Tag Archives: news

Recent News

AFM Sues Atlantic, Sony, Warner for Failing to Fund Musicians’ Pensions

This week the AFM filed suit against several recording companies over digital music distribution revenue. According to the suit Atlantic Recording Corporation (Atlantic), Hollywood Records (Hollywood), Sony Music Entertainment (Sony), Universal Music Group Recordings, Inc. (UMG), and Warner Brothers Records, Inc. (Warner) failed to make pension fund contributions from foreign audio stream revenue and foreign and domestic ringback revenue.

The major recording companies’ long-held contracts with the AFM require the companies to share a portion of sales revenue with musicians. Most of the revenue was originally from record sales and later CD sales. In 1994 AFM and the recording companies entered into an agreement, subsequently renewed, requiring the companies to pay 0.5% of all receipts from digital transmissions including audio streaming, nonpermanent downloads, and ringbacks.

“The record companies should stop playing games about their streaming revenue and pay musicians and their pension fund every dime that is owed,” says AFM President Ray Hair. “Fairness and transparency are severely lacking in this business. We are changing that.”

Last year independent auditors discovered that the recording companies had not made the required revenue payments from foreign audio streams, ringbacks, and foreign non-permanent downloads. Attempts to reconcile the issues outside of court have gone on for several months to no avail.

This is the fifth lawsuit filed against major media corporations for contract violations in the past few months. Under Hair’s leadership, AFM has begun to aggressively enforce existing contracts and stand up to large corporations that fail to pay musicians when their work is reused or offshored.

The suit seeks payment for all missing revenue owed the AFM Pension Fund, late payment penalties, interest, damages and legal costs.

Recent News

Musical Frisson: The Science Behind Musical Arousal

Wesleyan University psychologist Psyche Loui and her student Luke Harrison set out to explain the phenomenon of “skin orgasms,” or frisson, in music listeners and musicians. One 1991 study found that about half of professional musicians and nonmusicians experienced shivers down the spine, trembling, flushing and sweating, and even sexual arousal in response to favorite pieces of music. The phenomenon, which also explains the altruism and cohesion that develops between individuals who make music together, is described in a BBC article by David Robson.

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Recent News

NPR Drops Out of MIC Coalition

When MIC (music.innovation.consumers) was founded earlier this year it billed itself as a coalition that advocates for a future music marketplace that is transparent, efficient, and sustainable, however early members have dropped out noting that it is less concerned about protecting the music economy than it is reducing payments to artists. Amazon quickly withdrew from the coalition in June citing its alleged focus on music pricing. This month NPR also pulled out giving no exact reason.

On hearing the news, performance rights organization SoundExchange issued a statement that read, in part:

Just a month after launch, the MIC Coalition lost yet another member today when NPR joined Amazon in rejecting the organization’s anti-artist agenda and dropping out of the MIC Coalition. SoundExchange applauds NPR for taking this stand for the future of music and artists everywhere. We look forward to continuing our long-standing, positive collaboration with NPR. Now, more than ever, it is vital that music creators and music lovers everywhere stand together to fight for the future of music.

The AFM and SoundExchange ask musicians to please write your member of Congress and ask them to support the Fair Play Fair Pay Act to ensure all artists are paid every time their music is played, on every platform. Visit: http://musicfirst-coalition.rallycongress.com/17671/support-fair-play-fair-pay-act/.

Recent News

‘Happy Birthday’ Still Not Free

Some thought that Wednesday would bring a close to the battle over whether Warner/Chappell would retain the rights to “Happy Birthday.” Filmmakers working on a documentary about the song discovered new evidence that may prove that the song should be in the public domain. The “smoking gun” is in the form of a children’s book of songs from Warner/Chappell’s own digital library. The blurry 1927 edition of The Everyday Song Book contained the lyrics without a copyright notice and the copyright was not filed until 1935. The filmmakers say that the original composers of the song, Patty Smith Hill and Mildred Hill, had surrendered the song to the public.

Though July 29 hearing took a comprehensive look at ownership of the song, the judge hadn’t had time to review the new evidence and the final decision was postponed once again. Ownership of the tune brings in about $2 million to Warner/Chappell each year. If able to prove the tune was dedicated to the public years before the copyright registration, the filmmakers and others will no longer have to pay to use the song.

Recent News

VA Choice Program Funds Should Be Reallocated

Following last week’s announcement of a $2.5 billion VA hospital shortfall caused by a sharp increase in demand by veterans for healthcare, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) urged Congress to transfer unused money from its Choice Card privatization program. The Choice program was the centerpiece of sweeping VA overhaul last year in response to a scandal over the long waits for medical care that veterans endured. Though the program launched last November made it easier for veterans to receive federally paid medical care from local doctors, it’s only been used by 3% of eligible veterans. Annually, nearly 9 million veterans annual receive medical services from the VA.

“The resources needed to meet the demands on our veterans care system are waiting to be utilized. Our nation’s heroes cannot afford for any more time to be wasted. Congress must act now and authorize the transfer of unused Choice Program funds to programs that will meet the immediate needs of our nation’s vets,” says AFGE National President J. David Cox Sr.

Recent News

Taxi Worker Alliance Responds to Uber

New York Taxi Workers Alliance Executive Director Bhairavi Desai responded to Uber Senior Vice President of Policy and Strategy David Plouffe’s assertion on CBS that the vast majority of Uber drivers are part-time employees who don’t rely on Uber for their main source of income.

“This proliferation of part-time work comes at the expense of drivers already working full-time on the job,” says Desai, citing Uber’s model of having an unending number of vehicles. “If you only create part-time work, then you lower incomes, have unending competition, and fragment the work day and call that flexibility.”

“Workers struggling to make ends meet—something getting harder with more congestion and unending competition—shouldn’t be an after-thought,” he says. Uber has called US labor laws antiquated, seeking to abolish the system that has been built to protect taxi and limo drivers over the years.

Recent News

Malaysia Receives Upgrade Despite Continued Worker Trafficking

After lawmakers placed restrictions on the Fast Track bill that prohibit the US from making fast track trade agreements with countries ranked as tier-three on the annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, Malaysia was upgraded from that lowest rating. “This clearly political decision undermines the credibility of important anti-trafficking efforts and underscores the fact that the Obama administration is perfectly willing to abandon workers to pursue its trade agenda,” says AFL-CIO political blogger Charlie Fanning.

An upgrade on the TIP report should signify progress in curbing human trafficking, but in the case of Malaysia, where trafficking is a major black market industry, labor and human rights groups say this is not the case. Malaysian officials frequently line their pockets or turn a blind eye to pervasive exploitation. Most of Malaysia’s victims are among the country’s 4 million migrant workers (40% of its workforce) who work in industries such as varied as electronics, agriculture, domestics, and the garment sectors.

Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal accused Malaysian Prime Minster Najib Razak of pocketing more than $700 million in public funds. The regime’s history of corruption and anti-transparency greatly undermines any promises made regarding human trafficking.

Recent News

Grammy 101: A Video That Teaches Viewers About the Grammys

The Recording Academy is often criticized when the Grammy Award winners are announced. While sometimes the complaints are valid, there are also frequent misconceptions. For example, perceived Grammy snubs may actually involve songs/albums that were never submitted for consideration or weren’t eligible in the first place. According to a Recording Academy press release the organization is launching a video series—Grammy 101—to help Grammy Award watchers understand the Grammy Awards and selection process better.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwwyl7-j4E8

Recent News

Revenant: Shooting at the Outer Edge of Safety

Damia Petti, president of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 212 (Calgary, AB), says the actions of the crew of the film The Revenant went to “the outer edge of safety” though its producer insists on-set safety was closely followed. Anonymous crew members reported to The Hollywood Reporter that working on Alejandro G. Inarritu’s follow-up to Birdman was a living hell. Fifteen to 20 of them were either fired or quit during the filming, which took place in remote rural Alberta during the brutally cold Canadian winter.

“It’s a different world than being in a studio,” Petti told THR. “In my jurisdiction, we’ve gone many years with no film studios. The opinions of crew when working in extreme conditions need to be heard and I feel that at times some productions are not listening.”