Category: Campaigning
A YouGov survey commissioned by #BrokenRecord Campaign in association with the Musicians’ Union and The Ivors Academy reveals that a large majority of consumers believe the share received by creators and performers from digital music streaming is unfair. It shows they would prefer their subscriptions to be distributed differently and, were it to be reformed, […]
The Chancellor has outlined a package of measures, which includes a new Jobs Support Scheme to protect returning workers, extending Self Employment Income Support Scheme in a reduced form and 15% VAT cut for the hospitality and tourism sectors, and help for businesses in repaying government-backed loans. Sadly, these measures are largely unfit to support […]
The pandemic continues to impact on many parts of the music industry, in particular creatives. An Encore Musicians survey showed that 64% of musicians are considering changing careers. If the talent pipeline dries up it will be disastrous for the music industry and will have long-term negative consequences for employment, the economy and the UK’s […]
The announcement follows months of campaigning. Thousands of music creators have called out the #BrokenRecord industry, and trade bodies The Ivors Academy and the MU have been campaigning to #FixStreaming and Keep Music Alive, arguing that the disappearance of the live sector has highlighted just how broken the streaming market is. In May the organisations […]
The MP3 revolutionised music distribution across the globe. The new file format allowed music to be compressed and shared like never before. In a tale of unintended consequences, the MP3 ushered in mass piracy and the emergence of peer-to-peer music file sharing companies such as Napster, as well as the huge success of MP3 players, […]
The partnership makes Epidemic Sound’s library of tracks available to use through the Adobe stock service. Epidemic Sound’s library is created by composers for screen and video, who receive an upfront fee while having to relinquish all rights to future royalties. They are hired under so-called ‘full buyout deals’. Such deals are becoming increasingly common. […]
The BBC itself makes clear it sees the need for modernisation to keep up with the digital era we live in. We argued it is vital that its evolution doesn’t cause a revolution, where everything that makes the BBC great will be lost. We showcased the BBC’s central role in commissioning, producing, broadcasting, and developing […]
A report by the Creative Industries Federation has shown how the UK is undergoing a “cultural catastrophe”: 400,000 creative jobs could be lost, and the UK creative industries are projected to lose £1.4 billion a week in revenue in 2020. Cultural sectors, and music in particular, have been hit hard by the pandemic. Music creators […]
The Ivors Academy and Musicians’ Union formed an alliance in early May to ‘Keep Music Alive’ and Fix Streaming. Just over a month into the campaign, a petition established by the two organisations calling for a government review into streaming revenues and the distribution of royalties has gained over 13,000 signatures. Meanwhile, an artist-led movement […]
The Ivors Academy, Musicians’ Union, Association of British Orchestras, BPI, Music Publishers Association and PRS for Music have written an open letter to Oliver Dowden MP, Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport, calling on the Government to provide essential support to the UK’s classical music sector. The letter sets out the economic and […]
We have submitted written evidence to the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Commons Select Committee’s inquiry into the impact of coronavirus on businesses and workers. We made the case for how the music-creating business is at an all-time low, and proposed essential next steps for the recovery of our sector. Recent findings have shown that […]
This week the Ivors Academy and Musicians’ Union launched Keep Music Alive, a campaign to support music creators through Covid-19 and establish a more progressive industry model for the future. This includes a petition calling on the UK government to help the industry review the functioning of the streaming market. This is because Covid-19 has […]
Covid-19 has hit songwriters, musicians and composers hard. Gigs and commissions have been cancelled, festivals and performances postponed, and recording studios closed. Since early March, over 20,000 applications have been received to music industry Hardship Funds. This crisis has brought into sharp relief the fact that creators and performers are sustained primarily by income generated […]
The Ivors Academy recently surveyed its members about the impact of Covid-19 on music creators. The aim of this survey was to help us lobby Government to provide support for songwriters and composers that are being financially impacted. Our case to Government is significantly strengthened by input from members and we would like to thank […]
At the moment non-payment of the licence fee is not a criminal offence. Only failure to pay the fine can lead to a criminal record, although it rarely does. So we made the case against decriminalisation, focusing on three main points. 1. Based on the evidence provided by Government, we found that an alternative enforcement […]
In the past year, The Ivors Academy’s Songwriter Committee have been exploring ways of redressing the inequitable way streaming royalties are distributed today. One of the short-term remedies we’ve proposed is for songwriters to receive a per diem when they work with artists, so it was a pleasant surprise to find out that our German […]
The decimation of concerts and the commissions for live performance will devastate classical composers’ earnings and playing living composers music will provide royalties and promotion at a critical time. The BBC is the largest commissioner of classical music in the UK and has access to thousands of recordings of contemporary classical recordings – many of […]
The Ivors Academy has joined calls for proper support for the thousands of self-employed and freelance musicians left behind by the UK Government, and looks forward to hearing the targeted measures being disclosed by the Chancellor in the coming days. But Graham Davies, CEO of The Ivors Academy, says the music industry must also do […]
Unity amongst the composer community has successfully reversed the aggressive move of Discovery Networks to remove payment of royalties from composers in favour of a low one-off buyout payment. This episode has highlighted the plight of composers – increasingly being pressured by broadcasters and platforms to take low payment up-front fees on the expectation that […]
The Ivors Academy is raising the alarm of the worsening outlook for media composers based on our latest survey and news from US broadcasters such as Discovery Channel. #nomusicbuyouts At The Ivors Academy of Music Creators we represent thousands of composers and songwriters, from well-established professional musicians earning their full-time living from music to those […]