This column is, as a rule, one person’s work, but the piece below is a dual effort. Please welcome Ryan Edwards, the founder and CEO of Audoo, to the column for a very special tag team event
This is an (another) excellent article and piece of research. But can I also suggest there is a wider problem. MVT’s interests seem to me to largely focus on what we call rock music, and nothing wrong with that. But there are also a lot of small promoters/venues operating weekly or monthly in other musical fields, including Folk and Jazz and possibly Blues. I have been promoting Jazz for 50 years and currently run two Jazz Festivals. The Festival I run that is ticketed gets billed by PRS each year. Does that money find its way back to the Jazz musicians we book? a) I simply don’t know and b) I am highly doubtful it does. Jazz musicians have a slightly different career profile to rock musicians. They will never be stadium fillers. They spend their lives working in the bands of more famous musicians – the exceptional Jazz trumpeter Mark Kavuma can be seen in Raye’s horn section – or they play a large number ‘low level’ pub gigs that pay, but not exceptionally well. And some like bassist Dave Green and saxist Art Themen are still driving all over the country to do that in their eighties. Those small ‘pub venues’ are the equivalent of the venues that MVT is championing. Some might even be the same ones. Those venues will almost certainly be paying PRS Fees. Many Jazz musicians play ‘standards’ that are possibly out of copyright. But many also write their own material. And as they don’t have the earnings potential of a rock musicians who gets to stadium level or have a high profile on Spotify (another problem child), it can be argued that their earnings via PRS are even more important. So it would be great to see this excellent MVT/Audoo campaign extended into other specialist music fields. I can’t speak for Folk music where a lot of music may be out of copyright. But there’s a strong case for including Jazz venues and Jazz in this excellent piece of research.
Great to see this trial happening. Very interested in how Audoo works and will be off to do some homework on that. However I did wonder where Audoo can't recognise the songs (either because it isn't in the public domain or any other reason) - will you still be able to reference these songs or will they just be in an "unknown" category, presumably attributed to the performer. It may be useful for a number of the shows to have a written record just to back this up - you may already be doing this!
Anyone seen Erin Brockovich? Mark is to PRS as Erin was to Pacific Gas and Electric company. Keep going Mark and who knows, you too might get an insider to meet you who also forgot to shred important documents when asked to🙏#timesupsoonPRS
This makes so much sense. I think songwriters should be encouraged to join PRS but this covers the many just starting out and means that venues get to keep some much needed revenue at many 'new band' nights instead of giving it to Taylor Swift or Paul McCartney, who can do without it.
This trial should, at the end, see PRS guilty as charged. If they then refuse to comply and change their ways I can see no other option than to start a continual campaign of protest outside their offices in London. Am I wrong to suggest this?
Another insightful post about the murky world of PRS Mark. I was not aware of Audoo but will be contacting them today! This is the perfect tool to drag UK royalty payments out of the dark ages. Now all we need is a way to add those many functioning unsigned artists to the ecosystem whenever they perform live at a grassroots venue…or get played on radio shows like mine over here in Belfast. My show is approximately 33% unsigned artists on every 2 hour playlist. More if there’s a big local event during that particular week.
Awesome news. Mark you are a hero, and a very clever, courageous and magnificently stubborn one at that. I salute you Sir and cannot wait for the next instalment.
And kudos to Ryan and Audoo. What a great enterprise.
And there we go. Fantastic. 🙌🏼
This is an (another) excellent article and piece of research. But can I also suggest there is a wider problem. MVT’s interests seem to me to largely focus on what we call rock music, and nothing wrong with that. But there are also a lot of small promoters/venues operating weekly or monthly in other musical fields, including Folk and Jazz and possibly Blues. I have been promoting Jazz for 50 years and currently run two Jazz Festivals. The Festival I run that is ticketed gets billed by PRS each year. Does that money find its way back to the Jazz musicians we book? a) I simply don’t know and b) I am highly doubtful it does. Jazz musicians have a slightly different career profile to rock musicians. They will never be stadium fillers. They spend their lives working in the bands of more famous musicians – the exceptional Jazz trumpeter Mark Kavuma can be seen in Raye’s horn section – or they play a large number ‘low level’ pub gigs that pay, but not exceptionally well. And some like bassist Dave Green and saxist Art Themen are still driving all over the country to do that in their eighties. Those small ‘pub venues’ are the equivalent of the venues that MVT is championing. Some might even be the same ones. Those venues will almost certainly be paying PRS Fees. Many Jazz musicians play ‘standards’ that are possibly out of copyright. But many also write their own material. And as they don’t have the earnings potential of a rock musicians who gets to stadium level or have a high profile on Spotify (another problem child), it can be argued that their earnings via PRS are even more important. So it would be great to see this excellent MVT/Audoo campaign extended into other specialist music fields. I can’t speak for Folk music where a lot of music may be out of copyright. But there’s a strong case for including Jazz venues and Jazz in this excellent piece of research.
Great to see this trial happening. Very interested in how Audoo works and will be off to do some homework on that. However I did wonder where Audoo can't recognise the songs (either because it isn't in the public domain or any other reason) - will you still be able to reference these songs or will they just be in an "unknown" category, presumably attributed to the performer. It may be useful for a number of the shows to have a written record just to back this up - you may already be doing this!
MVT for the win.
Anyone seen Erin Brockovich? Mark is to PRS as Erin was to Pacific Gas and Electric company. Keep going Mark and who knows, you too might get an insider to meet you who also forgot to shred important documents when asked to🙏#timesupsoonPRS
This makes so much sense. I think songwriters should be encouraged to join PRS but this covers the many just starting out and means that venues get to keep some much needed revenue at many 'new band' nights instead of giving it to Taylor Swift or Paul McCartney, who can do without it.
This trial should, at the end, see PRS guilty as charged. If they then refuse to comply and change their ways I can see no other option than to start a continual campaign of protest outside their offices in London. Am I wrong to suggest this?
Another insightful post about the murky world of PRS Mark. I was not aware of Audoo but will be contacting them today! This is the perfect tool to drag UK royalty payments out of the dark ages. Now all we need is a way to add those many functioning unsigned artists to the ecosystem whenever they perform live at a grassroots venue…or get played on radio shows like mine over here in Belfast. My show is approximately 33% unsigned artists on every 2 hour playlist. More if there’s a big local event during that particular week.
Great work sir!
Awesome news. Mark you are a hero, and a very clever, courageous and magnificently stubborn one at that. I salute you Sir and cannot wait for the next instalment.
And kudos to Ryan and Audoo. What a great enterprise.
GO MVT!!!!!
Only commenting on my experience, I have always been charged 4.2% plus VAT.