horace Trubridge, General Secretary of the Musicians’ Union, commented: “Streaming is replacing radio so musicians should get the same protection when their work is played on streaming platforms as they get when it’s played on radio.
“As the whole world has moved online during the pandemic, musicians who write, record and perform for a living have been let down by a law that simply hasn’t kept up with the pace of technological change. Listeners would be horrified to learn how little artists and musicians earn from streaming when they pay their subscriptions.
“By tightening up the law so that streaming pays like radio, we will put streaming income back where it belongs – in the hands of artists. It’s their music so the income generated from it should go into their hands.”
Alongside industry veterans, stars of the ’90s and ’00s, including Gary Barlow, Melanie C, All Saints’ Shaznay Lewis and more, have also backed the initiative, which comes amid an inquiry hosted by the UK’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee into the financial impact the current model is having on artists and record labels.
The letter and full list of signatories is below.
