News from ECSA - July edition

UK’s Parliament’s committee on Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) published the report 'Economics of music streaming' on 15th July 2021. Following the inquiry that started in October, the DCMS Committee recommends an impressive number of reforms to fix streaming, not only to redress the balance for songwriters, performers and composers, but also to tackle fundamental problems within the music industry. Amongst other recommendations, the report suggests to a) refer the major music companies to the Competition and Markets Authority to study the economic impact of the major music companies’ dominance, b) implement copyright reform similar to what is contained in the European Copyright Directive, articles 17-22 c) undertake a review of how music metadata is administered and require that Black Box unattributable royalties are distributed so that they support creative talent. ECSA congratulates its British Member, the Ivors’ Academy and its partners for achieving such an outcome through the #BrokenRecord campaign and hopes that the UK government will follow suit with concrete actions to fix streaming and promote a sustainable future for music creators. You can also follow the committee's work on Twitter and use the hashtags #BrokenRecord and #MusicStreamingInquiry and for updates and to join the conversation.

On July 10th at the Marché du Film of the Cannes Film Festival, the Spot the Composer keynote brought ECSA’s President Alfons Karabuda alongside Your Music Your Future Founder’s Joel Beckerman to discuss the stakes of composers’ remuneration and copyright buyouts. You can also find out more about ECSA's vision on how Europe could prevent buyout contracts and ensure fair and proportionate remuneration in our report. Your Music Your Future has also been rolled out in four languages – French, Spanish, Finnish and Portuguese - and is available here. The Spot the Composer keynote can be viewed here.

In April 2021, ECSA participated to the Voices of Culture Brainstorming Meeting alongside more than 50 stakeholders of the cultural and creative sector, among which the European Music Council (EMC), the Federation of European Screen Directors (FERA), and many other ECSA partners. The report recommends several key actions on issues such as the social and legal status of cultural and creative workers, fair pay, collective bargaining, artistic freedom and the issue of buyout contracts. ECSA looks forward to seeing those recommendations put in motion by European and national policy makers to improve music authors’ rights in European policies. Read the report here. 

On 1st July, in the frame of the European Music Council, ECSA co-signed an open letter to the European Commission alongside 76 International, European & national music organisations. In this letter, we call for policy makers to fully acknowledge the artistic, social and economic value of the music sector and its contribution to the digital, green and inclusive recovery of Europe. We ask them to live up to these words and to ensure that music and culture are taken seriously when political decisions in all areas are taken. 

Read the letter “Claiming a front row seat for Music” here.

On 15th July, the Advocate General (AG) Øe of the Court of Justice of the EU delivered its opinion on the complaint brought by Poland against Article 17 of the EU Copyright Directive. The AG found that Art 17 is compatible with the right to freedom of expression and information guaranteed in Article 11 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. This opinion is a welcomed positive development and will probably be confirmed by the Court when it delivers its final judgement in the coming months. However, the opinion also bases itself on an interpretation of Article 17 which follows on many aspects the unhelpful reasoning of the European Commission expressed in its guidance adopted in June 2021.

The applications for Keychange 2022 are now open! Exceptional artists or music business professionals are welcome to apply to the programme for international opportunities, training, mentoring, networking and promotion globally throughout 2022. Each year Keychange supports 74 women & gender minority talents from 12 countries to take the next stage in their career and overcome barriers that they encounter in the music industry. Find out more on the programme and how to apply here.

The new research by DONNE- Women in Music on Equality and Diversity in Concert Halls 2020_2021 is out! The results were determined by in-depth analysis of composers’ works scheduled for the 2020-2021 season in 100 orchestras from 27 countries. The results show that only 11.45% of the scheduled concerts worldwide included compositions by women and 88.55% included compositions written solely by men. One alarming fact is that only 1.11% of the pieces were composed by Black & Asian women and only 2.43% by Black & Asian men. Read the report here.

The Global Music Vault is a project dedicated to safeguarding the world’s music enabling it to live on into the distant future. The project is financed by Elire MG - a Norway-based commercial management group. With support from their founding partner the International Music Council (IMC), their mission is to pass on the world heritage to the next generations.  The Vault is set deep inside an arctic mountain in far north Norway, on the Svalbard archipelago. Svalbard is a declared demilitarised zone by 42 nations. The safety, security and remoteness made it a perfect choice for a vault containing such valuable information.  Designed to withstand natural and man-made disasters, in the safest location on earth, data stored here will last for centuries. The International Music Council will be part of a global committee that will work with national music business groups to select examples of various countries’ “most precious and loved” music, says Alfons Karabuda, ECSA & International Music Council President.

The Call for scores for the 31st International Review of Composers 2022 is now open, until 31 October, 2021. Authors, performers, associations, and national author societies can apply with string orchestras, ensembles of 1–9 instruments, electric violas, baritones, kavals (folk clarinet) and harpsichord scores. Find more information on our member Udruzenje kompozitora Srbije - Composer Association of Serbia’s website here.

Classical:NEXT’s 2021 will take place from 27th to 30th September 2021 in Rotterdam (The Netherlands). Enjoy four days of showcases, conference and networking, and connect to 1,300 professionals from 45 countries before, during and after the meeting. Register now.