Following eight years of campaigning led by The Ivors Academy Chair Tom Gray, the Academy secured a landmark commitment from major UK record labels to introduce per diems for songwriters attending their writing sessions. These daily expense payments, alongside pre-agreed travel and accommodation costs, were introduced to ensure songwriters are not expected to attend sessions without financial support.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is now gathering evidence to assess how effectively these payments are working and whether further action is needed to improve songwriter remuneration.
The Academy is calling on all songwriters to take part, whether they have successfully claimed a per diem, applied unsuccessfully or never applied at all. Understanding why songwriters have not claimed is just as important as hearing from those who have received per diems.
Tom Gray, Chair of The Ivors Academy, said: “Many of you joined me, fighting for eight years until I secured these dignity payments from the UK’s major record labels, so writers wouldn't be expected to work for free in their sessions.
We won that fight, but we cannot be complacent. We now need evidence to demonstrate to Government why these payments matter and why they must be protected.
Whether you’ve received a per diem, applied unsuccessfully or never applied at all, your experience matters. All songwriters deserve to be paid for their work.”
The introduction of songwriter per diems followed the 2021 parliamentary inquiry into the economics of music streaming and subsequent discussions through the Creator Remuneration Working Group.
The group's work led to five industry principles intended to improve creator remuneration, including a commitment to songwriter per diems.
The Government is now assessing the impact of these measures. Survey responses will help establish whether per diems are reaching songwriters, identify barriers to claiming and inform decisions about whether further intervention is needed.
The survey asks songwriters about their experiences of writing sessions arranged by major UK record labels, including whether they received payment for their time. Responses will be anonymised.
All songwriters are encouraged to take part, regardless of whether they have claimed a per diem.
For more information about per diems and how to claim, visit our per diems guidance.
