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 hard-fought rights of composers should be ignored. Composers contribute enormous value to TV, films and other products and rarely extract the proper compensation for the quality music they provide. The importance of composers and the valuable contribution they make should be better recognised.
As reported last month, The Ivors Academy is becoming increasingly concerned about the continuing pressure being exerted on screen composers and their PROs. We need future generations of composers to be able to sustain their careers and contribute to the huge opportunities coming from the growth in online audio-visual content.
The Ivors Academy has written to Discovery to request a meeting to discuss their decision and to ensure that composers will not be pressured into relinquishing their rights.