Music Ally

2009 has seen the rise of streaming services Spotify and Pandora (and the fall of several of their rivals); governments grappling with anti-piracy legislation; The Pirate Bay trial – and then its tragicomic sale saga; and hundreds of bright-eyed music start-ups and thousands of iPhone apps. And STILL no Yellow Submarine iPod.

We rounded up the key trends from the year for our final Music Ally Report of 2009, and the article is republished below in full. If you’re interested in our service in 2010, with its daily bulletin and fortnightly analytical report, click here for a free trial.

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UK industry bodies are turning on the Featured Artists Coalition after it criticised the government’s new plans to tackle online piracy by suspending people’s internet connections.

“This is more than unhelpful, it’s destructive,” says Fran Nevrkla, head of royalty collecting society PPL. “We don’t understand why they feel they have the right to imply they speak on behalf of all artists and musicians. Their views are not shared by the majority.”

Meanwhile, Musicians’ Union general secretary John Smith has also criticised FAC’s “blinkered” campaign: “I am disappointed they went maverick without looking at the bigger picture,” he says. And manager Colin Lester has joined the fray: “It is easy to be charitable when you are rich.”

Three music industry bodies representing the creative side of the business have hit back at the UK government’s plans to toughen up its plans to clamp down on online piracy.

The Featured Artists Coalition, British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors, and the Music Producers Guild have issued a statement expressing “serious reservations about the content and scope of the proposed legislation”. And it doesn’t mince its words:

“Processes of monitoring, notification and sanction are not conducive to achieving a vibrant, functional, fair and competitive market for music. As a result we believe that the specific questions asked by the consultation are not only unanswerable but indicate a mindset so far removed from that of the general public and music consumer that it seems an extraordinarily negative document.”

The full statement follows below:

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The UK-based Featured Artists Coalition (FAC) is finally holding its first meeting today in London, after its original date was scuppered by inclement weather. The body has been formed to campaign for artists’ rights, with digital high on its agenda.

“YouTube’s row with the PRS is the most recent example of just how fast the music industry is changing,” says board member (and Blur drummer) Dave Rowntree. “There has never been a greater need for the collective voice of featured artists, whose music generates 95% of revenue in the industry, to be properly heard.”

Fellow board member Billy Bragg has also chimed in: “Google, YouTube’s owner is a company that makes billions in profits; we think they should be paying artist royalties from the advertising revenue they make,” he tells The Times.