Pay songwriters their due: Abba's Ulvaeus

NEW YORK • The Covid-19 pandemic's rampage through the music world has laid bare the industry's flaws, shining a bright light on "the plight of songwriters", says Abba's Bjorn Ulvaeus.

The renowned artiste behind the disco pop group's megahits such as Dancing Queen and Mamma Mia co-wrote a report released last Saturday, titled Rebalancing The Song Economy, which urges revamping pricing structures to ensure fairness for writers behind the music.

Ulvaeus, 75, became president of the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers - a Paris-headquartered rights network representing about four million creators and publishers across the arts - last year, as the spread of the coronavirus began devastating livelihoods worldwide.

Pre-pandemic, performing artistes could count on income sources such as concerts and merchandise, but "most professional songwriters are just that" - songwriters, he said.

Now, everyone is relying on streaming, which accounts for 83 per cent of American music industry revenue, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.

But many artistes have long said they are not reaping the benefits and the pandemic is exacerbating the issue.

Streaming giants pool subscription money and divvy it up based on aggregate play counts to rights-holders or management organisations, which distribute it according to their agreements.

Artistes have long disparaged that dominant model, holding it favours the globe's biggest stars at the expense of music's middle class.

Right now, "80 per cent goes to the Drakes, the Swifts. The niche jazz artiste gets almost nothing, if anything", Ulvaeus said.

"But the niche jazz artiste might have 10,000 people out there who love him or her - and if all that money went to him, he could make a living out of that."

Apple recently disclosed it pays, on average, a penny a stream, approximately double what Spotify - which has far more users and thus more streams - pays rights-holders.

The breakdown of which players - labels, distributors, streaming services and the owners of performance and publishing copyrights - receive what fraction of revenues depends on specific record deals that are rarely public.

But songwriters, especially if they are not also performers, generally receive the smallest pieces.

The report authors are proponents of fan-centric models they say could better support music's creators, paying out total revenue based on the actual tracks specific users listen to.

Ulvaeus also draws distinctions between "lean-back" and "leanforward" music - and says it should be priced accordingly.

Lean-back music, the artiste says, is music users hear based on curated playlists, while leanforward songs are those listeners specifically seek out or bookmark.

"There's a difference between those two. And there should be a difference in royalties as well," the Swedish songwriter said.

More broadly, Ulvaeus says the current "rat race" songwriting model makes creators risk-averse and rush to push out content - formulating eminently streamable songs with viral potential to the detriment of their art.

Streaming "has hugely impacted the kind of songs and their structure", he said.

"When (Abba's) Benny Andersson and I wrote albums, we wrote albums. You can't do that now because... it takes 30 seconds, 15 seconds before people click another song."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE