18 June 2012

Warming up for the summer festival season.

Come rain or shine, festivals are an increasingly popular fixture on Europe’s summer agenda. In recent times, it seems as though each year brings forth a new batch – each one with its own unique appeal.

The expansion and diversification of the festivals on offer means there’s now something to suit all tastes and ages, which explains why more and more of us are getting involved.

But did you know that authors’ societies are behind many of the festivals you might find yourself at this summer? For example, Sabam – the Brussels-based author society – will be sponsoring numerous Belgium festivals in 2012, from five-day rock fest the Dour festival to the Francofolies, a folksy celebration of French song.

In Spain, the Fundación Autor SGAE is gearing up to mark the International Day of Music on June 21 by organising a whole host of free concerts that will take place in Barcelona, Bilbao, Santiago de Compostela and Valencia.

There’s more to festivals than just having a good time. A recent study of 841 festivals in France by the author society Sacem reveals that they bought in funds of about 12 million euros for their members in 2011, demonstrating that their importance is economic as well as cultural.

And of course, live music isn’t the reserve of summer festivals. New research by PRS For Music shows that the top 100 live music venues in the UK alone put on an incredible 13,781 concerts last year, demonstrating just how important live music is to local and national economic growth. The Southbank Centre in London I stop of the list – hosting 422 musical events over the year, attended by over one million people.

Policies

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence brings about many new opportunities for our lives, including in the field of culture and creativity, but its applications also raise a number of ethical and legal questions due to their wide-spread uncontrolled and unchecked usage.

Policies

Music Streaming

Music streaming has unquestionably become the predominant means of enjoying music, replacing traditional physical media and expanded far beyond the live sector by providing user-friendly, high quality, and affordable access to the largest possible repertoire anytime, anywhere, online, or offline.

Songs and compositions are at the heart of this thriving market, which counts 524 million users on subscription-based music services globally, reaches more than 2 billion users including the streaming on UGC platforms, and offers more than 70 million tracks from approximately 8 million artists.

Yet, the authors and composers cannot benefit adequately from this success, and the debate over unfairness of this market is gaining traction across Europe and around the world.

There is a need to look more closely at how songwriters and composers are connected to this thriving economy and what can be done to improve their currently neglected situation.

Read below to find out more about the Music Streaming market.

Policies

Buy-out contracts: a dangerous threat to European creators

European music creators (composers, lyricists etc.) are being forced to forsake thousands of euros in future earnings by draconian ‘work made for hire’ (WMH) and buy-out contracts.

Online audiovisual services and broadcasters that are mainly US-based are forcing music creators to accept such contracts, which enforce a one-time payment in exchange for their rights.

Given the worldwide popularity of shows and series on platforms like Netflix, Amazon, Disney etc., and their replay value, the audiovisual market represents an important revenue stream for creators. Soundtracks alone are part and parcel of series and often attract a similar amount of popularity, massively boosting sales, streams and the worldwide fanbase of their authors.

Read below to find out how video on demand (VOD) platforms and broadcasters are circumventing EU law and what can be done about it.

Policies

Authors’ societies & the collective management model

Authors’ societies are hugely beneficial to both authors (creators), users (platforms and services), and the broader public.

Beyond benefiting these different groups, authors’ societies also support the broader cultural ecosystem by funding and promoting cultural and creative initiatives.

Below are five key benefits to authors’ societies and the collective management model.

Policies

The Copyright Directive

In April 2019, the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market was formally adopted, a change that will positively transform authors’ rights throughout the EU. Each member state now has until 7 June 2021 to transpose the Directive into their respective national law.

This reform is an opportunity to address pressing issues for authors in the Digital Single Market and will promote the growth of Europe’s creative and cultural industries (CCIs) – a major driver of Europe’s economy.

One of the biggest achievements of this new piece of legislation was to address the
‘Transfer of Value’ problem, a priority issue for all European creators.

Below are some of the Directive’s key areas that will affect creators and those who profit from their work.