Archive:

North America

Music creator organizations meet with US Copyright Office

18 Nov 2020

On 13 November, Fair Trade Music board members, Rick Carnes and Eddie Schwartz met with the United States Copyright Office in their roles as SGA President and MCNA President respectively. They were joined by SCL president, Ashley Irwin and by…

“Justice at Spotify” campaign launched by Union of Musicians and Allied Workers

27 Oct 2020

A new artist-focused campaign has been launched in the US by the Union of Musicians and Allied Workers that aims to redress what it sees as an imbalance in the royalties paid out by streaming companies. The campaign is called…

Your Music, Your Future

21 Dec 2019

A new campaign targeting the fair remuneration of composers has recently launched. Operating under the banner “Your Music, Your Future”, the campaign is dedicated to educating composers and creators about their options when it comes to compensation. A new website…

Streaming platforms to appeal against decision to increase songwriter royalties

09 Apr 2019

A report published by Variety has described plans by Spotify, Google, Pandora and Amazon to team up in an appeal to overturn a U.S. Copyright Royalty Board ruling that could increase payouts to songwriters by 44%. The four companies all…

American Music Licensing Collective adheres to Fair Trade Music principles

21 Mar 2019

Fair Trade Music International welcomes the American Music Licensing Collective (AMLC) as a Fair Trade Music partner organization with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The AMLC is currently working to be designated as the Mechanical Licensing Collective…

Indie Air Radio joins roster of Fair Trade Music supporters

04 Jul 2018

The curated, cooperatively-owned fair trade media company and Internet radio station, Indie Air Radio, has become the latest organization to join the roster of Fair Trade Music movement supporters. Formed in 2015, Indie Air Radio is 60% owned by its…

How significant is the “value gap” and can it be fixed?

21 Jul 2017

Creators, record labels and music publishers are complaining that large internet companies do not compensate rights holders fairly by using loopholes in legislation around the world. Is this “value grab” really significant? How does it affect rights holders? And what…

500,000 creators are changing the music business

20 Apr 2017

Truth, Technology, Money and Music: How 500,000 Creators are Changing the Business. For the first time, music creators around the world are working together on initiatives for a fair, sustainable and transparent music ecosystem. Eddie Schwartz, songwriter and chair of…

How can we get fair value for music in the digital economy?

10 Mar 2017

Eddie Schwartz, songwriter and chair of Fair Trade Music International, presents an overview of the history and objectives of the campaign to create an equitable music economy. This took place at the offices of SOCAN, the Canadian copyright collective that…

Fair Trade Music progress reviewed at CIAM Executive Committee in New York City

12 May 2016

On May 11th-12th, the International Council of Music Creators (CIAM) held their Executive Committee meeting in New York City. Fair Trade Music is the primary global campaign by the music creators council, advocating for increased transparency and fair compensation for…