Dear PCAM Member,
This is the latest in a series of Newsletters that we publish five times a year, soon after meetings of the PCAM Committee
Each Newsletter contains a brief report from the recent Committee meeting, plus other current news and views and an edited version of a recent query to the PCAM Helpdesk.
We encourage contributions to the Newsletter from PCAM members. If you want to write something for inclusion or send us a link to something interesting you have read or seen, please contact admin@pcam.co.uk
Best regards,
The PCAM Committee
CONTENTS
— Message from the PCAM Chair
— Indemnity Insurance offer
— Guide to Music for Games
— PCAM membership growth
— The new ECSA
— Ethical practice campaign
— Next PCAM meeting
— Notes from the PCAM Committee Meeting: 16 February 2022
— Case Study from the PCAM Helpdesk
MESSAGE FROM THE PCAM CHAIR
After a long period of negotiation, we are incredibly excited to launch our partnership with Performance Insurance, offering PCAM members a simple way to get preferential rates for Professional Indemnity insurance, no matter if you are a sole trader, a small business or a larger production company.
With many clients now demanding that composers have insurance, and the greater risk composers are exposed to in wider-reaching global media channels, this is great news. Our members, who have struggled to secure and/or afford this insurance in the past, now have the opportunity to get the protection they need.
It is also a great opportunity to promote the professionalism and security involved in working with you to your clients, differentiating you from those that do not carry insurance.
With regard to the state of the industry, there have been positive noises from the PCAM Committee and from members so far this year, with the majority reporting that they are ‘busy’. Advertising industry recovery is in full swing, with many more briefs circulating. However, the Committee noted that brands rather than Agencies or production companies now provide a sizeable percentage of briefs.
This is bringing even more focus on some of the ongoing key issues that our industry faces, including the question of fair remuneration (given the growth of buyout requests) and ethical business practice.
What is fair remuneration? Head over to our website and read/refresh yourself about the various budgeting tools and advice we have created over many years, including recent updates to reflect today’s business environment. Still have budgeting questions? Then get in touch with the PCAM Helpdesk (info@pcam.co.uk).
The question of ethical business practice is something that we, as a Committee, are very keen to explore further. When are brands and their Agencies operating unethically? If the potential reward you receive if you successfully pitch your work is less than a living wage, is it ethical that you should have to compete for this? We can easily agree a resounding NO. Our strength lies in remaining together, standing up to poor business practice, and collectively refusing to be unfairly paid.
I’m pleased that the Committee will be taking a renewed active stance against unethical business practices. There is more on this further on in the Newsletter and keep an eye out for future PCAM announcements. Also, please get in touch if you would like to help support our work in this area (admin@pcam.co.uk).
We continue to look for support to ensure that the PCAM Committee is representative of everyone working in our field and is also representative of the clients we work with. If you have a voice that you feel should be heard, please get in touch with us. We’d love to talk.
Wishing everyone a great start to 2022 and ongoing success during what appears to be an industry upturn.
Paul Reynolds – February 2022
INDEMNITY INSURANCE DETAILS
Here is the press release that went out on 3 March to a wide range of industry media:
The Society for Producers and Composers of Applied Music (PCAM) has announced a partnership with creativity industry specialists Performance Insurance to offer independent composers, small agencies and large businesses vital protection against the rising rate of copyright claims through indemnity insurance.
PCAM, an industry trade association which protects the rights of composers producing music for advertising and other applied music purposes, is the sole representative body of music ad writers in the UK.
Professional indemnity insurance protects composers against claims that their work is in breach of copyright. PCAM’s offer defends agencies and brands from unexpected lawsuits and empowers amateur composers to create without fear of unknowingly breaking either copyright, or Cyber and Privacy, laws.
PCAM’s indemnity insurance covers claims arising from copyright or intellectual property infringement, including defence costs during legal cases and the cost of a musicologist who determines the similarities of any creative output. Other areas of coverage offered are, among others, Public Liability to cover third party property damage or injury, and Employers Liability to cover injury to staff, freelancers or volunteers.
Paul Reynolds, Chair of PCAM, said, “The ad landscape has shifted, and music is no longer limited to just TV campaigns. In the digital era, creative outputs bounce around the globe. Assets are sliced and diced from TV and onto YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and beyond. Whilst this is great for reach, it has sparked a new wave of copyright issues and put composers at risk.
“AI technologies are analysing huge swathes of advertising music for copyright infringements, with composers being liable if any copyright claims are made. We need to ensure that composers, agencies and brands can create great music without fearing a costly legal battle.”
Gareth Graham, Account Executive for Performance Insurance, said, “Although we tend to operate in the background, we are incredibly proud to be able to offer first-class support to those in the creative industry. Our insurance heroes are always on hand to advise you, taking the pressure of the makers so they can continue to create.”
Details about the insurance on offer, and how to access it, will be in the news section of the PCAM website shortly.
About Performance Insurance
For more than 20 years, Performance Insurance has been providing assistance to the Media and Creative Industries of all sizes. The company seeks to help those in the media sector find the right insurance package the best suits their requirements and budget.
They offer a wide range of covers including Professional Indemnity to cover claims arising from Copyright or Intellectual Property infringement; Public Liability to cover third party property damage or injury; Employers Liability to cover injury to staff, freelancers or volunteers; and much more. If you are interested in finding out more about Performance Insurance, you can continue reading at https://www.performance-insurance.com.
GUIDE TO MUSIC FOR GAMES
PCAM Committee members Chris Green and Christo Patricios are working on a guide for composers getting involved in the games industry.
One of the key issues will be fighting against buyouts in the games sector, which are becoming more widespread and overwhelming the concept of a sync licence that runs for the life of the game. In the early days, games composers were often employed in-house, but as the industry has grown, this has become less common and composers working on a contract basis are increasingly getting squeezed.
Once the guide is completed, recommendations around composing for games will be added to the Guidelines on the PCAM website.
If you have questions about music composition for games, or topics that you think the guide should cover, please contact admin@pcam.co.uk
PCAM MEMBERSHIP GROWTH
PCAM’s membership increased significantly in 2021, which brought a welcome growth in income, since membership fees are currently the only source of revenue for the Society.
This enabled money to be spent on upgrading the functionality of the PCAM website, and in 2022, if membership numbers hold up or grow further, it means that money will be available to progress PCAM’s Education Project.
While there are probably a number of reasons for the growth in membership, one major factor appears to be that the demographic of the industry is changing, with more sole traders and fewer production companies.
In the past, a production company membership of PCAM would have covered a number of composers; now, composers are more often working are on their own and are joining PCAM individually.
THE NEW ECSA
The General Assembly of the European Composers and Songwriters Alliance (ECSA) took place (via Zoom) on 14-15 February.
The first session saw voting take place to elect the Chairs and two Vice-Chairs of each of the three genre-based pillars of the organization: APCOE for songwriters, ECF for concert music composers and FFACE for film and media composers.
The elected representatives from each genre form the Board of ECSA and between them elect the ECSA President and two Vice-Presidents.
However, these elections guaranteed the most fundamental change in the organisation for over 15 years, in part because Alfons Karabuda, ECSA President since 2007, had previously announced his intention to stand down, along with two of the other longest-serving board members, Bernard Grimaldi (long-standing Chair of FFACE and Vice-President of ECSA) and John Groves (Vice-Chair of FFACE and Treasurer of ECSA).
The composers of Europe owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the dedication, skill and tireless work of Alfons, Bernard, John and all the other members of previous ECSA Boards.
The outcome of the elections was far-reaching.
Only one member of the previous Board was re-elected: Luis Ivars from Spain continues in his role as Vice-Chair of FFACE and remains on the new Board.
The UK now has two representatives on the Board: Orphy Robinson from the Ivors Academy is the new Chair of ECF and, even more significantly, Helienne Lindvall, also of the Ivors Academy, has been elected as the new President of ECSA.
As a media composer and ex-Board member of the organisation, I am personally delighted to see that FFACE is now chaired by my good friend from Denmark, Jesper Henson, alongside another new Vice-Chair, Anselm Kreuzer of Germany.
I am very confident that the two of them, together with Luis, will do an excellent job representing the interests of media composers across Europe.
The new Board of ECSA in full is as follows:
APCOE (Songwriters):
Chair: Ole Antonsen (Norway)
Vice Chair 1: Helienne Lindvalle (UK) – newly-elected President of ECSA
Vice Chair 2: Aafke Romeijn (Netherlands) – newly-elected Treasurer of ECSA
ECF (Concert Composers):
Chair: Orphy Robinson (UK)
Vice Chair 1: Zahra Mani (Austria) – newly-elected Vice-President of ECSA
Vice Chair 2: Niilo Tarnanen (Finland)
FFACE (Film and Media Composers):
Chair: Jesper Henson (Denmark) – newly-elected Vice President of ECSA
Vice Chair 1: Anselm Kreuzer (Germany)
Vice Chair 2: Luis Ivars (Spain)
One of Jesper Henson’s main ambitions within FFACE is to initiate a comprehensive exchange of information between member organisations. I am sure he will set this in motion as a priority and we can all look forward to the benefits that such an information-exchanging environment will undoubtedly engender.
I wish Helienne and the new Board every success going forward
Chris Smith – February 2022
ETHICAL PRACTICE CAMPAIGN
Fair remuneration for composers is a key part of the European Copyright Directive, but evidence is mounting that it is increasingly rare in practice throughout the applied music industry.
Buyout requests are becoming increasingly common, in the UK and across Europe, in part because there are more co-productions with America.
In addition, fees being paid these days for demos is derisory, too little even for young composers new to the industry.
You could call these practices ‘unethical’, and PCAM intends to mount a campaign for fair remuneration and ethical treatment of composers.
Crucial support will be solicited from the IPA and other relevant organisations.
As an industry trade association, PCAM has a code of ethical working practices to which its members are expected to adhere (https://www.pcam.co.uk/what-we-stand-for/), and we have every right to expect clients and Agencies to work in a similar way.
To help establish information to support our campaign, we would like to hear from PCAM members about how often they are being asked for buyouts, and on what kinds of commissions. If you have experienced this and other unethical practices (such as very late payments), please let us know by emailing admin@pcam.co.uk.
NEXT PCAM MEETING
After two years of videoconference meetings, there had been hopes that the PCAM Committee would be able to meet in-person in February, followed by drinks and dinner to celebrate seeing each other again.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case, and the meeting was held by Zoom.
But hope springs eternal, and the intention is that the next Committee meeting, scheduled for Tuesday 10 May from 4.00-6.00 pm in Soho, will finally be an in-person gathering, to be followed by an early-evening social event.
If any members would like to attend the meeting and the rest of the evening, please contact PCAM Administrator Bob Fromer (admin@pcam.co.uk) to let him know.
NOTES FROM THE PCAM COMMITTEE MEETING: 16 FEBRUARY 2022
Members of the PCAM Committee held a Zoom meeting on 16 February 2022, with the following members in attendance: Paul Reynolds, Chris Smith, Tony Satchell, Simon Elms, Blair Mowat, Bankey Ojo, Christo Patricios, Freddie Webb, Rachel Menzies and Bob Fromer, plus PCAM member Toby Jarvis. Here is a rundown of topics discussed at the meeting:
Financial results. PCAM membership and income rose substantially in 2021, with income at its highest level in the Society’s history. This allowed us to achieve a small trading surplus for the year despite spending around £7000 on website refurbishment. Income in 2022, as of late February, was running slightly ahead of 2021, indicating another good year and another surplus that will be spent on helping to finance the PCAM Education Project.
PCAM indemnity insurance. PCAM has its own Professional Indemnity insurance, which is due for renewal in April, and we have recently been informed by the insurance provider, Howden, that the policy will no longer cover ‘cyber liability’. To get this coverage an additional policy we will need to be taken out.
Happily, the Professional Indemnity cover offered to PCAM members by Performance Insurance does include cyber liability cover, which is of course becoming increasingly important. But it turns out that they can’t provide cover for PCAM as an organisation because Performance Insurance is part of an insurance group that includes Howden, and they can’t quote against another member of the group!
Meeting with PRS. PCAM Committee members Paul Reynolds and Simon Elms will meet soon with Dave Newton, Media Member Account Manager at PRS, to talk about a range of topics including:
- Issues thrown up by the Delicious Digital lawsuit against PRS over how royalties are shared among PRS members.
- Royalties and TikTok.
- Free 15-second use of music in Germany (highlighted in the November 2021 PCAM Newsletter).
- Difficulties in using the Soundmouse template.
- Widespread delays in royalty payments.
- Arrangements for a joint in-person PCAM-PRS Mental Health Seminar this year.
There is a general feeling that the PRS is once again underperforming on royalty payments and we need to keep up pressure on this.
Response to German issue on free use of music if less than 15 seconds. There was some discussion of the news that came to PCAM late last year from John Groves, who runs PCAM’s sister society in Germany: that in many cases, at least in Germany, composers are now legally forced to allow anyone to use or post their music and to waive claims to income for the use when it is used for less than 15 seconds. Will this have implications for PCAM members doing work commissioned in Germany? PCAM Committee member Chris Smith will speak to John Groves to find out whether this development is likely to have effects that go beyond the German border.
PCAM Education Project. There are hopes that PCAM’s comprehensive Education Project, which has been marking time for a couple of years due to the pandemic and limited opportunities to raise funds for it, can progress in 2022. A total of £5000 has been ringfenced for the Project in PCAM’s 2022 budget, some of it to support fundraising and some to support our commitment to meeting 5% of production costs. Ideally, we are hoping to raise something like £40,000 a year over the four or five years it will take to complete the Project modules.
PCAM HELPDESK Q&A
Here is a recent question and answer exchange from the PCAM Helpdesk (the question is in black type and the Helpdesk answer is in blue):
Q: I looked on your website and couldn’t find this info but I’m pretty sure it will be on there somewhere. I had a request for South Africa 1 year TV and Internet; they said my offer of £2,500 was too expensive (I don’t think it is). Based on this, would it be worth throwing in Internet with South Africa TV (i.e., free Internet) for £1800-ish as an offer? Otherwise, they asked for a price for six months; would that just be 50% of my original year usage?
A: Your quote sounds spot on to me. South Africa is on the list as at 50% of your Composition Fee and normally nowadays on Overseas Licences usage is taken to be as “All Media” in that territory. On the standard one-year Term, I try never to split the usage but if I have to I certainly would never give it to them pro rata. So, for example, South Africa for 6 months would be 75% and 3 months 50% or some such – it normally encourages them to go for the one year!
A new compilation of Questions and Answers from the PCAM Helpdesk has now been posted on the PCAM website here: https://www.pcam.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Helpdesk-Volume-2.pdf.
It’s definitely worth a read, as many of the questions asked are ones that many of us encounter from time to time.