[Stoat]

I see where “artists, record companies and publishers” will be paid. No provision for payment to the writers. Typical of mechanical reproduction where royalty payments are made to the publisher, but writers often don’t get paid by the publisher according the terms of the contract. A writer needs to retain control of his own publishing to the greatest extent possible or he’s going to get screwed.

It seems that songwriter contracts will have to be re-drafted to reflect the new paradigm.  If the accountants can figure out how to pay the publisher in this new system, one would assume that a mechanism could be found whereby the songwriters will be paid as well.

If they can't, then the songwriters will go on strike and the artists will suddenly have a very limited pool of songs from which to perform.

[skipper18]

Songwriters sell the rights to their songs to publishing companies because they individually dont have the cash to do the non-stop, random, deep forensic audits neccessary to discourage labels from hiding sales and shortchanging the writer(s). If legal action against a label is ever neccessary on a songwriters behalf, the publisher has to eat the expenses, its part of the publishing deal.

A big songwriter can establish their own phantom publishing company and the big publishers will administer the rights on their behalf, which slightly ups the percentage of the (rounded) 9 cent-per song per-unit sold mechanical royalty.