Paul Pacifico, CEO of the Featured Artists Coalition and musician, explains the importance of the Fair Play Fair Pay act

24 July 2015 - Press release

Free, ad-funded music platforms that don’t pay artists have been with us for decades…

Whilst digitisation has arguably been the root cause of the halving in value of the global recorded music industry from its peak of $30bn, it has brought with it the harsh glare of transparency and the sharing of information that has disrupted and transformed many other commercial sectors.

Much as artists are suffering financially, they are also becoming empowered to see and respond to situations in the industry that just aren’t right.

The recent defence filed in Court against 19 Management by Sony Music in New York highlighted the degree to which record company and artists’ interests can be out of alignment, but that aside, one thing is for sure: if no money is coming into the industry, it really doesn’t matter how we cut the cake - all the arguing is for nought.

Whilst it is undeniable that there are sizeable challenges we need to face to right the wrongs of the internal music market, the fact remains that other industries have used music to build empires without the need to put anything back. We advocate, and rightly so, that the economics of streaming are not yet working properly for most artists and yet streaming does pay something. In stark contrast however, commercial terrestrial radio in the United States does not.

The USA sits alone alongside North Korea, Iran and Iraq as one of the few countries in the world not to have signed the Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations of 1961 (frequently known as “The Rome Convention”).  This means that the $16bn US Commercial Radio market, built almost entirely on the commercial exploitation of music, pays absolutely nothing to master rights owners, known as Neighbouring Rights - the equivalent of remuneration received via PPL for performers in the UK.

Furthermore, because the US doesn’t pay neighbouring rights, there are no reciprocal agreements in place. International artists don’t get paid for US radio plays and nor do US artists receive payments for radio play here in the UK or elsewhere. The money still gets collected, but what happens next? In the case of PPL, if they can’t pay the performers, they pay the labels. In France for example, the money is used to fund cultural projects like local festivals and arts centres.

Something is clearly very wrong.

Commercial radio stations are free, ad-funded music platforms without a premium tier to ‘up-sell’ customers…and yet in the U.S, terrestrial radio has been allowed to grow to huge scale without having to pay a single cent to the performing artists on whose repertoire their whole industry is built.

From a European perspective, it is difficult to understand why U.S legislators have not stepped in to protect performers and yet over time, several Bills have come and gone through Congress without success. Now there is a new one and we very much hope this picture will change.

The ‘Fair Play Fair Pay’ act was submitted to congress earlier this year and has already been supported by some 20,000 letters to Members of the House. The power of the digital world has enabled artists, labels and all other parties harmed by this gaping hole in the global rights landscape to come together to speak with one voice to show U.S legislators quite how many people are affected by this issue and how much good they could do by re-balancing the interests of the radio stations with the people that make, perform and distribute the music that drives their advertising revenue.

This week, the FAC has joined an online campaign - #FairPlayFairPay - driven through social media to highlight artist support for the Fair Play Fair Pay act. Artists as diverse as Sandie Shaw, Annie Lennox, Robbie Williams, Chaka Khan, David Byrne, Imogen Heap, Lemar, Debbie Harry, Sheila E and Marillion have all expressed their support by tweeting using the #fairplayfairpay hashtag, changing their profile picture and signing statements of support to go to Congress. Organisations like the Grammy Organisation, The RIAA and PPL have also joined this call to action.

We know that the transparency technology brings in the digital space allows for grass roots movements to coalesce and drive change like never before. Change is both possible and necessary on many fronts. Today, that front is the inequitable status of commercial radio in the USA and the fight to ensure #fairplayfairpay for all artists, everywhere. 

This article first appeared on MusicTank.