AIF Wants Special Festival Tariff

Concert and festival promoters currently pay PRS for Music, the British collecting society for authors and songwriters, 3 percent of their gross. The society is looking into increasing that amount.

“The AIF believe that any proposed increase would bankrupt and close grassroots festivals, destroying a vital platform for artists and songwriters,” a statement by the organization reads. It also points out that not all festivals are full-fledged music events, which is why it makes no sense to charge the same amount as concerts. Instead, AIF calls for a separate festival tariff.

The Irish model, a multi-venue tariff, could serve as an example.

Paul Reed, GM of the AIF, said “independent festival promoters are taking risks on breaking artists and staging high-risk events on incredibly tight margins. PRS for Music’s plans to increase this already inflexible and damaging tariff could mean the bankruptcy of many events that provide a valuable platform for both emerging and established artists.”

He also points out that PRS for Music is basing its plans on a consultation of its members that hardly yielded enough responses to make an informed decision.

“Songwriters therefore are not driving this process. Any increase would be a naked land grab by PRS, driven solely by their executives and some major music publishers.”

When Pollstar spoke to Carl Leighton-Pope about the PRS tariff at the end of last year, he said if collective management organisations were collecting efficiently around the world, a 3 percent rate for the writers would be “absolutely fine” with no need to raise them.

“Truth is, if they were doing a better job, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. I have no problem with people earning money. [But these are] non-profitmaking organizations. All of the money, after deducting costs for operations, belongs to the writers.”