English music on the warpath against Spotify and Apple Music

The giants of streaming, Spotify and Apple Music, now face a request from more than 200 British artists to get fair pay and greater transparency of benefits that your music generates in these services. The extensive list of signatories ranges from Paul McCartney even bands like Slowdive or members of Led Zeppelin.

The campaign puts on the table a reform of the Copyright law of 1988 that can alleviate the lack of remuneration for streaming, a no man’s land in legal matters that does not generate profits for artists despite having the highest volume of reproductions compared to media such as radio or television, included within said law.

Various investigations carried out by the British Parliament put on the table that more than 85% of the profits generated by these services stayed with the record companies, leaving its creators in a situation of total defenselessness.

Tom Gray, English musician and producer, is the one behind this campaign that under the name #BrokenRecord proposes a change in the British music industry that reactivates the creation of culture in the country after the pandemic. To do this, he has also sent a letter to the English Prime Minister Boris Johnson asking for your collaboration in a legislative reform and greater control over the companies of streaming.

The letter emphasizes the need for an effective legal framework, as well as better pay for artists that allows reactivate the cultural sector, one of the most damaged by the pandemic. Also make England a power again as far as singers, producers, bands and musicians it has always been. In March, Parliament completed its investigation into the economic impact of the streaming and the results of the report are expected this summer.

The proposal has been supported by United Nations through the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and joins the protests that have been taking place in front of the headquarters of these streaming companies in different parts of the world for more than a year.

The music magazine Pitchfork reported in March on the wave of concentrations against Spotify organized by different unions and workers in the world of music against the streaming giant. Protesters from the United States to Australia they gathered to protest against the treatment offered to musicians, composers and producers in the distribution of rights.

Daniel EkCEO of Spotify stated a year ago that artists “they couldn’t record music every four years”, arguing that “the formulas of the past did not serve for the music market of the future”. These words were not lacking angry responses from personalities from the world of culture that questioned the billionaire’s vision of the music industry, pointing to the dangerousness and vulnerability of the approach.

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