Last week you will have read about Sony’s plans to split its windfall from its sale of part of its Spotify stock and how the company was keen to be seen to be doing the right thing as regards the artists on its books.
The management community has been long grumbling about how any equity-related revenue would be carved up, fearing that artists might be short-changed. But Sony’s moves have been welcomed by the MMF in the UK.
“The Music Managers’ Forum has long campaigned for the income from Spotify equity to be shared with artists whose music the labels traded,” said MMF CEO Annabella Coldrick in a statement. “We’re very pleased to hear from Sony that they will be doing this both directly and with artists signed to distributed labels, and not off-setting it against recoupment.
This is a progressive move which we hope to see reflected more widely in the industry and across other non-attributed income such as Facebook. The music industry is changing and the future will be different from the past. Labels will work increasingly in partnership with artists and not be ‘owners’ of their rights. This shift should see more equitable shares of all revenue going to the artists and songwriters, not just on a royalty basis.”
Managers and labels getting on like a house on fire? Whatever next? Let’s see how the other majors and indies (via Merlin) follow this.
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