Music creators, collecting societies, renew call for end to “value gap” at CISAC meeting

Photo: Jean-Michel Jarre

Over 200 executives representing music and other creators and collection societies from around the world are meeting in Lisbon this week to call an end to the growing “value gap” in the digital space.

The gathering has been organised by CISAC, the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers which represents 4 million creators.

It is calling on governments around the world to legislate for fair remuneration for music authors, screenwriters, directors and visual artists.

The “value gap” allows major digital services to build multi-billion dollar empires on the back of creators while paying them little in return.

CISAC President Jean-Michel Jarre said: “Globalisation has seen an increasing concentration of tech giants with immense power to get creative content on the cheap.

“CISAC looks to governments to get this right: to channel fair value for creative works to the creators who made them, and not the digital platforms that exploit legal loopholes to make money from them.”

CISAC Director General Gadi Oron added: “Societies must have a fair market environment in which to license their repertoire. But the picture today is far from fair. A number of digital platforms, which dominate content distribution, are using outdated laws or legal loopholes to avoid royalty payments and amass huge revenues on the backs of creators. This anomalous situation must be fixed.”

Later this week, CISAC will publish its annual report, providing a comprehensive update on how the battle for fair remuneration has advanced in the past 12 months.