MUSIC ORGS PUSH FOR FAIR TRADE

A coalition of music industry groups that includes SoundExchange, the Recording Academy, A2IM and Future of Music Coalition has launched a “Fair Trade of Music” campaign to fight for the fair and equal treatment of music creators when their music is played in markets around the world.

The group was formed to ensure that fair treatment provisions are included in any new free trade agreement between the U.S. and U.K. Without national treatment provisions to ensure fair treatment, U.S. music creators are losing millions of dollars in royalties; globally, U.S. music creators lose more than $330m in royalties every year without universal national treatment protection.

"Equal treatment is fundamental to international law, and this principle should extend to all music creators, no matter where they are from, who deserve to be paid fairly for their work," said SoundExchange President and CEO Michael Huppe.

"Our goal is to end discrimination in the global trade of music. That should be a priority for our entire industry, including recording artists and labels on both sides of the Atlantic and around the world. The ongoing negotiations between the U.S. and U.K. present an opportunity to make significant progress toward that goal."

Last week, the U.S. organizations sent a joint letter to U.S. Trade Rep. Robert E. Lighthizer, urging him to make full national treatment for sound recordings a priority in future trade agreements, particularly in the ongoing U.S.-U.K. negotiations. In this letter, the music industry groups pledged to work with Ambassador Lighthizer to achieve full national treatment for American music creators in all future trade agreements.

“We have a chance to get this right in the U.S.-U.K. negotiation—it's one small provision that could make a massive difference for music creators who've always deserved equal treatment and now need it more than ever as many of their other revenue streams have disappeared," said Kevin Erickson, Director, Future of Music Coalition.

Other organizations involved in the Fair Trade effort are American Federation of Musicians, Gospel Music Association, Music Artists Coalition, Music Managers Forum U.S., SAG-AFTRA and musicFIRST.