The Day the Music Died BASCA campaign

BASCA launches 'The Day the Music Died' campaign calling for a fairer share for UK music creators.
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British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) has launched their biggest campaign to date, The Day the Music Died, lobbying for a fairer share of digital royalties and advertising revenue incomes for creators.

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The campaign is lobbying for a number of key actions, including:

  • An equal split of gross royalty income for music writers who produce digital works
  • Advertising income paid to creators for all usage (particularly YouTube)
  • Remove auto-predicted text of illegal content from internet search engines (particularly Google)
  • Removal of safe habour for content platforms, such as YouTube
  • Loosen the terms of NDAs to allow for more thorough audits by Collective Management Organisations.

Speaking with CISAC, BASCA Chief Executive Officer Vick Bain says the organisation aims to increase awareness on a number of important issues for music creators, including the fight for a fairer share of incomes created by their works online.

"Currently we have two main campaigning issues; one is to ensure that the UK private copying exception is implemented with a fair compensation mechanism and the other is our The Day the Music Died campaign, which encompasses all digital rights issues," she says.

"But we also campaign for fairness of contracts, the protection of collective management and the exclusive assignment, and are also highlighting the great work and profile of female songwriters and composers across various genres."

Bain says the campaign's name is inspired by the classic song, 'American Pie' by the Don McLean, which was originally written about the tragic deaths of Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens in 1959.

"It suggests that if songwriters and composers are not fairly remunerated, if they have to stop writing because it will soon become an unaffordable occupation, the entire music industry could wither and die," she says.

Like CISAC's 230 authors' societies, BASCA is committed to campaigning for the rights of creators and the protection of their works, whether online or otherwise.

"If we do not protect creators the whole music industry eco-system becomes unsustainable," Bain says. 

"That goes for all creators no matter what country you live in. Without the music there are no bands or orchestras, no live performances, no studio recordings, no collecting societies, no producers, no marketing, A&Rs, nothing."

For more information on 'The Day the Music Died Campaign', visit the BASCA website.