Press Launch for Fairplay for Creators

Nooo Pete, nooo!

Ooh, I cringe at Pete Waterman. Pete hun, I loved 'Roadblock' - tune! and I loved SAW but mate, sometimes, the things you say?!!!

I’m talking about Pete W’s comment yesterday referring to the recent
Panorama documentary on BBC1 on exploited workers, saying that he feels like
one of them, having been exploited by YouTube.

Dude, are you for REAL?

I was going to just keep my trap shut (for a change) about my views on this
situation but now having seen some reports and comments on various sites about
this event which I was invited to and attended as a guest Songwriter, I had to
say my bit. Let me say first off that I support the Fairplay for Creators campaign wholeheartedly - but what Pete said was shocking and potentially damaging. There is no comparison with our situation to those workers' plights! I think I understand, what he was getting at, I don’t think he meant bad by it, he was being passionate and I guess the words came out and at that point, he couldn’t take them back, something he is known for. So let’s move on.

There I was yesterday avvo invited as a guest songwriter to the press and
photo launch of the event for this campaign which was set up due to the current
Google/YouTube VS Prs for Music’s disagreement over royalty payments for
Songwriters and Composers. I was there
representing the songwriter/composers who do ONLY this as a living as there
never seems to be anyone like me but me at these things and someone has to
speak up.

The role call included: Billy Bragg (I love him), Alicia’s Attic, Alison
Clarkson (I love her) - Pete Waterman (who really cracks me up with his
comments), Tony Hadley, Feargal Sharkey, Go West and Danelle Harvey of course (I love them all)!




Fairplay for Creators Photo Call

Despite the misconception that creative work in music is just a hobby, it is
not - though it is assumed as such by
many, FOR MILLIONS OF PEOPLE, SONGWRITING AND COMPOSING IS ACTUALLY A CAREER!
Bread and butter ‘k? So from my perspective, something has to be done for us
simple folk ;-) and for those who aim to make songwriting and composing their
careers in the future.

.. ....

A couple of things were apparent yesterday, from comments by Mr Waterman,
who only made £11 in royalties from plays of Rick Astley’s song on YT even
after 154, 000,000 video plays – (love you Rick btw!) Yes, I said it!

Anyway, my point is that if Monsieur Watermen made £11 on that mammoth
number of plays then clearly something is way wrong with the royalty rates in
the first place.

And no, I don’t look at it as oh, this is about wealthy songwriters, that is
just NO way to look at it at all. I’m thinking about all songwriters who have
to make a living from this, wealthy or otherwise. There is big business in independent music, the sector I’m representing (sorry for the repeats). Now, we have seen from companies like CDBABY that there is a large amount of income for independent artists of which I am one, on sales alone they have paid out $100,000,000 to independent artists on record sales. Imagine how much in royalties could be generated if we got our ish together, had a UK model and stopped whingeing that income doesn’t apply to us but solely the moguls and Major publishers? Doh, c’mon! Get your (show) business brains in gear people!

I hope you see what I’m getting at, I don’t see this situation as an ‘us and
them’ one, I see many markets that are there to be exploited, YT are doing it
(exploiting) they saw an opportunity and acted on it, and I feel in time that
they will be accommodating to all participants in their enterprise, I am
actually confident that a compromise in the form of a blanket license (or
similar thing) will be achieved, but it has to start somewhere, ground up
peeps, grass roots yes? Without the revolution being instigated by us guys in
the form of ‘Fairplay for Creators’, without change via dialogue and constant
improvements, this could have ended up as a no win situation for songwriters
and composers on EVERY level. I see that there are ways for the ‘widdle’ guy to get in on this and start to make a proper living as a musician/composer/songwriter but the ‘widdle’ guy, cannot continue to allow these things to continue by thinking that it’s out of their hands. That is not the answer. As you know I believe in activism; peaceful, intelligent, articulate protesting on issues that need to be addressed . This
campaign is important to me as it is another example of my Fair Trade ethic in
practise that I’ve been on about for years and what I based my company model
on, as the First ever Fair Trade and Ethical music company, Tygahoney Music
promotes fairness, a fair exchange at every level for all work gone into every
product that comes out of it.

For too long, many have assumed that all who are in the music industry are
doing super well financially, which often gives many the justification to
bootleg, pirate and file share. Many of my musician friends actually have families to feed, rent or mortgages to pay and are living from their royalty cheques. Seriously. It is not all glamour, many consumers see working in the music industry as a dream lifestyle with not much effort made on the part of those in the limelight, but everyone has to work, no matter how successful they are.
Let me tell you, at my end as an independent artist, my sole income is
made through gigs, songwriting, personal appearances and music sales. I have a daughter to support and a roof to put over my head and bills to pay just like everybody else. I work hard, non-stop, my business is my own - there is no other way. Now I give talks which breaks down how the industry works, I am invited as a guest at workshops focused on Ethics in Business, Music Business, Setting up Independent labels, marketing, (ethical) guerrilla marketing etc… and I speak and hear often from those who bootleg and fileshare, don’t get me wrong, I understand the underground hustle, the need to make your cash and sell your CD, if you’re unpublished and just starting out trying to do better for you, go for it, if people want to buy your music, why shouldn’t they? There are worse things you could be doing to pay your rent
right? But when you get to the level where you rely on royalties for your
income, what then? The other issue is that “Oh, they can afford it” attitude, I
hear as a response about illegally downloading tracks and such.

But hey, no we can’t afford it, I’m indie, this is it. No royalty no bread, no butter. I won’t make profits if you don’t want to pay for my work and it’s the same for everyone else. If you don’t like my work, cool don’t buy it, its ok but don’t nick it,
I’d rather you emailed me and asked me for the track and then I might send it
to you. Or I might not… Anyway.


It is unhealthy and improper to take from someone and think "it's ok" and that “they can afford it.” If it happened to you I don’t think that you’d like it.

Respect everyone’s rights and their belongings, it a basic law of decency. If it happened to you I don’t think that you’d like it.

Respect everyone’s rights and their belongings, it a basic law of decency.

On any level of success, we are talking about Songwriters and Composers who
make the smallest percentage on a track and they are effectively screwed to
start with on a paid download or royalty.

They rely on repeat sales and royalties to live. So you hurt them more
buy not paying at all. Again, everybody needs to pay rent, living costs, mortgages or whatever else no matter where they are on the human food chain. So if
you want to listen to music for free without paying for it, you may want to
imagine how you’d feel if someone wanted you to get up and go to work your butt
off and not pay you. Guys, EVERYTHING is paid for nowadays, even water from our taps, I don’t think it’s right but that’s how it is, this is a civilised society, you may moan about paying for water, but you still pay don’t you? Yet sadly many don’t respect the music creator and want to contribute to the joy that is given by music. Now all I’m saying is that the end consumer is getting music for free on YT but somebody somewhere has to pay for it, and I think the buck should stop with those profiting from using others work and not giving them a share, if you are doing so, you are out of order. Simple.

I’ll leave you with some words from Pete W hisself, “If people want to make money out of songwriters, pay us!” This is one comment that he and I will agree on.



Cheers for reading.
Peace.

Danelle xxx


Danelle Harvey is a Musician, Activist, Songwriter and Teacher.

Click the links below to Danelle's sites:

MYSPACE: HTTP://WWW.MYSPACE.COM/DANELLEHARVEY

OFFICIAL WEBSITE: HTTP://WWW.DANELLEHARVEY.CO.UK

TYGAHONEY: HTTP://WWW.TYGAHONEYMUSIC.CO.UK

SHELTER SHOWBIZ NEWS

HYBRIDLAB ARTIST REVIEW AND BIOG

FACEBOOK: DANELLE HARVEY


Picture credit: Picture of Danelle Harvey by Alexander Blair

Sat Nam!