Author: Press Officer

Worldwide royalty collections for creators of music, audiovisual works, visual arts, drama and literature are likely to decline this year by up to 35%  – or €3.5 billion in lost income – according to the latest annual Global Collections Report published by CISAC (International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers).

The report, titled “COVID-19: Crisis, Resilience, Recovery”, shows how creators have been impacted by the pandemic and analyses the continuing effects on their income well into 2021. It documents the actions taken by CISAC’s member societies to mitigate the damage through case studies of societies in Australasia, Brazil, Colombia, France, Morocco, Norway, Spain, the UK and the US.

The Report also highlights creators’ resilience and the need for further government measures to support the creative sector. Highlights at a Glance of the full report are available here.

Data estimates

Creators need a level playing field

Commenting in his introduction to the Report, CISAC President Björn Ulvaeus says: “Today, uncertainty about the future for creators is even worse than it was when the pandemic first emerged. Millions of creators are losing their livelihood. We were the first industry to be impacted and we will be the last to return to health.

“Creators are innovative, entrepreneurial, and resilient, but to build a long path out of this crisis, we have to turn to governments.  This is not just for emergency funds; however welcome those have been. Policymakers also need to tackle the problems in front of them: the deep flaws that have skewed the playing field for creators for many years. COVID-19 did not create this skewed level playing field. But it has sure aggravated and exacerbated it. This is the time for governments to show they take creative industries seriously.  It is time for policymakers to wake up and act”.

In his foreword, CISAC Director General Gadi Oron says: “Looking ahead, this Report reflects extraordinary resilience across our sector, but not yet recovery. Things will get worse for creators before they get better, with loss of collections in 2020 translating into reduced distributions in 2021. In this crisis, CISAC’s member societies have acted to defend their creators with all means available. While the current crisis is exposing the deep fragility of the collective management system, it is at the same time showing the vital importance of its work for creators”.

CISAC Board Chair Marcelo Castello Branco says: “This year, we have all been caught in a perfect storm.  The coronavirus pandemic has thrown into reverse our global growth, and its effects will be felt throughout 2021 and 2022. This troublesome period is clearly not over – but it is fair to say we are all building bridges to whatever comes next while staying positive and alert to future opportunities and challenges. We must now battle to stay in the game and be ready to support, represent and pay our right holders what they deserve and expect from all of us”.

Further data highlights

• Royalties from concerts, venues and public performances have borne the brunt of the pandemic and are forecasted to decline by 60-80% in 2020.  New licensing innovations, such as live streaming of works, are helping support digital revenues, but these fall far short of compensating for the losses from other uses.
• Music income for songwriters and composers makes up the majority of the total and is set to fall between €1.8 and €3.1 billion in 2020, also a decline of 20-35%.
• The impact of the pandemic is expected to remain long into 2021 and beyond. Across all repertoires, collections in 2021 will remain below the level of those in 2019, with users continuing to face payment difficulties and bankruptcies.
• Collections for 2019 grew by 7.4% to hit €10 billion for the first time. Music collections grew 8.4% in 2019.  The losses of 2020 – for music only and for all repertoires combined – are set to wipe out five years of growth since 2015.

Download Key Highlights of the Report
Download the full Report

The Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin, T.D., today announced an increase in the Music Industry Stimulus Package, key supports designed to stimulate song writing, recording and album releases.

The amount of funding for 2020 for the package is being increased from €1 million to €1.7 million. This follows an exceptional number of applications received to the open call for the music support grants which was open for just one month.

Minister Martin said: “Given the exceptionally strong response to the Music Industry Stimulus Package with 1,795 applications received, I have decided to increase funding for the package to ensure musicians can continue to develop and share their work in the context of COVID restrictions.”

The Minister’s announcement coincides with the issue of initial funding decisions which will support 79 song writing camps and 56 new album releases.

Minister Martin added: “These initial €725,000 funding awards support those working in the music industry including musicians, engineers, public relations, media, agents, labels and publishers as well as ensuring national and international listeners can still enjoy our great musicians work.”

The Music Industry Support Package covers song writing camps, recordings and album releases. It was introduced after the cessation of live performances, which reduced incomes for musicians that normally was invested in developing new material, recording and releasing albums.

The funding decisions being announced today relate to song writing and releases. Given the high volume of applications for recording support, decisions for this scheme, with funding of close to €1 million, will now be announced in mid-November.

This Music Industry Stimulus Package is being managed on behalf of the Department by First Music Contact (FMC).

Minister Martin added: “I hope this extra spending for musicians and artists to continue creating this year-which is before more measures are rolled out in 2021-will help meet the significant demand for help received by my Department.”

A range of music industry supports was announced by the Government today as part of Budget 2021. “IMRO welcome the significant extra funding available to the Arts Council bringing its total budget to €130m. A €50m fund for the commercial live entertainment sector is also very welcome – these supports will go some way to ensuring we have a live industry to return to post COVID. The wider music and entertainment industry have worked tirelessly and in unison to achieve these lifelines. Departments right across government have recognised the great threat to our creative industries. Budget announcements today mean we can look forward with some degree of confidence to the future.” – Eleanor McEvoy, IMRO Chairperson.

Total funding for the culture sector will increase in 2021 by 70% compared with the initial 2020 allocation in Budget 2020. The funding will comprise €270m in current expenditure and €60.7m in capital investment, and reflects an acknowledgement by Government of the devastating impact that COVID-19 restrictions have had on the sector.

For the first time, the Government provides support for live entertainment in the amount of €50m. This will include measures for the commercial entertainment sector for the first time, and will support live entertainment in venues across the country, building on the Stimulus scheme announced in July. It will also see support for activities at community level leading to greater work opportunities for crew and venue workers nationwide. There will be further supports for music, building on the phenomenal demand for support under the July stimulus Music Scheme operated by First Music Contact. A scheme of capital grants for equipment will also operate in 2021. Combined with measures announced by the Minister for Finance, this will provide additional supports to a sector severely impacted by COVID-19.

Arts Council funding is up €50m from its initial 2020 allocation to €130m. This additional investment empowers the Arts Council to help artists, arts workers and arts organisations come through this crisis and play their part in the national recovery. It will ensure that events of the highest quality across all art forms can still reach the public in new and blended ways. This support will protect jobs and it will see thousands of artists enabled to create new work. This year, the Arts Council is providing support to a wider range of stakeholders impacted by the Pandemic. This increase in funding will allow the Arts Council to broaden its reach further and in particular to reach out to workers in the sector, especially those who would not previously have been beneficiaries of support from the Arts Council.

Other measures announced today include:

• Self-Employed workers receiving the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment will be able to earn €480 per month and retain their PUP.  Those who have been on these payments for four months or more, will also receive a Christmas bonus.
• Music industry stimulus programme for songwriting and recording projects announced by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht in September will be extended into 2021.
• A €9m increase in funding for Screen Ireland from its initial 2020 allocation to over €30m. This record allocation will further support Screen Ireland at this critical time. In addition, the extension of the Section 481 regional uplift for an additional year is an important support and will further assist growth in the industry.
• An allocation of €8m is made to the National Concert Hall to allow for the transfer of the National Symphony Orchestra from RTÉ. This will be a significant step towards the objective of enabling the orchestra to be established as a world class orchestra which will, with the NCH, provide a creative and imaginative programme strategy that will greatly enhance the offering of the combined organisation to the public.
• The establishment of a new scheme, the COVID Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS), to provide targeted support for businesses including those operating in the arts, culture and entertainment sectors. Businesses impacted by pandemic can get rebates of up to €5,000 a week under this scheme.
• New €55m support fund for strategic tourism businesses – VAT on the sector reduced to 9%, will improve competitiveness and viability of businesses.
• Additional capital funding will see progress in the ongoing programme of investment in our capital institutions including at the National Library of Ireland, the National Archives of Ireland and the Crawford Art Gallery.
• Decade of Centenaries increased funding to €5m to allow for the appropriate commemoration of the centenary of events leading to the foundation of the State.
• Funding for TG4 up €3.5m to €40.7m.

Minister Catherine Martin said: “The diverse range of sectors served by this Department have been amongst those most severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Employing many hundreds of thousands of our fellow-citizens, right across the country, these are the sectors that thrive when people congregate to enjoy their leisure time together. They were the first to close as a result of the pandemic, and they are likely to be amongst the last to return to full operations in the future. Our Cultural Institutions and theatres, our tourism destinations, pubs and restaurants, our sporting occasions and our Gaeltacht communities have all been severely hit since March. Many are shut, or are hugely curtailed, yet these activities are the very ones which bring us all joy, and which are crucial for all our physical and mental health.

“This Budget has now put in place a number of substantial measures to support and strengthen these sectors through 2021.

“Of course, we have been in constant dialogue with stakeholders and sectoral representatives throughout the crisis. Together with my officials, I have set up a number of different engagement channels, to ensure that we, as policy-makers, are listening closely to the voice of the cultural practitioner, the hospitality business-owner, the sporting bodies and our Gaeltacht communities. A wide range of targeted and imaginative government supports put in place since March have drawn on this interaction, and have helped sustain activity and employment in these sectors.

“Budget 2021 has been informed by this ongoing strong engagement between my Department and the sectoral representatives. The strong suite of significant measures detailed below is a robust and targeted response to this crisis; it will support resilience and recovery, and will ensure that Ireland will thrive once more on the global stage in the fields of tourism, culture, sport and linguistic heritage, of which we are so proud.

“These are sector-specific measures, and are of course augmented and supplemented by the economy-wide business support and social welfare measures which were announced in the budget, and which my Cabinet colleagues, including Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe, have already gone into further detail.”

Music creators stand to benefit from new improved technology that will help track their works better and remunerate them faster in the increasingly important music streaming environment.

A two-year project to modernise the global ISWC system, the unique code that identifies music works and helps remunerate their creators and publishers, has been completed and is officially launched today by CISAC, the International Confederation of Authors Societies.

The new system, upgraded by CISAC for the first time in 15 years, will improve the accuracy, speed and efficiency of societies’ work in tracking creators’ works and paying royalties. It will help societies and music publishers manage the trillions of data transactions generated by the growth of music streaming.

The upgrade comes at a crucial time when songwriters across the world have seen the collapse of their traditional income streams, especially live concerts and public performance.

Following a “switchover” in July, over 100 authors societies have already migrated to the new system. The development of the system, commissioned by CISAC to Spanish Point Technologies in January 2018, is supported by companies and organisations across the collective management, publishing and digital services community.

The new ISWC system will also be shortly rolled out for use by the publishing community and digital music platforms.

CISAC President Björn Ulvaeus said: “The upgrade of the ISWC could not come at a more timely moment for songwriters and composers, who are now depending more than ever on digital income for their livelihoods. ISWC is one of the most important identifiers in the music industry and I´m delighted that the upgrade is now completed and is being implemented across the sector. It will track music works better and faster and help put more money more quickly into creators’ pockets. The key now is to make sure the system really does go global – it needs to be universally applied to bring the potential rewards it offers to all players”.

The new ISWC system will improve the information flow between societies, publishers and platforms, helping keep pace with the explosion of music streaming. CISAC societies collections for digital music rose 27% in 2019 to €2.1 billion in 2019 and have almost tripled in the last five years, despite still accounting for only 22% of all music collections. Over the last 15 years, more than 50 million ISWC codes have been allocated to music works.

The new ISWC system brings key benefits to societies:

• Greater accuracy. Codes will be assigned centrally, by CISAC, to avoid duplication and inaccuracies. The new system will end the current practice of having ISWC codes allocated by individual societies, a practice that leads to many data integrity challenges. Central assignment will guarantee that each song will get only one unique code.

• More speed. The new system dramatically reduces the time it takes to assign ISWCs. Unlike today, when assignment is often delayed by the need to complete work registration, ISWCs will be available almost instantly. The codes will then be ready for use by all partners in the commercial chain (publishers, sub-publishers, digital services) within hours of the work’s release, so that a song used on Spotify, Amazon, Apple Music or others can be monetised without delay.

• Increased efficiency. More remuneration for creators. The new ISWC project takes the friction out of the digital licensing process, reduces costs and brings more value. The fully functioning automated allocation system will save societies time and resources and hand more remuneration back to the creators they represent.

For the newly launched ISWC interface allowing a much more flexible and interactive use of the ISWC by societies and publishers, see https://iswcnet.cisac.org.

Gadi Oron, Director-General of CISAC, said: “At a time when creators need digital revenues more than ever before, we are launching a major upgrade to the ISWC system which will lead to massive improvements in the way music works are identified and licensed. The new system will save time and costs for all parties and most importantly, will help deliver more royalties to creators. We are now working closely with our partners across the music sector to make sure the upgraded system is used universally across the digital music market”.

For more information on the ISWC, see https://www.iswc.org