The British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) has launched a campaign in an effort to assert the rights of musical artists in a time in which publishers and streaming conglomerates are taking a large share of artists’ profits.
In recent months, Facebook has signed a number of licensing deals which will amount to an influx of cash for both record labels and music publishers. The same result is sure to occur when Spotify goes public later this month. As BASCA launches the #SoldForASong campaign, they are hoping that creators will start to see their fair share of these profits.
Many major labels have already pledged to share in the profits following Spotify’s listing on the New York Stock Exchange. Now, the call is being made to ensure that music publishers share in the lump sum advances paid from licensing deals with Facebook, often resulting in millions of dollars, with the writers they represent.
Pledges from major labels have remained vague and publishers have largely remained silent, so the hashtag was created to generate public attention around the issue of artist compensation.
BASCA has accompanied the hashtag with a list of demands. BASCA is seeking assurance from both publishers and Facebook that a system will be put in place to identify what music is used on the platform and that any “unattributable” income is distributed fairly with songwriters and composers. BASCA is also demanding that publishers make adequate effort to “establish correct usage,” instead of simply distributing funds arbitrarily.
Vick Bain, CEO of BASCA, said in a statement: “Facebook and other user generated content platforms, as well as digital services such as Spotify have benefited incalculably from exploiting our members work and indeed this has allowed them to become among the world’s wealthiest corporations.” He went on to say “They, and the publishers who license music to them, have an obligation and a duty to safeguard the future sustainability of our industry and to ensure that songwriters and composers are given their fair due of these potential riches.”
The hashtag is quickly gaining traction on Twitter and BASCA hopes that songwriting groups in the U.S. and Canada will join the coalition soon in effort to spark a movement in generating achievable ways to compensate artists fairly as technology advances.