Written by Tim Ingham — A change is in the air.
Less than a week ago, Universal, Sony and Warner signed a reworked deal with a powerful artist lobbying group in the US to better reward its members from streaming.
Now the majors have agreed to a new government-approved ‘code’ in France which sees them commit to new levels of transparency and “the fair sharing of value from the exploitation of music online”.
The deal announced in Parliament by the country’s Minister for Culture, Fleur Pellerin, on Monday (September 28).
The code will mean more clarity over the sharing of multi-million dollar advances from services such as YouTube, as well as the equity stakes that the majors own in digital platforms.
Universal, Sony and Warner are believed to own around 15%-20% of equity in Spotify between them.
The agreement of the code follows negotiations between labels, digital platforms, artists and unions led by senior civil servant, Marc Schwartz.
“THIS CODE REPRESENTS A GENUINE OPPORTUNITY FOR THE INDUSTRY NOT TO REPEAT THE SINS OF THE PAST.”
PAUL PACIFICO, IAO
A committee, which will include artist representatives and be chaired by the French Minister for Culture, will oversee the implantation of the Code and IAO sincerely hopes that all sides will be guided by its overarching principles of fairness and transparency in their dealings going forward.
The International Artist Organisation (IAO) – the umbrella association for national organisations representing the rights and interests of Featured Artists in the Music Industry – has welcomed the new deal.
IAO President Paul Pacifico said today “the music industry must pull together and work as one to get real value from the legal digital opportunities in front of us.
“This code represents a genuine opportunity for the industry to move forward together and agree not to repeat the sins of the past where artists have not benefitted equitably from the massive growth in the digital market.”
The IAO is a not-for-profit organisation based in Paris that was officially founded in 2015 by its six founder- members: FAC (UK), GAM (France), CoArtis (Spain), Domus (Germany), Gramart (Norway) and FACIR (Belgium).
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