UK music creators are set to benefit from a new government-backed deal on streaming payments and expenses, which has been voluntarily agreed to by major music labels.
The agreement, announced yesterday (22 July), will deliver a set of measures designed to increase the earnings of legacy artists, songwriters and session musicians, including a commitment to paying per diems and expenses for recording sessions to composers.
Conceived through “constructive discussions” of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport-led Creator Remuneration Working Group (CRWG), the deal has been endorsed by the UK arms of Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group, as part of the government’s Plan for Change.
The measures also include a new framework for renegotiating contracts agreed before the year 2,000, when streaming became more commonplace, and support for the digitisation of legacy artists’ back catalogues.
Any debts to their record labels will also be written off, as part of a process initiated in 2021 by Sony Music to ensure legacy artists can begin earning money from streaming for the first time.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said government had “heard loud and clear from creators that more needs to be done to ensure they are fairly compensated when their work is used on streaming platforms”.
A ‘landmark step’
The deal means that, for the first time, songwriters will receive a daily expenses payment of £75, along with travel and food expenses, for attending sessions or songwriting camps.
This follows calls from acclaimed musicians such as Raye and Myles Smith to introduce per diems, ensuring fair treatment for writers.
Currently, songwriters often work for free during sessions, receiving compensation only if a track is commercially released and generates royalties from streaming.
The Ivors Academy, which sat on the CRWG, has hailed the move as a “landmark step”, noting it is the first time this type of payment has been formally agreed with major labels anywhere in the world.
Chair of The Ivors Academy Tom Gray said: “No one should provide their craft and labour for free, especially when there’s simply no guarantee of liveable income from streaming royalties. This is an important and long-overdue step that protects the dignity of working songwriters.”
Under the new deal terms agreed by the British Phonography Industry (BPI) and Musicians’ Union (MU), session musicians will also receive a pay rise of up to 40% for recording sessions, while pop musicians will receive a standard pay of £182, increasing from the old rate of £130.
The pay of orchestral musicians will increase by 15%, meaning a principal violinist will see their rate rise from £92.96 to £106.90.
The labels involved estimate these changes will deliver tens of millions of pounds in new investment to support music-makers by 2030.
‘Systemic inequities’
The Council of Music Makers, a coalition of organisations representing music creators and professionals, said it “appreciated” the steps taken in the deal, but cautioned that “longstanding issues” remained in the music industry.
“The major labels have made bold estimates about the value and impact of these initiatives – but we are not convinced they can be substantiated,” said the council.
It added that “much more still needs to be done”, and issues with the streaming business model “remain largely unresolved, as major labels say they will not address systemic inequities in the way streaming works voluntarily”.
Earlier this year, musicians from more than 20 orchestras across the UK signed an open letter urging the government to address the “unsustainable” streaming royalties system.
A songwriter whose work achieves at least 1m streams per month, which only 0.026% of tracks do, can expect to earn £15,288 per year, according to research from the UK’s Intellectual Property Office.
‘Fundamental problems remain’
The MU, whose general secretary Naomi Pohl attended CRWG, was also “disappointed” the deal did not address “key issues” with music streaming economics.
Pohl said she was “grateful” for the pressure put on record labels to improve terms for artists on older contracts but wanted to see “modern royalty rates for all signed artists”.
“The fundamental problems with music streaming remain,” she said, announcing that the MU will shortly be launching a petition calling for copyright reform.
Creative Industries Minister and chair of the CRWG Chris Bryant acknowledged that the rise of streaming had left many musicians and songwriters “really struggling” and that artists “simply don’t think they receive their fair share of the profit generated by their work on these platforms”.
“These new measures, which apply specifically in the UK, are an important step in ensuring creators are fairly paid for their work,” he said.
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