In today’s CMU Daily: The UK music industry’s economic impact increased last year, with the sector’s ‘gross value added’ rising 13% to £7.6 billion. That’s according to a new report from UK Music which says that, although the industry is growing, it still needs more support from the government 

Also today: American music publishers say they are “optimistic” that Amazon adding audiobooks to its music subscription service won’t impact on the royalties received by songwriters. Unlike with Spotify, which used the addition of audiobooks to claim a discount on what it pays under the US compulsory licence

Plus: The Second Circuit Appeals Court recently ruled that Ed Sheeran’s ‘Thinking Out Loud’ doesn’t rip off Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On’. But the company involved in that lawsuit says a recent US Supreme Court ruling impacts on a copyright technicality that could change that judgement

UK music industry's economic impact up 13% to £7.6 billion, but this is no time to be complacent, says UK Music 

UK Music has published its annual ‘This Is Music’ stats report that seeks to quantify the economic impact of the wider music industry within the UK. The big figure included each year is the ‘gross value added’ for the sector at large, which UK Music reckons was up 13% in 2023 to £7.6 billion. Music exports were also up, by 15% to £4.6 billion, and employment numbers hit a record 216,000 full time equivalent posts. 

With growth all round, UK Music boss Tom Kiehl says that, following the devastating impact of the COVID pandemic, “a resilient music industry” has emerged that is now “ideally placed to turbo charge the new UK government’s mission to secure the highest sustained growth in the G7”. Not only that, but “international appetite for UK music remains strong” and “employment continues to rise steadily”. 

Responding to the latest stats pack, the UK government’s Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy says: “From global superstars like Harry Styles and Adele, internationally-renowned festivals like Glastonbury and Parklife and a huge range of vibrant subcultures, the music industry is a real British success story. These impressive new figures underline how vitally important it is to driving growth - as it boosted its value to our economy by nearly a billion pounds in one year”. 

So, plenty of reasons to be cheerful. But, of course, there is also a big but. Because UK Music is first and foremost a lobbying organisation and the aim of this report is to demonstrate the success and the ongoing potential of the music industry to lawmakers and decision makers, while concurrently setting out the case for more government support. 

“This is not a time to be complacent”, Kiehl continues, “Far from it in fact. ‘This is Music 2024’ tells the story, based on real evidence and data from across the sector, that despite some very strong headline figures in 2023, the UK music industry has vulnerabilities too”.

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Amazon adds audiobooks access to its music service, though won’t rely on bundling discount in the US

Amazon has followed Spotify’s lead in adding audiobooks access to its main music subscription package in the US, UK and Canada. However, unlike Spotify, Amazon won’t be sneakily cutting payments to songwriters in the US by employing the ‘bundling discount’ available in the country’s compulsory licence. 

Talks are ongoing regarding how this will actually impact on what royalties writers and music publishers receive from Amazon. But David Israelite, boss of the US National Music Publishers Association, says he is “optimistic” that those negotiations will result in a satisfactory agreement. 

He adds, “Amazon has engaged with the music publishing and songwriting industry in a respectful and productive way, unlike Spotify. We expect this new Amazon bundle will not decrease revenue for songwriters”.

Announcing the addition of audiobooks to its music service yesterday, Amazon declared, “Starting today, Amazon Music Unlimited individual plan subscribers, and primary account holders to the family plan, can listen to one audiobook at a time - of any length - per month with their subscription”. 

Amazon is already a major player in the audiobooks market via Audible, its existing audiobook subscription service, and its the Audible catalogue that music subscribers will now be able to tap into. Access is limited to one audiobook per month, however, in contrast to Spotify’s cap of fifteen hours of audiobook content per month, Amazon will not time-limit audiobook listening. 

In Amazon’s words, users of its music service will have access to “Audible’s unparalleled library of premium audio storytelling content, including a US catalogue of more than 1 million of the most popular and enduring audiobooks in the world”. 

For the music industry, whenever non-music content is added to a subscription product that was originally music-only, the key concern is whether or not the publishers of that other content will be sharing in the revenues generated by subscription sales and whether that will impact on what is paid out for music.

Ed Sheeran song-theft case should be reconsidered because of fishy Supreme Court ruling, says SAS 

Another court filing has been made in the long-running legal battle that accuses Ed Sheeran of ripping off Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let's Get It On’ when he wrote 2014 hit ‘Thinking Out Loud’. 

Structured Asset Sales, which has an interest in the copyright in Gaye's song, wants the Second Circuit Appeals Court to reconsider a recent ruling, in which the appeals court concluded that Sheeran's song doesn’t infringe the copyright in the earlier work. 

Specifically, SAS asks the Second Circuit to reconsider the answer it gave to a question relating to a copyright technicality: can the courts only compare the similarities between Sheeran’s song and the sheet music version of ‘Let's Get It On’, rather than Gaye’s song as it was recorded? 

The answer to that question, SAS says, impacted on the recent ruling. Not only that, it’s also relevant to “thousands of legacy songwriters, artists and/or musicians, who created millions of musical compositions and songs”. Which means it’s really important to get the answer right. 

In the song-theft litigation against Sheeran, the appeals court answered that question “yes”, only the sheet music version of ‘Let’s Get It On’ could be considered. But, says SAS, the judges should reconsider that answer in light of a recent ruling in the US Supreme Court in the Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo case, which involved the fishing industry.

You might wonder how a fishing industry dispute could possibly impact on a song-theft dispute involving Ed Sheeran. But it all comes down to whether or not courts should give deference to relevant government agencies when dealing with ambiguous areas of the law...