Fair Play for Creators

I am firmly behind PRS for Music in their attempts to negotiate a fair and proper deal on behalf of music creators for online performance of their work on YouTube, and indeed other sites using music.

Music and film is available on tap these days, like water or electricity. Just as the electric company pays the coal mining company or nuclear plant for the energy it distributes, so should Internet companies pay the creators of the content of their websites.

100% behind the campaign. Google should be ashamed of themselves. The Internet has enough "rip-off" merchants getting free music.

The internet revolution provides the first real possibility for truly accurate, low-cost usage data to inform PRS for Music. It is not an excuse to pay less, it should be viewed as the possibility to finally pay fairly and accurately.

I have been a publisher/composer member for approximately 40 years and support the PRS for Music in all their efforts to obtain proper rewards for their members.

Fair payment for the use of our music should be taken more seriously

Absolute support. For me it's all about supporting the young and new singers, writers and performers, and building something for them for the future.

One would never think of not paying a plumber for fixing your taps, nor a builder for building an extension on your house - so why is it assumed that musicians don't need to be paid for decorating peoples' time?

All we want is to be treated fairly. Is that too much to ask for?

Being in a band and being a musician in 2009, especially one that is trying so hard to make a living or even a career is hard enough as it is. We need all we can get to survive...

With the ever increasing illegal downloads of composers music loosing yet another source of revenue is unacceptable!

Yes the writers definitely deserve a fair slice of the pie when their music is exploited on YouTube and similar services.

Creative talent must be respected and rewarded appropriately.

Online "entertainment" (music videos/TV shows/films and other multimedia) now has a huge audience and since music is a large driver for this it is time the artists and composers were recognized and remunerated.

Songwriters have and probably always will lose a certain amount of royalties due to the media pirates of this world. Any institution which calls itself a broadcaster, especially one as large as YouTube, would surely not want to be seen as being one of those pirates. We are going through a revolution whereby the internet is taking over from television, so piracy laws must be upheld for the protection of our intellectual property and royalties need to be fairly collected and distributed. If a corporation as big as Google can get away with this kind of behaviour, there's no future for the creative talents of our world. Unless we work for free...

We are behind you all the way. Stand strong as Google are just using "bully tactics", they know the implications of these decisions will have consequences for generations to come. This is all new territory and YouTube have had a free ride for long enough.

Income streams from performance royalties is often the ONLY way that struggling composers and songwriters can ever get paid for their work. This is because the music industry is falling apart, no-one knows what will happen from one day to the next and consequently no new, REAL talent is ever unearthed by established record labels as they just can't take the risk. People need to wake up to how this whole thing works. Otherwise we will be doomed to an eternity of homogenised, interchangeable, production line brands devoid of any innovation, creativity and talent.

I pledge my support.

I'm right (write?) behind you

I have been a member for around 60 years now, and my biggest hit on you tub was my Christmas carol "Mary's Lullaby" which had 1,500 hits, it would be gratifying to receive some compensation for my composition. So I fully support PRS for Music in their endeavours to fight for the rights of composers everywhere.

My wish is to be paid for my work all the time :) cheers.

Thanks PRS for Music for standing up to them, they have to realise we all have to make a living.

Thankyou PRS for Music for going into bat for us.

It's a strange argument that's underway. In the commercial market, musicians have been criticised as "unrealistic" for expecting to continue to get paid via the traditional system of customers buying recordings. We should be forwarding thinking, we were told, and expect to provide our listeners with free music in the future and make our money through other revenue such as advertising in the sites which provide the music. However, as we're now seeing, not even the largest of corporations is willing to pay simple airplay fees like any other broadcaster. Many advocates of the "free music" model wrongly see PRS for Music as the bad guy in this argument, but they should really be on PRS for Music's side. If people want to see a new business structure where listeners get the music for free, then both the listeners and the musicians need to ensure that Google does not win this battle. If musicians cannot even receive the airplay fees they deserve, then a dangerous precedent will be set which damages the prospects of any new scheme of music distribution.

I think creators are tired of being taken for granted.

Aim records is totally in support!! We want a fair deal!!! Go PRS for Music!

Google's action is part of a general corporate ignorance playing into an increasing public perception of music as a 'free' medium. Their reluctance to pay a negligible licensing fee has hugely negative implications for independent composers and artists and risks reducing further the diversity and general development of music.

I have so many arguments with people about piracy and the use of music/images created by others and then simply 'stolen' by the copying of a DVD or CD. It makes me so cross. You wouldn't walk into M&S and steal something so what's different about this? The people who create music and film are all talented in their own right and if it weren't for us, there would be no songs or films to 'pinch'. So come, fair play for us writers and publishers, we're trying to make a living at what we do best. Imagine if you turned up for a day's work and you were then told 'Sorry, we won't be paying you today'. Can you imagine how you would feel???

I am behind you 100% as a music creator, I want to make it clear that all the mechanisms are in place and working smoothly so that we can keep on creating...Thank You.

Its hard enough getting royalties from legit sources. Keep up the fight.

It's insane and frankly insulting that Google think they can get away without paying reasonable royalties - like any broadcasting service, Youtube wouldn't even exist without the work of songwriters & artists.

To lose sight of the inspiration could mean to lose sight of the inspired.

Absolutely behind you all the way on this.

Music is an immense force in the world that affects most of our lives in a highly positive way. Without music the world would lose one of its greatest assets. By not allowing creators of music the chance to earn a living from their craft, that great asset is under threat.

It is about time we all stood together for strength in getting things to happen.

Google / YouTube have to realise that if writers do not earn from their music, they will stop writing music. It's as simple as that.

Writers and Publishers deserve to be paid for their work and creative property which gives so many people happiness as well as profit for Google/ YouTube.

YouTube should pay a royalty for every musical work it broadcasts. There is no excuse.

If it wasn't for PRS for Music and their fair policies for music writers I would not be still making music today. I almost gave everything up after signing a very unfair publishing deal that would have left me with nothing if PRS for Music didn't pay some royalties direct to writers. This money kept me going. Musicians are constantly being squeezed out when there is still plenty of money being made out of their music.