Snowdroppers reach settlement with Valleyarm, another artist comes forward

Today, Sydney band The Snowdroppers announced they had reached “an amicable settlement” with music distribution company Valleyarm Digital Content Distribution following almost seven months of legal action.

The Snowdroppers first announced their plight on social media with FasterLouderreporting Valleyarm owed the band more than $10,600 in unpaid royalties. Now, the band have taken to Facbook again, posting today:

We’d like to let you know as of today an amicable settlement has been reached with Valleyarm.

We’ve also been made aware several other artists we’ve spoken to over the last couple of days have also been paid.

We’d like to sincerely thank our fans and fellow musicians for the overwhelming amount of support you’ve shown us. Time for us to get on with the business of making music.

Ned Jankovic, who plays guitar for Brisbane band Awaken I Am told TMN Valleyarm's dealings with his former band and fellow Shock Records signing, Caulfield, were also unprofessional.

“Our biggest mistake was honestly not talking to other bands and finding out about this company,” he said. “They may bring out this flashy contract but it's not worth it.”

During Caulfield’s embryonic years the post-hardcore band were offered a distribution deal with Valleyarm for the release of an EP.

The band were asked to pay a standard yearly fee of around $50 and received regular emails from the company for three years requesting payment, despite the band never submitting their EP to Valleyarm.

“We contacted them the first year to say that we no longer wanted to be part of the service and since we did not have any material up there should be no issue,” Jankovic explains. “The next year they contacted again. Five emails and a few phone calls later, still no word.

"The same happened the next year,” he added. “We sent countless emails and tried to call, but nothing […] It seemed they only wanted to talk when they wanted money off you.”

Many independent bands are now opting to use digital music distribution service TuneCore. Founded in 2005, it offers a flat fee of $50 a year per album title and enables acts to distribute their releases alongside established acts on services like Spotify, iTunes, AmazonMP3, Google Play Music and Xbox Music.

“Tunecore is the way to go,” said Jankovic. “No obligations and you can see everything you've sold and guarantee payment every time.”

The Snowdroppers have chosen to donate their royalty payments to Support Act, the charity founded by APRA and the music industry to provide a safety net for music professionals facing hardship.