Top Australian artists have banded together to back a major payment shake-up aimed at improving compensation for struggling musicians.
Hunters and Collectors frontman Mark Seymour was joined by Something for Kate’s Paul Dempsey and Holly Rankin, who performs as Jack River, at a Senate inquiry into copyright legislation in Canberra on Thursday.
Under current laws, radio broadcasters are prevented from paying more than one per cent of their gross earnings towards licence fees.
The ABC specifically cannot be required to pay more than 0.5 cents per each of the population in licensing fees.
Proposed changes would remove these caps, prompting broadcasters to negotiate with artists and copyright owners to pay what artists say is the true value of their songs.
Mr Seymour said the current legislation, which was created in 1968, did not correlate with the realities of the modern music landscape.
“I don’t understand why commercial radio is a protected species in this area,” he said.
“It does seem bizarre and anachronistic. It’s based on an outdated set of economic circumstances that don’t apply anymore.
“The argument that commercial radio is saying that they are exposed to a greater risk than anyone else, I just think, is slightly disingenuous."
Ms Rankin said tough economic and pandemic-induced conditions in the past five years have made for dire financial conditions for many Australian musicians.
“I’ve been a recording artist for almost 10 years now, I was operating an exciting, profitable business pre-COVID,” she said.
“Post-COVID, my business has suffered almost a 60 per cent downturn.
"I’m a new mother, I work very hard and that’s been devastating for us.
“It’s becoming impossible for artists to tour regionally due to all of the other factors at play."
Mr Dempsey said the impact of current legislation was grossly unfair for artists’ trying to make a living from their music.
“Everyone in every industry would feel that way if there was this huge obstruction to them being able to have a negotiation which is all we’re asking for,” he said.
Australian Recording Industry Association chief executive Annabelle Herd said artists are being short changed by the decade-old legislative provisions.
“Caps that do not exist in any type of copyright or any other industry here or globally,” she said.
“These caps are taking money out of the hands of Australian artists, artists who would receive 50 per cent of any increase and that is not insubstantial.”
Capital Radio Network operates stations across the country.
Its chief operating officer Josh Matthews warned any changes to the cap would result in mass job losses across the already embattled sector.
“We need to run a business and be pragmatic about this and that means we’re going to have to look at, where we can, cutting costs,” he said.
“It’s going to be our people that are impacted, they’re going to lose jobs, we’re going to have to change our format. It’s going to radically change the way we broadcast.”
“If we’re in a position where we have to play less copyright music to do so, then we’re going to do that, which means less Australian music on our station.”
The Australian radio industry already pays $37 million in royalty and licensing fees annually and about $4.5 million of that went to the Phonographic Performance Company of Australia, which ARN says is owned by Sony, Universal and Warner.
The ABC said its radio stations such as triple j and ABC Classic, along with programs like Spicks and Specks and Like A Version, could be impacted if it is forced to pay more for music.
