The Songwriters Association of Canada’s proposal to monetize music file sharing just doesn’t cash in.

The Songwriters Association of Canada, or SAC, an organization which seeks to develop and recognize Canadian songwriters, recently released the details on a Music File Sharing Proposal which has, apparently, been in the works since 2007.  But when I joined the SAC in 2008 there was nothing on their website, or in any issue of their Songwriters Magazine that I received.  Until last month.  My most recent issue of Songwriter Magazine had a disturbing article about the proposal, called Let Our People Share.

The full details of the proposal is available at http://songwriters.ca (Click on “Advocacy”), however, in short, the SAC is pushing for a levy to be applied to internet access fees to make up for the massive amounts of illegal file-sharing of music – in other words, they’re advocating that the cost of providing internet to you, the user and consumer, should go up, to the tune of $4 or $5 per month.  Then “this money would go into a pool and a pro rata distribution made to the artists, songwriters and rights holders whose songs are being shared”. They think this is a great idea, and that it will put money back into the hands of the musicians who work so hard to create this music, and help them to make more music, because they’ll have the money to do it.

Have they so quickly forgotten the current issue with the Private Copying Tariff?

Implemented in 1999, and which increases every year, the Private Copying Tariff currently adds $0.29 to each medium deemed to be used for recording.  29 cents per blank CD regardless of your use of it.  This was, in theory, to make up for the illegal copying of music CDs, which caused record labels, artist management companies and the artists themselves to lose money.  However, as Joseph Stalin succeeded in demonstrating, what works in theory often does not work in practice.  Musicians and songwriters who aren’t represented by an independent label or agent have yet to see a penny from the sale of recordable media.  This won’t change with the addition of an internet usage levy.

The SAC seems to forget that as songwriters - composers, really, of lyrics, melodies, and supporting music all in one song – the end result is not only our intellectual property, it is our work – like a job.  I’m sure no one in the SAC would neither ask nor advocate for a lawyer to work for free.  Yet, by supporting the legal file-sharing of independent music, that’s exactly what they’re doing.

On their website, as well as on the Canadian Private Copying Collective website, there are artist statements in support of these levies.  Indeed, artists like Amy Sky, Randy Bachman, Faber Drive and The Trews would definitely support this; they stand a chance of actually seeing some of the money collected through the levy.

However, for the rest of us, the math just doesn’t add up.

The current population of Canada is just over 34 million people.

The current number of people using the internet in Canada is about 25.5 million.

If a $5/month fee per person is levied, then the amount of money that will be divvied up will be just over $1.5 billion.  That’s a lot of money.  But how many musicians are now vying for this?  According to Statistics Canada the number of people who might be sharing in this $1.5 billion pot of gold – songwriters and others who have a partial claim in each recorded song, such as composers and producers – is just under 94,000 people.  This works out to about $16,500 per person, per year. But wait…there is a “pro rata distribution” method, which means that number is moot.  Who will determine the pecking order in which the musicians line up for their piece of the pie?  Is it based on the number of songs each rights holder has available?  If I only have 5 songs professionally recorded and publicly available but Band X has 25 songs recorded then do I make only 20% of what Band X makes per year?  And do they only make 25% of what Band Z makes because Band Z has 100 songs?  How much, if any, of that $1.5 billon can any of us down at the bottom of the pile expect to see?

The SAC’s proposal to implement a levy on internet access fees and purportedly monetize file sharing just isn’t viable.  All it will do is rob the true independent musicians of another $60 a year that none of them will even see a percentage of a royalty from.

Therefore my advice to independent musicians is this:

First, if you are a member of the SAC, repeal your membership and put your money towards something else that will actually support you.

Second, spread the word about this to all the independent musicians you know who are working towards someday having a full-time future as a songwriter.

And in closing, my words to the SAC: Get real.  Start talking to some true independent musicians and find out what issues they’re really coming up against.  Talk to those who aren’t represented by a label, agent or publisher because they can’t afford it.  Talk to those who have to run their small business of music on evenings, weekends, and lunch hours.  Talk to those who have made recordings with money from their own pockets.  Talk to those who work day jobs and hope that they’ll have enough time, energy & creativity left at the end of the day to pick up a guitar and write a song that might stand up to critical reviews.  Instead of advocating for us to work for free, go and work with SOCAN and the Copyright Board of Canada and start getting some of the money from the current Private Copying Tariff out of the government’s pockets and into ours.

Sincerely,
Ivy Rich (stage persona)
(aka. Amity M)

This article has been cross-posted by the author at http://amitym.com.