Why all labels should accept 10-year deals

(MW 16.07.1994)


 
Billy Bragg's Letter to the Editor on copyright policy, as printed in British record trade paper Music Week on July 16, 1994.

Why all labels should accept 10-year deals

The sigh of relief that accompanied your reports of the outcome of the George Michael court case and the Monopolies and Mergers Commission investigation was almost audible.
    In both cases, however, the inquiries seem to have missed the main point. In the Michael case, the underlying question was should a record company be entitled to own the work of an artist for the full life of copyright? The answer, not surpisingly is, — if you sign an agreement to that effect, then yes.
    In the MMC inquiry the question should not have been whether CDs are a rip-off per se, but rather, are some CDs unjustifiably overpriced?
    Take for example the release of the Beatles' Red and Blue compilations on CD, at a retail price of £26.99 each. How many times have these songs recouped their investment? Surely the only cost to the record company in originating this particular product was that of manufacture — currently estimated at £1.05 per CD. So why the 2500% mark up?
    The record industry can only get away with this because they retain the copyright of work they release for 50 years. What is needed is a new industry standard whereby copyright reverts to the artist after a maximum period of 10 years from the date of release.
    Before we are deafened by the familiar record company cry that they don't invest huge amounts of money on artists just to see them walk out the door — if a company can't make its money back and a profit in 10 years, then it shouldn't be in the business of releasing records at all. In fact, such a move may make companies think twice before squandering cash and resources on donkey acts.
    And don't worry about new and upcoming bands. Real talent will always flourish in the independent sector, and the majors can line up their cheque books as usual. That's how George Michael ended up on Sony.
    My own back catalogue has recently been made available at a reasonable price on Cooking Vinyl — the copyright reverted to me last year and I have leased it to them for a sensible and realistic period.
    George may well feel like a slave to the industry, but I certainly don't.

Billy Bragg,
PO Box 5107,
London W4.

Music Week
London : Spotlight Publ.
ISSN 0265-1548

35.1994, 28 (16.07.1994): p. 7

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