Royalties

Royalties, licences and copyright laws in the music industry are very important. They make sure that the right people get the right amount of credit and money for their contributions to work that they have participated in making. For one song, the songwriter in a band would usually get the biggest cut from royalties (ppl and prs) - the maximum being 50%  - depending on how many people are in the band and the relationship between them. However, if a band of 4 were all friends the cut would most likely be equal (25%). The importance of these licences stretch so far as to the venues that host the music. The companies who collect the money from venues who pay for a ppl and prs license in order to host music - use this money to distribute royalties for artists under ppl and prs.

 

Bbc have a blanket license that covers every single type of music usage (signature music for TV, musical works, music used to advertise the BBC) . This is useful as they are a large coorporation and play and use a lot of music over the tv and radio. Therefore, artists and musicians will be guaranteed their royalty fees as all music is tracked and covered. Without such a licence they would have to individually sign up for specific licences that cover the multiple type of music usage.

 

Persons under a Ppl licence get a royalty for performing. This royalty is for musicians who play on a recording or perform a song live. This is an important royalty to sign up to as if ones record is played numerous times (tv, radio,live) a lot of money can be accumilated from it. Without this licence venues would struggle to make customers as live music is what attracts them. Therefore, both the performers and venue are making profit out of each others investment in signing up for a ppl licence.    

 

Persons under a prs licence get a royalty if they are an artist, composer or music publisher. These individuals get a royalty every time their music is played. This licence is very similar to a ppl licence however does not benefit the musician. This licence also covers covers that a band may do - however only the individuals listed above gain from it and not the musicians as they did not write the song (music or lyrics). Therefore, no matter who performs the song the originial writer / composer gets a cut. Prs also collects royalties from overseas for their musicians. Without this group one could lose out on a lot of money - especially if their music is played around the world as they would not be able to keep track of it all and be able to collect their money so easily as this company tracks the music useage through databases.

 

Mcps is a licence that covers the copyright of a song. Every time a physical copy is reproduced the copyright holder - whether that be the artist, label or composer - gets a royalty. This includes the song being sold as an Mp3, CD. Also, if the music is in a game or film and that gets sold a royalty is given to the copyright holder. Without mcps licence fees would not be collected - therefore anyone could easily use a piece of copyrighted music for their own benefit and make a huge profit of it as they would not have paid to use it.

 

Copyright laws exist to the protect the works of artists/composers ect. There are two main types of music copyright and these are marked with two different symbols (P,C). Works marked with C is a traditional copyright which covers the score of the music, artwork for the album cover, composition and lyrics. Although other people may have been involved and made different parts of the product - they still have their individual copyright - however, the product as a whole has a seperate copyright.  The second copyright, P - covers the sound recording. Therefore if someone remixed a classical piece - the copyright of the original is gone but the new sound that has been formed can be copyrighted. This protects the new composer - as someone could easily steal the idea as it is not fully their work.

Mcps licences protect artists music as it ensures that there arent copyright infringements by keeping track of where and who is using it - and if there are they, deal with it (fines/prison). A ppl licence enables artists to perform covers at live events as the music they use will be licenced and the original artist/band will get their royalties. Prs allows venues to use copyrighted music at their event (cd, jukebox ect). All of these licences also credit their artists by distributing the money they make from the sale of these licences to the artists in the form of royalties. Without licences a lot of money would be lost by artists and music would be used freely. With copyright laws in place, aswell as licences, to be able to play,perform music stops this from happening so easily. 

 

Overall, without licensing and copyright musicians/artists/composers could lose out on a lot of work and money - alongside credit. Without these laws in the music industry works that one makes could be easily stolen and made money of. With these laws in place, anyone outside of the production of the music would have to obtain permission to use the music. By doing so, the copyright owners know who is using their music when and where.