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More money for SABAM, more income for artists?
Posted by Kelvin on May 20, 2010 at 18:07
Comments on the article "Kunstenaars eerlijk vergoeden voor hun gedownload werk" published in De Morgen on May 10
In its quest to compensate for damage suffered as a result of illegal downloads, SABAM now has decided to launch an appeal to the Belgian government to immediately put in place a new legal framework where Internet Service Providers would also have to contribute towards compensating authors for the lost revenue.
As the advocacy group for music professionals, Younison’s first major focus point will be the obscure, uncontrollable and slow way SABAM and its sister organizations throughout Europe re-distributes revenues collected. In this context we would therefore like to raise two key questions about this – at first glance commendable – initiative:
To whom and when will the money collected be paid out?
Based on what data will the re-distribution be made?
Rights management organizations such as SABAM collect two different types of revenue: Individually generated revenues and collectively generated revenues.
Individually generated revenues are collected in the name of the author, therefore an immediate and verifiable link can be established between collected amount and author (e.g. his work) – for instance as in the mechanical collection of revenues from sales of CDs or tickets, which is collected by SABAM and reserved for the authors. The total number of sales minus the deduction for SABAM can then be paid out a couple of years later, and can – If desired – be more or less controlled.
In the case of collectively generated revenues on the other hand, the rights management organization collects revenue on behalf of an entire group of artists in a specific country, which is subsequently re-distributed to the authors. The proposed collection of revenues from, for instance, online downloads is a clear example of collectively generated revenues where no clear link between author and the collected amount can be identified. All bars and restaurants, nightclubs and workplaces as well as the revenues collected from consumers paying on their digital devices are managed collectively.
This is also where the shoe pinches …
Ever since the collapse of the mainstream music industry; collectively generated revenues have become an increasingly important revenue stream for the rights management organizations and currently constitute nearly half of all the monies collected by SABAM.
The problem is not that more revenue is being collected, instead it is that the rights management organizations don’t make a priority of creating an effective system based on the total content usage – be it in a café, a disco or as in these newly proposed collectively generated revenues – accompanied by as correct and speedy payments as possible.
With the technology available today it is perfectly possible to acquire the needed data to be able to fill the blanks.
Most cafés, bars, restaurants and clubs use computerized systems that automatically generate or register playlists. Processing this data on an everyday basis would be a negligible task, and also for that part to provide accurate calculations. However, as revealed by recent inquiries, this never happens.
The same goes for the Internet. Based on how the Internet works it is possible – without violating the privacy of the users – to collect data about the actual consumption of music and as a logical consequence allowing a more correct way of re-distributing the collected revenues.
However, none of this is reflected in what is currently being proposed …
Nevertheless, transparency remains a key requirement for maintaining the legitimacy, but also to allow for the continued evolution, of the collective rights management system.
Recently an independent investigation undertaken by a large newspaper group revealed that, in Belgium alone, authors are waiting for nearly 500 million Euros, held in different bank accounts, to be re-distributed. On the question how something like this could happen, the simple answer provided is that the lack of data has resulted in flawed accounts. And, in this case Belgium is not even the exception …
This issue is not just about large amounts of money, but more importantly about the survival of young and future musicians. Following the crisis in the music sector these musicians have found an environment where it is almost impossible to release a CD. But this is not enough; as an immediate result they also find themselves struggling with securing paid gigs. Meanwhile they are forced to witness collectively generated revenues go by their noses since available data indicating the frequency of play in clubs and on the Internet is not used.
So, is this the end of the line for a generation of musicians then?
Rather than moving towards a system of “blind†collectively generated revenues Younison instead believe this an opportunity to start generating a comprehensive model incorporating wide a range of views to limit these effects in the future. Along with a new legal framework around collectively generated revenues, a harmonized, transparent and proper European system, where the amounts are not dealt with in a collective way, but instead re-distributed in a verifiable and transparent way ensuring that the young guard of musicians are not deprived of their share of the cake, should be introduced.
What Younison and its 1100 members demand is a rock solid guarantee that for every cash flow also a stream of individualized data should be generated, resulting in the funds actually being received by the author whose music is consumed.
In the coming months Younison will therefore work to ensure that at a new agreement is carved out at European level, ensuring revenues collected by rights management companies benefit the appropriate authors.
Younison to attend public EU hearing on behalf of artists
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