I have been around this scene for over 35 years and have
seen it change drastically - specially for Australian artists. The heydays for great talent were definitely the
mid 60's to early 70's, when
people with passion were in the position to sign up, record and promote
Aussie talent. Most importantly they knew it when they saw it and
heard it. And to prove my point, songs from that era are still being
played and purchased, not just by the audiences that were there and lived
it, but by their grandchildren. We were very lucky to have been there
as it was an amazing time.
Those days are gone, and we have to face the facts that everything has
changed and we have to work within the boundaries now in place. The
world has opened up on the internet, and we are able to record our own songs
at home. We can even grab a camera and make our own clipsBut the
biggest problems facing Australian artists is that 99% are independent.
There are no record companies to speak of who care. We are all alone.
And everyone has the same gripes, lack of airplay, music clips lost in the
millions on youtube, and the total lack of support except from community
radio. Unfortunately as supportive as community radio is, songwriters
don't get the APRA rates that apply to commercial airplay.
And if I read it correctly, Australian content is, by law, 25% and under!
Does that mean that over 75% of collected royalties goes overseas?
We need a voice, and we need to be united. I have started
MIC
because I believe if we have a thousand members, then we have a lobby group.
We all have to work together to get our voice heard. There are many
things we can change as a group that we can't change on our own. I
have lots of ideas and have started working on these with some very
knowledgeable and passionate people. And I'm sure many of you out
there have ideas too which I want to hear.
------UPDATE-----
I decided after going through all the sections involved in the
music industry to target royalty payments. These are payments made to
musicians when their music gets played on radio, television, in shops,
restaurants and venues. Money is collected by APRA and PPCA and delved
out accordingly to those artists that get played.... you'd think? The
truth is different. Songs that get played on community radio - which
is most Aussie music nowadays - are not reported to APRA. Only a very
small group of stations report 4 weeks out of the whole year, and if an
artist gets played once in that four weeks, they get paid once, no matter
how many times they get played on a hundred other community stations.
Also, community TV doesn't have to report to APRA any of the music clips
that are played on those stations, so artists lose out there too.
I am yet to find out what percentages go to independent artists, but it
seems to me that most of the money paid by businesses across Australia goes
to songs that are played on commercial TV and radio, and surprise surprise!
- we all know these are mostly signed bands, and mostly not Australian.
Which means many many Aussie businesses are propping up overseas record
companies!!
This is why I need as many names as
possible on the list below. We can't do it alone. Email me at
--------------
themic@optusnet.com.au
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with
your name/s, which I will add to the list
below. Get your mum, your friends,
your grand daddy, anyone who wants to help support independent Aussie talent
And I will keep you all updated on what is happening. Please spread the word...........
