(Cardiff West) (Lab)
I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time.
I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’
Financial Interests, including some small earnings as a musician,
and my membership of the Musicians’ Union and
its financial support at election time. I also declare my
membership of the Ivors Academy, which represents the interests
of songwriters and composers...
(Perth and North Perthshire)
(SNP):...The Ivors Academy and the Musicians’
Union have told us how bad the situation is for
musicians, so we know how bad it is. They have said that 82% of
professional musicians have made £200 per year less from
streaming. This is totally different from the 1990s, when someone
who did sell massive amounts of singles got real rewards. We are
coming into the Christmas season, and someone who is lucky enough
to have had a Christmas hit in the 1970s or 1980s—there have not
been so many recently—will hit the jackpot, because their song
will get played again and again and go right to the top of the
steaming charts. All these historic artists will once again earn
a huge bonus this Christmas season, and all power to them,
because these are fantastic songs that we all love, but that
gives just an indication of how difficult it is for modern
artists to try to make some money...
(Feltham and Heston)
(Lab/Co-op):...I pay tribute to Tom Gray and the #BrokenRecord
campaign. He is a talented musician and composer, and a worthy
recipient of the Mercury music prize with the band Gomez. He has
deployed his organisational and persuasive skills to help
highlight the issue of performers’ rights and remuneration. Tom
has worked so hard along with the Musician’s
Union, the Ivors Academy, my hon. Friend the Member for
Cardiff West and others to highlight the broken music market...
...The Musicians’ Union is right to say that the
last 18 months have highlighted the importance of streaming as a
way for musicians to earn a living. As my hon. Friend
highlighted, streaming has created huge opportunities for
musicians. Let us be clear, however, that a fair income for
musicians was a deep problem before the pandemic. It is also a
classic example of technology outstripping our legal framework
and of how it works to profit a few and exploit the many. It is
the House’s duty to modernise the law to reflect the reality of
the music industry and challenge the status quo whereby most
streaming income—an estimated 55% of it—ends up in the pockets of
record labels, streaming platforms and digital giants while 15%
goes to artists and publishers. That is compounded by the
imbalance, highlighted by the right hon. Member for Tatton, in
the speed of payments...
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