Around 20 authors and composers from across the EU are in Brussels today for the “Meet the Authors” event organised by GESAC, the European Grouping of Authors’ Societies, which represents over one million authors in Europe.
Authors and composers left their recording studios and artistic activities to meet with their MEPs to share their views and experiences in the music and VOD streaming markets, as well as their expectations from European policy makers on the European Parliament’s upcoming two reports on “Authors in Music Streaming Market” and “Social and Professional Situation of Artists”. They are coming from all over Europe with the same call for support from MEPs, to help building a sustainable music ecosystem, which today is failing to fairly reward their work, and to put an end to coercive practices in the VOD market.
Most authors and composers are struggling to earn a living in the current streaming economy, as revenues generated by the market remain unacceptably low, despite the services’ ever-expanding reach, number of users, and quality of offer. Moreover, the opaqueness and dysfunctionalities of music streaming services’ algorithms and recommendation systems give rise to a number of problems such as stream manipulation, fraudulent practises, fake artists, and payola schemes.
Composers working with the video-on-demand services also seek urgent solution to the coercive buy-out and work-for-hire practices imposed by the non-EU based platforms, which circumvent the EU rules and principles of fair remuneration while depriving the authors of all their rights perpetually.
GESAC President, Gernot Graninger said: “While the growing music and VOD markets offer numerous opportunities for new creative initiatives and greater public reach, they fail to generate sufficient value and ensure appropriate remuneration for creators. Serious issues impairing creation and cultural diversity must be addressed, and coercive practices that prevent decent remuneration must be stopped.”
GESAC General Manager Véronique Desbrosses added “The need to increase the overall revenue pie in music streaming, to bring fairness in the share of revenues for authors, who are at the heart of creation, and to ensure transparency of algorithms and prominence of European works on music streaming platforms are priorities to ensure a fair and sustainable European music streaming ecosystem. The European creators’ community represented by GESAC is united on those objectives and trusts that their elected representatives in the European Parliament will continue their unwavering support by providing concrete proposals at EU policy level.”
GESAC comprises 32 authors’ societies from all over Europe. Together, they represent over one million creators and rightsholders – from authors to composers, visual artists to film directors and many more, in the areas of musical, audiovisual, visual arts, and literary and dramatic works.
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