Budapest Declaration - Canadian Federation of Musicians Joins International Movement Endorsing Performers' Collaborative Push for Proportionate Share of Online Music Revenues
For immediate release, Wednesday, November 26, 2014 – TORONTO, ON – The recent special conference of the International Federation of Musicians (FIM), has endorsed a worldwide declaration to push for a more equitable share of online music services. The motion was presented to the IMF by American Federation of Musicians’ President Ray Hair and Alan Willaert, AFM Vice-President from Canada.
“Online music services have transformed the music industry, but performing artists are not getting their proportionate share from revenues,” explains Alan Willaert, AFM Vice-President from Canada. “The recent withdrawal of Taylor Swift’s catalogue from streaming giant Spotify, which recently launched operations in Canada, is but a tip of the iceberg; and a direct example of how artists throughout the world are cheated out of their royalties. The Canadian Federation of Musicians (CFM) is wholly supportive of the international initiative to bring the inequities into focus.”
Modern legislation gives performing artists the right to authorize the making available of their performances on the Internet or other networks, and to be remunerated for such use. The remuneration of performing artists for such use of their contribution should be fair, proportional to its value and in balance with other contributors. A 50-50 sharing of online revenues with record producers certainly meets these criteria.
Currently, this is far from being the case. The share performing artists receive from online uses is disproportionate with other contributors. This situation must be remedied. New frameworks must be imagined, developed and promoted in order to establish an environment that is as fair to performers as to the other parties concerned, including consumers.
To this end, a FIM conference focused on online music was held in Budapest on November 20-21, 2014. Talks called upon performers and their representatives to join them in creating the widest possible coalition of artists aiming to achieve fair, proportional and balanced remuneration for the online use of their performances by all appropriate means supported by their community.
The CFM is one of nearly 150 member countries of the International Federation of Musicians.
The Canadian Federation of Musicians (CFM) is the Canadian division of the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM). Every day, CFM helps thousands of musicians with any number of issues related to the recording and performing of their craft including assistance with contract negotiations and specialized services ranging from immigration to media recordings to touring. The AFM and its 25 chartered locals across Canada negotiate agreements for their members which protect ownership of recorded music and secure benefits such as health care and pension. AFM actively lobbies government on Copyright reforms as well as other matters of interest to professional musicians living in Canada. Drawing on the experience and strength of its more than 90,000 members, with over 17,000 active musicians in Canada alone, the AFM's mission is to assist its membership to optimize the level of their professional working environment at every stage in their careers.
For more information please visit us at www.cfmusicians.org | CFM on Twitter | CFM on Facebook
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