News from ECSA: April 2023
Advocacy
ECSA Board member Luis Ivars at stakeholders meeting in the European Parliament on an "EU framework for the social and professional situation of artists and workers in the cultural and creative sectors"
On 25 April, ECSA Board member Luis Ivars participated in a stakeholders meeting in the European Parliament (EP) on the forthcoming EP report by the CULT and EMPL Committees on an "EU framework for the social and professional situation of artists and workers in the cultural and creative sectors". In this exchange between the report’s co-rapporteurs, shadow rapporteurs, and other stakeholders, Luis emphasized the added value of better social and taxation policies for artists and creators at national level, and the important role the EU can play to encourage best practices across all EU Member States. He also raised awareness about the most pressing priorities for music creators at EU level, such as preventing buy-out contracts, addressing AI's challenges, and fixing music streaming.
ECSA at Creative Europe consultation meeting in the European Parliament
On 13 April, ECSA Secretary General Marc du Moulin participated in a stakeholder consultation in the European Parliament on MEP Massimiliano Smeriglio's (S&D – IT) report on the implementation of the Creative Europe Programme 2021-2027. Regarding Music Moves Europe, Marc advocated for a clearer strategy, stronger and more integrated support for the music sector, and a regular dialogue between the Commission and the sector. He also encouraged stronger support for authors and perfomers’ organisations across sectors, and more studies on key topics for music, such as the lack of reliable and transparent data, music streaming and the challenges brought forward by Artificial Intelligence.
ECSA Secretary General at SCGI on the implementation of the 2019 Copyright Directive and composers’ contracts
On 26 April, ECSA Secretary General Marc Du Moulin participated in an online panel hosted by the Screen Composers Guild of Ireland (SCGI) about the EU 2019 Copyright Directive and composers contracts. David Sweeney and ECSA Board Member Anselm Kreuzer also participated in the panel. The panel informed SCGI members about their rights provided by the Copyright Directive, its implementation in Irish law, the status of implementation in other member states and advice for media composers regarding their contracts.
© IMPF “Breaking new talent”: ECSA President at IMPF General Assemblies
How do you break new talent when competing with 100,000 tracks being released every day? How important are platforms like TikTok? These are some of the issues ECSA President Helienne Lindvall covered during the “Breaking new talent” panel at the IMPF Assemblies that took place in Stockholm, Sweden on 20 April.
ECSA talks music streaming at CISAC European Committee
At the CISAC European Committee in Prague, which took place on 19 and 20 April, Tobias Stenkjær, chair of ECSA's Working Group on Music Streaming, represented ECSA at a panel on the fairness of the streaming market, with the participation of different stakeholders including DSP’s and labels.
ECSA President in Billboard about AI
The unprecedented pace of the development of Artificial Intelligence asks for regulation on copyright, transparency and consent. But “how do you know when AI has used your work?”, ECSA President Helienne Lindvall asks in an article Billboard published last week. Read the article (behind paywall) below.
Human Artistry Campaign expands
Last month, ECSA joined the Human Artistry Campaign, launched to advocate for AI use that supports artists, performers and all creatives. The campaign has now grown in membership by more than 50% in a few weeks. Learn more about the core principles for AI applications in support of human creativity, and sign the petition to support the campaign.
Cultural activities
Open call: "ECSA's Music Creators Playlist”
After last year’s successful first edition, ECSA is pleased to launch the call for works to be considered for this year’s “Discover ECSA’s music creators'' playlist! The playlist will be a compilation of songs and compositions from ECSA’s member organisations. The theme of this year’s playlist is “Melodies of the Future”. The playlist will be made available publicly on World Music Day - 21 June 2023. All ECSA members are invited to submit three songs before 2 June 2023.
© WSA Submissions for WSA 2023 are open!
The annual film music prizes of the World Soundtrack Awards (WSA), awarded at Film Fest Ghent, are taking place on 19-21 October 2023. Everyone who is eligible can now submit for the Discovery of the Year Award. WSAcademy members can also submit (and later on vote) in the categories Film Composer of the Year, Television Composer of the Year and Best Original Song. More information can be found here.
Members' news
© Austrian Composers Austrian Composers Day 2023
The 2023 edition of Austrian Composers Day will take place in Vienna on 13 May 2023, from 10:00 to 17:30 CET. Gathering composers and songwriters, the main focus of the event’s panels and lectures will be on the topic of Artificial Intelligence. The event will also provide various networking opportunities and will conclude with a concert. Discover the full programme below.
© Society of Slovenian Composers UNICUM Festival: Call for Works
The Society of Slovenian Composers has launched a call for works to be considered to be performed at Contemporary Music Festival UNICUM. The festival discovers and presents new, fresh ideas and compositional solutions and connects with other arts, and takes place in October 2023 in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Find all details and eligibility criteria below.
What else?
ECSA’s survey on Fair Practice extended
In September 2022, ECSA launched the survey on Fair Practice, aimed at collecting data and evidence on the social and economic situation of music creators in Europe. We’re happy to announce that we have extended the deadline of the survey to 15 May 2023, in order to expand the pool of participants. All music creators are kindly invited to fill in the survey. It will only take about 15 minutes to do so.
European Music Council (EMC) Forum on Music 2023
From 8-10 June 2023, the EMC is organising its European Forum on Music: ‘Sustain Music’ in Budapest, Hungary. ECSA European Affairs and Programme Officer Claire Iceaga will represent ECSA during the event, which fosters exchanges between organisations, projects, and individuals from the music and arts sector with keynote speeches, panels, and workshops.
Centre national de la musique grant for Authors and/or Composers
France’s Centre national de la musique (CNM) offers a grant for music authors and/or composers. The goal of this programme is to help creators in their writing and/or composition activity. The deadline to submit an application for this grant is on 1 June, 2023. Find more information here.
ECSA office relocated to the Maison européenne des Auteurs et des Autrices (MEDAA)
ECSA has moved to a new office location! The new office is located in Maison européenne des Auteurs et des Autrices (MEDAA), where we also hosted our ECSA Winter Session last month. Our new address is Rue du Prince Royal 85-87, Brussels. We are delighted to join such a beautiful house with so many like-minded organisations in the cultural and creative sectors!