Rock Stars Take On Record Labels
Posted on: Sunday, 5 October 2008, 08:00 CDT
A music industry power shift is taking place in Britain, where rock and pop stars have formed a new coalition to try to gain control and ownership of their work from record labels.
The new group, called Featured Artists’ Coalition (FAC), includes acts such as The Verve, Robbie Williams, Kaiser Chiefs, Billy Bragg, Bryan Ferry, David Gilmour, Iron Maiden, Kate Nash, Klaxons and Radiohead.
These artists seek to gain rights to the music they create to have more authority in how their songs are sold and a bigger slice of the revenue.
Major recording artists have seen their options grow during the past year after a number of stars turned away from traditional record contracts and sought new ways of releasing their music. Meanwhile, many acts have felt ignored when their record labels and music publishers have moved forward with new digital agreements.
BPI, a body that represents Britain’s recorded music industry, said it was "looking forward" to working with the new coalition.
"The UK music business is a complex community that binds performers, songwriters, promoters, managers, agents, record labels, publishers, distributors, manufactures and retailers,” a spokeswoman told BBC News.
"No one part of the business can function without the other. This is a business under huge external pressure, and we are stronger united.
"The creators themselves - featured artists, session musicians and songwriters lie right at the heart of this business, and we look forward to working closely with FAC in the future."
The FAC’s is pushing for the rights of musicians to keep the copyright to their own music, which could subsequently be leased to record companies. Currently record labels typically own the rights to the artists’ music.
The group also wants its members included fully about the way in which their music is used and sold and about who receives revenue.
"Record and technology companies are signing agreements to deliver music to fans in new ways," says the FAC charter.
"Artists are not involved in these negotiations and their interests are likely to be overlooked. Artists should receive fair compensation as part of these new deals."
In an illustration of how established musicians can make it on their own without a record label, Radiohead notoriously released their last album, In Rainbows, through their own website.
"For us, this is a no-brainer of an issue and we believe that all artists and musicians should be signing up to this too," said Radiohead guitarist Ed O'Brien, referring to the coalition.
Other artists, from Madonna to McFly, have abandoned major labels and released music through newspapers or live music companies.
"There are going to be people who don't care about your rights and whether you can keep your integrity - they're just going to want to make money out of you,” FAC member Kate Nash told BBC News.
Nash built up her fanbase online before securing a major label agreement.
"I'm the only one who sees my album as this baby that I need to protect, something that's precious."
FAC also aims to be a voice for artists' rights in high-profile music industry issues. For instance, it wants to change copyright laws and to bring the rights of performers in line with those of songwriters. Currently, anytime a song is played in a TV ad, on radio or in a film, its authors are paid but the performers are not.
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Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports
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