ARTISTS NOT GETTING SCREWED BY THEIR LABELS, IFPI INSISTS

Responding to ongoing accusations that the record companies have been shorting their acts on streaming revenues, the IFPI “wanted to bring some data to the debate and undertook research—independently verified by BDO LLP—to better understand what is going on,” the trade group’s CEO, Frances Moore (pictured), wrote in a posting on IFPI.org. “It found that record [companies] have actually safeguarded artists’ incomes as best they can as they have rebuilt their businesses for the digital age.

“IFPI found that while payments to artists have declined over the past five years, the decline was substantially smaller than the reduction in corresponding sales revenue,” Moore continued. “This means that artist remuneration has actually increased as a proportion of record companies’ revenues in the last five years.

“The IFPI research covered payments to locally signed artists by record companies in 18 markets worldwide. It found that industry revenues in those countries declined by 17% over from 2009 to 2014, while corresponding payments to artists declined by only 6%. That meant the proportion of record companies’ revenues paid to local artists in those markets increased by 13% over five years.

“The issue is not that artists are getting lower royalty payments from digital services—they are not—but that the overall recorded music market has shrunk, which means smaller revenues for all involved.”

It’s a great relief to have that whole kerfuffle cleared up, once and for all.