PRS Election Update
Anti-Establishment Figure Fails To Be Elected Into Establishment Shocker!June 25th 2008
Message from Paul Farrer
'After much effort and support from so many composers and publishers it was unfortunately not enough to get elected onto the board of PRS this year. I came forth out of seven in a race to fill just two positions. My humblest and heartfelt thanks go to all of those who voted for, and proposed me, and watch this space for what happens next.'
Twelve Months of Close Study Reveals...June 16h 2008
...that not many people watch TV between 11pm and Midnight.
As part of the first annual study into the 'primetime' subsidy fiasco the PRS board has made the shocking revelation that calling the 11pm to Midnight slot 'primetime' doesn't make much sense. This remarkable insight has come to light after careful study of viewing figures. Presumably a different set of viewing figures than the ones they looked at when bringing in this scheme.
We look forward to the second annual study which promises to reveal musical snobbery is a very potent force within many organisations, huge corporations are quite powerful and children's TV composers should all get jobs as plumbers.
Jazz Legend Humphrey Lyttelton: A Tribute
April 26th 2008
it is with huge sadness that we bid farewell to one of the true greats of our industry. A man whose talent was matched only by his humour, decency and ability to bring joy to millions. Humph was a great friend to our campaign and will be greatly missed by anyone who ever had the privilege of hearing him perform or entertain. The gap he leaves in British cultural life will be felt for many many years and after a full and rewarding life which he generously shared with so many of his fans worldwide the inescapable conclusion is that world just became a little less bright at his passing.
There is an excellent obituary by George Melly here
update:
As a rather sad and regrettable coda to this posting Humph wanted to propose Paul Farrer's candidacy for the board but was told by PRS that he was not a full member and therefore did not have proposal rights. This has since turned out to be completely incorrect and Humph was indeed a full member. The news came tragically too late.
PRS Board Elections 2008
VOTE FARRER! VOTE COOKE!
TWO COMPOSERS ACTUALLY FOR A FAIR DEAL
Hi everyone and thanks for signing up. It’s official and it’s happening. I am running for a place on the PRS Board of Writer Directors. Competition is tough this year with seven candidates running for just two positions open.
When the ballot forms come round we’d really appreciate you putting an ‘X’ next to my name and also one next to Dave Cooke, another signatory of the petition who is also running this year.
It would be fantastic if there were two voices on the board that represented the opinions of everyone who has signed up. A huge thank you to all those who offered to propose my candidacy. I was flooded with many more proposals than I actually needed and it was genuinely humbling to be supported in this way. So thank you all.
Fingers crossed!
Cheers
Paul Farrer
IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENT...
Broadcasters ITV have released plans to scrap the late night quiz show formats that sparked the whole 'Primetime' subsidy idea.
In a largely positive step towards improving programme quality the controversial shows are to be removed from air. Given that the PRS board blamed the necessity of the entire unfair subsidy scheme on these type of shows will it now urgently look at re-instating the music is music system?
We wait to hear from the PRS board...
TV Industry Covers the Prime Time Subsidy Issue
Broadcast Magazine - the bible for the TV industry covered the subsidy issue on their website in July.
A Compelling View from Philip Barber
From my electric wheelchair I , Philip Barber, proudly managed to remove myself from state benefits and earn an honest living and start paying taxes back to the country that supported me after my near fatal diving accident, as a songwriter. Having written/co-written over 350 tracks in seven years for Aerobics Oz Style (Sky Sports 1,2,3 & Extra) I raise my standard of living to a level I am comfortable with. I even earn enough money on a regular basis to support three orphanages in India for the past few years. I have gratefully received, thanks to the PRS' help, a regular income and cut my cloth to suite my needs and then... the PRS, in their mighty wisdom, decide to impliment drastic changes in their payout system! But hey! I say "NO!" What the PRS are proposing is scandalous! Name any profession that would accept (in any department) a 20% wage cut, in my case, after seven years of a regular income? You won’t find ONE! This is unlawful and laws need to outlined to stop such actions ever being considered! There isn’t a jury in the land that would agree to what they’re trying to do! And how do the PRS try to inform us, their members? Thus: by announcing their proposal of change on pages 12 & 13 of their newsletter! This is a FRONT PAGE story that should’ve been given FRONT PAGE status! We’re songwriters… not f***ing idiots!
Children's Music Hardest Hit
An open letter to PRS from Liz Bennett – Children's TV Composer
23rd June 2007
On their website PRS tells us that the television distribution policy is being changed
because the value of a broadcast minute has been falling steadily over the last few
years and the change will prevent the value falling further.
I cannot for the life of me see how the problem of falling revenues can be solved
or even partially solved by introducing a policy that simply rearranges the
allocation of the money available, taking away from some in order to give
more to others. Even PRS's own examples on the website show that far from
preventing the value of a broadcast minute from falling, the result of this
distribution change will mean a further fall in value for all music
broadcast during non-primetime. In this case the policy change is not
stopping the fall - it is accelerating it.
The new policy is particularly unfair to composers who specialise in music
for children's programmes since much of this output is scheduled before 6
p.m. Having worked for many years on music education programmes, I am well
aware of the important role music can play in the emotional and physical
development of young children. Makers of children's programmes understand
music's valuable contribution and generally take pains to make sure their
music helps children's understanding and encourages positive responses from
them. Whatever you think of Teletubbies, for example, it would have been a
far less effective production without its fresh and imaginative music
created specifically to appeal to young children. Is PRS really ready to
under-value children's music?
Liz Bennett
Sound on Sound Magazine Coverage
22nd June 2007
Sound on Sound - one of the World's finest music/pro audio/recording magazines has kindly given us some coverage in their Sounding Off page. Here Paul Farrer puts the Composersforafairdeal side of the argument and PRS provide some interesting reponses
Our thanks go to SOS's illustious editor Paul White for giving us this forum for a free exchange of ideas and for allowing us this debate. If only PRS had felt the same...
The Consultation That Never Was
19th June 2007
PRS maintain there was a consultation with members before the board voted on this issue.
The 120 or so members in attendance enjoyed an employee of PRS kicking off proceedings with a powerpoint presentation. During this presentation he played a clip of the ITV show ‘The Mint’ and made some derogatory comments about the show – we can only hope that the composer wasn’t in the meeting sitting alongside his peers having his work ridiculed in this way. He then laid the blame for all of our problems at the foot of this show (and others just like it) and told us that this was the reason our fixed point values are going down on ITV. The floor was then thrown open for debate but only after we were expressly forbidden from even discussing the blanket license agreement. That’s right in our own boardroom PRS members were forbidden from EVEN DISCUSSING asking a broadcaster that is using more of our music than ever for more money.
Would you call this a free, fair, wide-reaching and open consultation? Neither would we.
The Case of the Missing Impact Data...
15th June 2007
PRS has repeatedly claimed that the primetime subsidy will benefit the vast majority of its members, yet it has failed at every opportunity to provide the data as to the numbers of composers who will suffer an overall loss (across all their TV PRS earnings) or enjoy an overall gain. The Board simply took the decision, denied the membership all the crucial information, and hoped everyone would agree with them. To enjoy a gain, you have to have a ratio of less than 3:1 non-primetime to primetime minutes, and that, we think all will agree, is most unlikely to include the "vast majority" of PRS-member composers, which begs the question…. who is this subsidy for? Please, PLEASE, we urge all of you who have shown your support so far to get all the PRS members you know to sign this petition before the AGM on 28th June!
June 11th 2007
Composers for a Fair Deal Gets National Coverage
Private Eye have taken up the campaign and kindly given us a very supportive write up in the latest issue. Thanks to everyone involved for your support and of course thanks to the team at Private Eye.
