Copyright (Rights and Remuneration of Musicians, etc.) Bill

Gareth Davies Excerpts

Friday 3rd December 2021 Commons Chamber

[Dean Russell]

My hon. Friend makes an incredibly powerful point, which highlights the immediacy for us now of music and of art in general, which I see with film and in many other areas. Recently, as a member of the Joint Committee on the Draft Online Safety Bill, I was praising the Common Sense website, which states what age a child should be to watch a film. That has solved many arguments in families, who are able to find quickly not just the age rating for a film or television show but the recommended age at which a child could perhaps start watching things. With the conversations we can have, and the immediacy with which we can find information as well as music and movie soundtracks, the interconnectivity that we have through culture is incredible.

[Gareth Davies (Grantham and Stamford) (Con)]

I completely agree with my hon. Friend that streaming has expanded the opportunity to become well known for artists who otherwise may not be that well known, whether they write music for films or television or write their own songs. Does he agree that streaming has also helped to reduce the prevalence of piracy, and that it should be welcomed as an innovation in the music industry?

[Dean Russell]

Absolutely; my hon. Friend makes a powerful point. I recall that in the early 2000s there were sites such as Napster, which in their very early stages shared content that I am sure the artist did not even know was being shared. Over time, of course, they changed their approaches. That is such an important point. We have to get the right balance between protecting artists 100%, ensuring innovation with regard to platforms and new forms of engaging with media and music, and making sure that we remain competitive in the UK. If we do not do that, we may do a disservice to up-and-coming artists, especially independent ones, over time.

Let me continue my music life story. I am pleased to have the artist Limahl—Members may know him—in my constituency. I was chatting to him just today about this issue. I have just realised that I do not want Members to think I am going to give the “Never Ending Story” of my life—the first of many puns; I apologise. From there, though, my love of music was in discovering it and meeting other people who loved it.

One thing we do not often think about with regard to streaming is the ability it gives us to find like-minded fans—to engage with others, to support others and to find people who are also really into certain bands and musicians, often very niche ones. Those musicians are not always pop or rock-and-roll stars; they may be musicians who work on film soundtracks or spend time as backing singers or backing artists. That shows the breadth of what we talk about when we are discussing streaming and, in terms of copyright and its role in legislation and in Government, the complexity that is involved in what look, on the surface, like very simple changes; actually, when we dig deeper, we realise that they affect people in many ways. I urge the Government to ensure—I have had warm words and clear assurances on this—that they engage now and make sure that we have those conversations with all parties so that we do not just end up representing one group and inadvertently creating issues for many others.

Let me fast-forward—or skip forward, perhaps, in the music terminology—to university. Not many people know this, but I did poetry when I was at university. I even did poetry on stage, which is probably what led me a few years later to publish some children’s books. I was fortunate to meet some fantastic, like-minded people who were setting up a radio station at my university, De Montfort University in Leicester. We set up—I say “we”, but they did most of the work; my friends set up a radio station called DemonFM. This was about 25 years ago. These incredible people, including a guy called Chris North, one of my friends, were instrumental in making that radio station happen. We came together not because we all liked the same music but because we loved music, and we loved making sure that people could hear that music wherever they lived in Leicester, within the available FM range. For me, that meant tapping into a group who were not just passionate about music, but actually doing something about it; one of the important themes of our discussion is making sure that we do not inadvertently limit people’s ability to access music, whether that is via streaming or through radio and other routes. During that time, I met some incredibly inspirational people, some of whom went on to work in the industry or in radio.

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[Andy Carter (Warrington South) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Feltham and Heston (Seema Malhotra). I wish to start by congratulating the hon. Member for Cardiff West (Kevin Brennan), because in bringing this Bill to the House and having it delivering this level of attention, he has highlighted what an important sector UK music is. I cannot claim to be an ace musician—my piano lessons in secondary school led only to headaches for my parents—but I have spent some 20 years working in music broadcasting. During that time, I was part of the industry working group that negotiated with music rights holders, including PPL, the Performing Right Society and the Mechanical Copyright Protection Society, to secure permission to use recorded music on commercial radio. So I am aware of the relationship of businesses that build success on the back of playing recorded music, and I see the need for rights holders to be paid a fair settlement for their work.

I wish to step back a little and pay a brief tribute to the UK music sector. Everyone in this House should be incredibly proud of British music and the contribution it makes to not only our wellbeing, but our economy. For us in this country, British music is the soundtrack to our lives, but that is true around the world, too. UK recording artists feature on radio stations and streaming platforms around the globe every second of every day, and that has not come about because we have legislated to promote our great music. It is worth noting that some countries, such as France, do legislate to ensure that their broadcasters play French music, because they want to give it an unfair advantage. We, though, maintain an interest in supporting brilliant talent. UK music’s success has come about because we allow creativity to flourish, we invest, we nurture talent and we have the advantage of the English language. Above all, we have incredible songwriters, great musicians and brilliant performers who deliver what an engaged audience wants to listen to.

Let me just set out one or two figures that demonstrate that. The UK music industry contributed £5.8 billion to the UK economy in 2019, which was an 11% increase on the prior year. Employment in the industry hit an all-time high in 2019, at 197,000 people, which was an increase of 3% on the prior year. That is not just people playing instruments and singing songs; we are talking about songwriters, producers, artists’ managers, publishers, the people in recording studios, musicians, promoters, crew, and those in record labels and collective management organisations. They are all part of an industry that supports almost 200,000 jobs, which are critical to UK plc. The total export revenue of the music industry was £2.9 billion in 2019, which was an increase of about 9% on the prior year. This is such an important sector, and it is so crucial that we treat it with care when we consider legislation.

[Gareth Davies]

My hon. Friend is making an extremely powerful speech outlining the importance of the music industry to our economy. Will he acknowledge that it is also a vital part of our tourism attraction, bringing in about £4.7 billion in tourism revenue for this country every year?

[Andy Carter]

I thank my hon. Friend for that, as he pre-empted exactly what I was going to say next. We are talking about £4.7 billion of spending in the UK economy, which was an increase of 6% of the prior year. UK music tourism is crucial, and it is so important that we have live performances back in concert venues, pubs and locations across the UK. Our music industry is a critical national asset. It makes us feel good. It enriches our lives with tunes that get into our head and make us tap our feet, and it really does set the mood for the nation. What we do in legislation in this space could have profound implications.