Fair Play for Creators

We are told, all the time, that we are moving more and more into a digital economy. In that economy it is "information" and "content" that is the commodity, not physical goods. YouTube/Google are at the forefront of that revolution, of course, and that should be supported: as long as the providers of the original content are rewarded for their share in the building of that business, and have a say in, firstly, whether they wish their content to be used in this way and, secondly, can set a sensible rate for its use. It is, after all *our* content, content provided by individual songwriters and composers whose rights in that content are represented by their publishers and PRS for Music. While the distribution model has changed, the goods still have to be paid for. Goods did not suddenly become free when distribution changed from rail to road.

3 billion is a whole lot of profit I think it only fair that the song writers and performers get a fair share.

I'm not sure how we are expected to survive.

I am dying to know why ISPs are still not contributing a royalty portion of the millions/billions they earn annually. The barn door was left open ten years ago when a legal precident could have tapped into revenue instead of the current download free-for-all. I am also curious why there is no royalty arrangement for music used/played/shared on Myspace - however miniscule? Regardless of the Myspace stance of 'providing a free webspace/service' - the site would be in a sorry state if plunged into silence by legal or tactical action.

If you construct your business model around a commodity you can't afford to pay for, it's a crap business model.

It's not up to the music business to price its product low enough to sustain such business models.

I share your outrage at Google's action, which seeks further to cheapen and undermine the work of creative people..

Firstly I don't think I've ever thanked you for the work you do. My business is viable through your royalty collections.

I am fully supportive of your/our stand.

Right now music is as strong a creative force as ever. Unfortunately we writers find ourselves in a current crisis of music piracy and illegal downloading.
It is imperative for songwriters, recording artists and the music industry as a whole to come together and resist anyone or any organization trying to exploit them without proper compensation. Writers and artists must receive recognition and money due for their creativity! PRS for Music along with other rights organizations worldwide are leading the fight to ensure writers are properly rewarded.

I'm not denying Youtube.com offers a great service but they cannot expect to use other peoples work without proper compensation. Through their current action Google/YouTube are damaging writers/artists income and in turn putting a strain on the creative community.

I agree wholeheartedly with your comments and indeed the action PRS for Music has taken. It is about time that all of us who represent music writers around the world collectively stood up to the greed and ignorance of the mega-companies. If we do not, our writers and composers will soon be out of business entirely.

Hi there, as a member I am outraged and want to help.

As a songwriter I think it's out of order that Google wants to take our chance of having a window off the Internet. I think it's important that we're paid our dues. We've been working for years and years in our bedrooms to write songs. People want to watch music and listen to music; the demand for music is always going to be there, so it's important the right percentage is paid to the artist. If it was completely free then the artist is never going to be able to make a living out of it, which means the music is devalued. That's the key. You've got to work hard as a musician to get paid properly. You can't just go and watch a band for free. It costs £1 million to put on a show like Knebworth so it can't just be free can it? The percentage is so small to Google and the advertisers, but that money really does help the artists.

PRS for Music has been an immeasurable support to me, my project and my label. Every penny counts and everything we get from radio play, from video play and from sales really helps you to be able to produce more music, more ambitious live shows and more experimental records.

I'm a songwriter and even though I've been in the industry a long time, not everyone knows the songs I write, yet every few months a small cheque arrives from PRS for Music and it's always a surprise because my music gets played in little places all over the world. PRS for Music collect the money for me, rounds it all up and send it to me. Those little cheques over the course of the year add up to something that makes a big difference. I might not be the biggest songwriter in the world but I have the biggest love for songwriting and being able to carry on my career - PRS for Music supports me and helps me to do that.

We've got to say that PRS for Music is such an amazing thing because it enables us to do gigs, record records and play shows. Without it I don't know what I'd do.

Royalties helps bands that are struggling. We've been going for three years and we've had a great time, but we're playing small bars - we're not earning millions from big record sales so it's the small amounts of money that makes a difference.

For younger, smaller bands every penny is important. Every penny you can get, whether it's from radio or YouTube or downloading, counts. PRS for Music is vital.

It is about time that record companies, film companies, TV companies, ringtone providers, Google, You-Tube, I Tunes and anyone who uses music woke up to the importance of songwriters. Without songwriters there would be no musical content to use to promote products and brands and to embellish scenes in film and TV. The world would be a duller place.

Now, as people start to sing my songs and play my music and as people start to want to hear those people singing my songs and playing my music, is it not fair that I earn money for the trade I've dedicated my life to? You expect to pay for a lawyer or to talk on the phone or watch TV... why do people expect to get music that people have slaved over, spent thousands on studio space to record, given up days and weeks and months to create, for nothing?

Google paid $1,600,000,000 to buy YouTube. They were buying the huge advertising revenue that YouTube generates. A large amount of the content that people visit YouTube for is music, much of it copyrighted. In my last quarterly PRS for Music statement I received 0.6p from YouTube. With over 10,000,000 views for Marillion's videos I'm wondering if there's more to come. Like many musicians, I rely in part on my PRS for Music income to live. If we are not going to be earning as much from traditional CD sales because people choose to get their music in other ways then it's only fair that the likes of Google share some of the fantastic profits they are making at our expense.

I personally think it's great to see PRS for Music doing something about online royalties vis a vis the YouTube debacle... the whole idea that creators aren't entitled to copyright protection has been allowed to slide for far too long. The age of pretending it's cool to steal other people's intellectual property is gone... and not before time.

I am well aware of the piratical attitude of the internet brigade, and am constantly annoyed by the way they hijack the concept of the "freedom of the internet" in pursuing their aim to be free to steal other people's property in order to make money for themselves.

I fully support you in your dispute with Google.

Google are abusing their dominant position in the market. Yet another sign that young internet companies are capable of behaving in a completely disreputable fashion.

PRS for Music income will be my only source of income this year and I am realistically looking towards a future where i am not a professional composer.

Thanks to PRS for Music for their work on YouTube / Google music licensing..

I had a video that had about 25,000 views in total and when I got my PRS for Music cheque through, I think I made two or three pounds off that maximum. In terms of income, PRS for Music is one of the only things that's profitable for me. So it's quite ludicrous that Google wants to lowering still the amount they pay out for videos . How can something that's played 25,000 times just make pennies? I'm not a really rich person. PRS for Music is one of the only things that sustains me and allows me to pay rent. My view is that Google are making loads of money off advertising when people go to their pages and look at my videos. I think I should get a bit more for that. Even if they gave me £10 I'd be in a better situation.

It seems massively unfair that musicians and music fans in the uk should be penalised because a giant corporation like Google do not want to negotiate fairly.
Whilst it may seem like they are simply 'standing their ground', it infact reads as a sharp and shrewd bullying tactic. And everyone (including Youtube/Google) are losing out. The sooner we all recognise this, the better.

It's a common misconception that songwriters are all multi-millionaires. There's a surprisingly few amount of avenues for songwriters to get paid. I just want to get paid for my music.

Totally with you on this.

I thank PRS for Music for constantly being on the side of the writers you have always been there for me as a writer and I am most grateful.

Although the exposure is always welcome it would be terrific if YouTube and MySpace and other music/video website paid a small fee for each full length play. They are mighty rich and it would be fair to those at the end of the food chain.

Hundreds of major web sites use our music as their stock-in-trade in order to attract traffic to boost advertising revenue. What other business could persuade their suppliers to give them their stock for nothing? It is a ludicrous situation which, if unchecked, will devalue our copyright to the point where no creators can make a living. We all give PRS For Music a mandate to look after our performing right for us. Cynical corporate negotiation on the scale of Google/YouTube makes their work impossibly difficult and threatens the very existence of the creative music community.