Of course it's quite hard for the wider music business to lobby for our collective copyright needs when one side of the industry is at loggerheads with the other. But that is, of course, the current situation, and it is likely to remain that way for the near future as the ongoing dispute between the recorded music and publishing sectors continues. As previously reported, the BPI and PRS-MCPS are in dispute over how big a royalty the songwriter/publishers should get for each digital track sold. Back in June the BPI, seven digital music platforms and four mobile networks took PRS-MCPS to 'copyright tribunal' (essentially they sued them) claiming the body was pushing for too high a royalty. PRS-MCPS has been preparing its response to the BPI's litigation ever since, and last week finally responded - with a question.
They want to know the specifics of the deals the record labels have done with the download platforms. The logic of that request is that if the labels want the publishers to consider taking a cut in the royalty they receive on digital sales, they need to know just how much the labels and recording artists are making. Their formal statement reads: "Composers and songwriters, the talent that underpins the music industry, currently earn around £0.05 from the sale of a download. BPI proposals would see them earning £0.02. In contrast, record companies keep £0.40-£0.50 from the same sale".
Whether the BPI will comply and supply that data remains to be seen (given that most of the major music groups own companies on both sides of this debate, I'm not sure why the publishing company owned by a major can't ask the record label owned by the same major for that info). However, cynics will see this as a delaying tactic on the part of PRS-MCPS, with many now not anticipating any out of court settlement before this whole argument goes to copyright tribunal next Autumn.