News from ECSA: February 2024

On 15 February, at ISCM Flanders’ Sector Meeting on music publishing, Nieuw Geneco Director and ECSA Fair Practice Working Group member Esther Gottschalk presented various initiatives for fair practice, including ECSA’s Fair Practice report, which was published in November last year in close collaboration with our Fair Practice Working group.

On 21 February, songwriter and ECSA Board Member Aafke Romeijn (BAM! Popauteurs) was interviewed on Dutch radio station NPO Radio 1 about streaming fraud, following news that a Danish person was accused of making over half a million euros in fraudulent streaming royalties. Aafke mentioned that many artists on Spotify receive offers to purchase streams and that these practices are quite common. She also elaborated on the low revenues that music streaming generates for the vast majority of artists and music creators. Listen to the full interview (in Dutch and from 12:46) below.

Last week, the International Music Council (IMC), in partnership with Swedish ECSA Member SKAP and New Internet Media (NIM), officially launched the Fair Music® Project. Aiming to create a more equitable music ecosystem for music creators, the project will develop an improved compensation model compared to the ones that dominate the market. The initiative will kickstart in the coming months with a series of consultations with relevant stakeholders, after which a beta version of the platform will be released.

Earlier this month, ECSA President Helienne Lindvall spoke to Music Technology Policy blog about recent developments in the music streaming ecosystem, including alternative remuneration models of music streaming platforms and streaming fraud. The tech blog spoke to Helienne on the occasion of last month’s ESNS panel “Moneymon: the Streaming Economy Evolution”, in which Helienne featured alongside representatives of Deezer, Spotify, and Warner.

On 21 February, MEP Ibán García Del Blanco (S&D, Spain) hosted a presentation of the CLIP (Creators Learn Intellectual Property) Platform. The platform, initiated by WIPO for Creators and the Music Rights Awareness Foundation, serves as a hub for music creators, aiming to raise creators’ awareness of intellectual property rights and related management practices. ECSA is glad to have contributed to the platform launch as a member of WIPO for Creators’ Advisory Board.

On 14 February, ECSA joined a roundtable titled “How artificial intelligence is deeply changing the artistic, cultural, creative and media sector” and co-organised by MEP Daniela Rondinelli (S&D, Italy) with Eurovisioni ICFT. Many speakers, including MEP Rondinelli, MEP Brando Benifei (S&D Italy), MEP Domènec Ruiz Devesa (S&D, Spain), Renate Schroeder (EFJ), Oliver Roethig (UNI Europa) and Carole Tongue (ECCD), remarked on the need to guarantee the rights of cultural and media professionals in the digital world.

On 1 February, the European Audiovisual Observatory published a report on fair remuneration of authors and performers in the audiovisual sector. The study investigates how the 2019 EU Copyright Directive affects the rights of performers and authors in licensing deals, focusing in particular on fair remuneration, transparency, and the transfer of rights in the licensing process. The report also presents and compares the Directive’s implementation in various EU member states.

Last month, the European Audiovisual Observatory published its report "Female professionals in European TV/SVOD fiction production” with figures from 2015-2022. Among many other figures, the study reveals that in 2022, women accounted for only 11% of all composers of European TV films and series (up from 5% in 2015). Despite overall progress since 2015, the report emphasises the need for industry-wide efforts to achieve gender equality in the sector.

This month, World Soundtrack Awards Ghent opened registrations for its composition contest for young screen composers. With the contest, composers under the age of 36 have the chance to participate in the WSA Film Music Composition Contest and to win the Sabam Award for Best Original Composition by a Young Composer (worth €2.500) at the World Soundtrack Awards Ceremony & Concert. Submissions are open until 16 May 2024.

The ‘Live AM: Artist Monitor’ research project is investigating the perceptions of composers and professionals about AI and its impact on the music industry. The results will be published during the next edition of SoundTrack_Cologne as an open-access resource. The survey is anonymous and open to people aged 18 or older.