Royalties

Royalties

Copyright:

Copyright in terms of music means to secure the rights to any song or piece of music. The copyright of a song would usually be owned by the primary producer/maker of the song, for example, if an independent artist was to wrtie the song by themself, they own the copyright, of course they would have to be able to prove it if they do get in to any court battles.  The reason for copyrighting is it ensures that, if you obtained copyright on your piece of music, that you will recieve royalties. Royalties are money payments to an artist whenever their song is bought, played on radio or used for any type of promotion (movie trailers, advertisments etc). If someone has used an artist's product, be it on radio, a movie trailer, advertisement etc, the artist will have to contact a collecting agency so the agency can request payment from the user to ensure the artist gets paid for the use of the product.
With no copyright or protection of an artists music the work is essentially free to use and would cause all sorts of conflict when it is. There wouldn't be any court cases but we would live in a world in which songs were just stolen and sampling needn't be credited and was so accessible that creativity would take a massive fall. People think all music sounds the same nowadays, imagine if copyright never existed.

The Importance of Collecting Agencies:

In the music industry the use of copyright laws and collecting agenencies is extremely important as it is a primary way in which an artist recieves money for their efforts and hard work. The use of collecting agencies such as PRS (Performing Rights Society), MCPS (Mechanical Copyright Protection Society) and PPL (Phonographic Peformance Limited) is one of the only ways in which an artist recieves money if their product is used for any type of promotion that does not include them. For example, at the moment, the BBC are using a song of Lana Del Rey's to promote (via a trailer) a big storyline occuring in Eastenders. The BBC would have to ask for Lana Del Rey's (or her label's) permission or Del Rey or her label/publishing company would have to contact the collecting agency and the BBC would make a payment to Del Rey or her label, via the collecting agency. I personally feel the use of copyright licensing and the collection of royalties as one of the most important things associated with and artist's music as I feel, it being one of the principal ways in which an artist recieves money, it would help to boost their career not only financially but it provides motivation to the artist and spurs them on to make more money and better themselves musically. Copyright licensing is important because it cements an artists product, to them personally or their label and prevents any public use without permission and is essentially the pathway to earning royalties as opposed to promotion for free which, whilst efficient (as it still allows listeners to familiarise themselves with an artists music and possibly go on to further explore their back catalogue, if it exists) it doesn't provide the money and stability needed for an artist to improve and further their career.

Collecting Agencies:  
PPL: PPL focuses on collecting the money for the performers on the song rather than the songwriter. Their job is to collect the royalties for the use of a licensed song and distribute them amongst the performers on a song, whether that be the main or featured artist, vocalist or instrumentalist. So, referring back to Del Rey, because she performed on the song (vocally) she will recieve the royalties (probably at a percentage agreed between her and her record label) along with any other featuring performers (if there are any). The other performers would also have to be registered to PPL. PPL also collect international royalties to ensure the most amount of royalties are collected and paid out making them one of the most reliable and efficient collecting agencies.

MCPS: MCPS collects the money from sales for the owners of the copyright for the song. It's possible that the songwriter would own copyright to their own song so it is likely that they could recieve the royalties from MCPS. However this is not always the case as the copyright to a song is usually owned by the primary creator (which may not necessarily be the songwriter).  Even unpublished composers/songwriters are eligible for MCPS royalties so they cater to attract a much wider custom as not all arists have a publishing deal, however if the artist registered with MCPS does have a publishing deal the publisher will collect the artist's royalties on their behalf. MCPS has a minimum distribution payout of £30 for UK/Irish members and £60 for any other members. Looking at efficiency, this is a good decision of behalf of the company as it cuts down administration costs and helps them save money by not charging them for frequent payouts, however, from the artist's point of view, it could be a problem. For example, if Del Rey did not collect the £60 royalties she needed to get paid (I'm talking hypothetically), MCPS would not pay out and she would not receive her money until eventually the royalties reached the minimum (which could take a while). However, infrequent payouts benefit the artist as MCPS charge the administration fee to the artist, so the less amount of payouts the less money the artist will bet charged.

PRS: PRS focus on the collection and distribution of royalties to the writer of a track. If someone has performed on a track but does not have any writing credits on it they are not eligible for royalties from PRS. PRS, like MCPS, also has a minimum payout of £30 for UK and £60 for elsewhere hence benefiting both themselves and their customers.

It's hard to compare how relevant each collecting agency is to the music industry as they are all playing different parts albeit in a similar situation. Each collection agency caters for a different kind of artist. However in terms of features certain agencies have better aspects. Like PPL's collection of international royalties to ensure their clients get to most out of registering with them whilst PRS and MCPS don't offer this and therefore, do not collect/perform to the standards of PPL. However MCPS allow unpublished artists to collect royalties, so, unlike PRS and PPL, they cater for a larger custom. 

Without the use of collecting agencies the retrieval of royalties would be extremely difficult. It would involve people, who don't have any real experience in collecting money, attempting to collect the money they deserve from the user, who also doesn't have any experience in the distribution of royalties, which means nothing would get done, no one would get there money, the artist is left without payment/profits and are unable to continue their career because they are not being funded.

Venue Licensing:

According to the 2012 live music act, in order to host a music event, a venue has to have a valid license. This means that without said license, legally, a venue would not be able to organise any events taking place on their property. With a license the venue (most likely a bar or club) would be able to hire musicians to play on their premises. The license also permits them to sell alcohol (to those over 18) and late night refreshments (anything after 11pm) to their customers.

A similar act came into play in 2003 which permitted the same things as the 2012 act but was more expensive which meant smaller venues couldn't afford the license and were not able to host any events (music or any other). This led to a massive fall in less known and more underground artists/bands being booked for any gigs, which could seriously affect their career (no gig, no money, no recognition).

The 2012 act was bought in as an ammendment to the 2003 one and meant smaller venues could afford their own license which in turn gave less known bands the oppurtunity to promote themselves. However, the license limits the venues capacity to 200 people and ensures that a venue would 'kick out' their customers come 11pm. The strict curfew is a way to prevent too much noise in residential areas and from stopping intoxicated customers from spilling out on to the street and disturbing surrounding residents.

TEN's or Temporary Event Notice gives the oppurtunity for venues to host infrequent or one off events. For example if a small venue wanted to host an event for special reasons like if a really special band supported by the bar wanted to perform there, the venue could obtain a Temporary Event Notice and would legally be able to host the event and would not have to pay a hefty fee for a one off occasion.  It is extremely cheap (which is good for small venues) at £21 for a 7 day notice and allows a lot more people into a smaller venue at 500 maximum, ensuring that they are over 18 (as alcohol could be provided). However if a venue was to play an event with a TEN and realised that this was a brilliant way to generate custom they would then have to either splash out for a more permanent license or continuously renew and pay for their Temporary one. I would suggest a TEN for a venue that is 100% sure that this event will be a one off rather than just a trial period.

I personally feel the 2012 ammendment was the best thing to happen in terms of live music licensing as it ammends the damage that the 2003 act caused and eventually opened up the oppurtunity for smaller venues with less money to host live music which, in turn, gave smaller bands/acts the oppurunity to play to audiences (no matter how small) and further their career. As much as the 2003 act was effective during its run, in the long term, the effects were detrimental to those wishing to jump start their career. The TENs are effective in their own right as it gives small venues that don't frequently host events the ability to do so. This could also boost an unknown acts career just as much as the full term licensing but does not run long enough to do so to many acts whereas the full term one gives multiple acts the chance to launch themselves.


BIBLIOGRAPHY:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_%28Lana_Del_Rey_album%29, Accessed 26/04/2014, Author Unkown.
https://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080215082751AAqN6oK, Accessed 26/04/2014, Author Unknown.
http://www.prsformusic.com/creators/memberresources/MCPSroyalties/mcpsminimumpayments/Pages/MCPSminimumpayments.aspx, Accessed 26/04/2014, Author Unknown
http://www.prsformusic.com/creators/memberresources/PRSforMusicroyalties/minimumpayments/Pages/prsminimumpayments.aspx, Accessed 26/04/2014, Author Unknown
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Licensing_Act_2003#Impact_on_live_music, Accessed 09/05/2014, Author Unknown