MySpace should set aside some of its revenues into a pool to compensate musicians, says an industry group.
“We think they should pay,” a spokesman for British Music Rights, a group representing songwriters, publishers and performers, told us today.
Click here to find out more!
At a MusicAlly music industry seminar this week, MySpace’s European VP rejected the idea that MySpace owed anyone performance royalties.
Responding to a question from Jim Griffin, who pointed out that owners of public spaces such as pubs, hotels and stores contribute to a pool of money in exchange for a blanket license, Jamie Kantrowitz said that MySpace already gave musicians enough – in the form of web space, for example.
Related
- Music site faces legal challenge
- MySpace Begins Music Filtering Initiative, Taps Gracenote
- MySpace Music Footsoldiers
- MySpace sued for $30m after assault on 14-year-old
- MySpace to Enable Users to Sell Songs
Zeropaid on Facebook
Pay people? For what? Artist that decide to post themselves on Myspace? Whatever! It’s not like MySpace is forcing anyone to sign up.
i think they meant to say “i think i want more money!”
Do they think it’s a privilege for myspace to be hosting them? If it wasn’t for myspace they probably wouldn’t hace a website where people actually went to it. It’s just another example of how greedy the artists/industry is.
Over 3 years later and MySpace still don’t pay royalties.
And it’s not as simple as the idiotic comments above make out.
MySpace may not be “forcing anyone to sign up”, but due to its popularity it could be seen as foolish for an artist NOT to have a MySpace profile! Most artists actually think MySpace is shit but a “necessary evil”.
Unsigned artists make very little, if any, money anyway – you can hardly call them “greedy”… quite the opposite of MySpace; what they spend on artists they more than make back via advertising – helped by the artists who attract visitors to the site.
So if MySpace are making money from the hard work of unsigned artists, surely the artists deserve a little recognition for this?
Buying and learning instruments, practicing, recording… these all cost a LOT of money! Why should MySpace be the only one to reap the rewards of this very costly investment?
MySpace Music has just re-launched with the slogan “MySpace. Music is free” – given their stance on royalties, that slogan is a kick in the teeth.