Swedish songwriters Max Martin, Björn Ulvaeus and Niclas Molinder have launched a new organisation called the Music Rights Awareness Foundation, through which they aim to better educate music creators on their intellectual property rights.
"Information and education is obviously always key and I am hoping Music Rights Awareness, together with others, will help the creative community help themselves in the challenges ahead", says Martin. Abba's Ulvaeus adds: "In the new digital world the songwriter is often the weaker part in a negotiation. Knowledge is power and that's where Music Rights Awareness comes in". The three men already work together on Auddly, which provides software to track and register rights in new works at the point of creation - a project discussed in detail with Molinder at this year's CMU Insights conference at The Great Escape. On the development of the Music Rights Awareness Foundation from that, Molinder says: "While working together, we realised that there is an ignorance when it comes to rights among both songwriters and the industry. We are convinced that many of the legal disputes that are now underway could have been averted, and with Music Rights Awareness we can help the world's musicians at a broader level". The organisation's first project will by Music Rights In Africa, an education programme in Malawi, Rwanda and Tanzania to make local musicians better aware of the rights they own in their music.