At our Annual General Meeting, The Ivors Academy invited supporters from around the globe become part of their mission empowering, supporting and championing songwriters and composers by becoming a Friend. This marks a significant milestone in the Academy’s 80-year history, by building an extended community that appreciates the talent and craft of songwriters and composers.
The Friends of The Ivors Academy scheme is designed for individuals passionate about supporting the mission of The Ivors Academy but who are not songwriters or composers themselves. By becoming Friends, supporters including fans, industry professionals and politicians will contribute to the Academy’s work and mission. Friends will help ensure that songwriters and composers continue to thrive and create the music that enriches our lives.
In his address, Roberto Neri, Chief Executive of The Ivors Academy, emphasised the importance of this new initiative:
“We want everyone, anywhere in the world that loves music and appreciates songwriters and composers to become part of The Ivors Academy, and support our mission to protect and empower our writers. Our members’ sustainability and success underpins the entire music industry. If songwriters and composers are not flourishing, the rest of the industry will ultimately suffer. This makes it not just our interest to protect and empower our members, but the whole music industry’s.”
At The Ivors Academy’s AGM, Roberto also outlined the organisation’s priorities in order to empower, protect and empower its members. Roberto said,
“We must grow industry and public recognition for the importance of composition, fight practices that devalue it, advocate for better royalty splits, and lobby the government to promote our members’ interests and intellectual property, which benefits the future of the music industry. We must also lobby for the importance of arts and culture in education, wellbeing, and economic growth across the UK, assert the necessity of songwriters and composers’ direct consent and control of their rights in AI, and call out coercive behaviour to ensure our members maintain their rights.”
