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Italian radio boycotts new releases in long-running royalty dispute
By CMU Editorial | Published on Tuesday 25 May 2010
So, this is fun. Unless you’re an Italian record label. The record industry in Italy presented a united front yesterday in response to a two week boycott of new music by ten national radio networks in the country. Yes, only in Italy.
The Italian record industry has been involved in increasingly heated negotiations with the country’s radio sector over the sound recording royalties paid by radio stations for years now. The two sectors’ previous agreement, where radio stations paid 1% of their revenues to the collecting society representing labels and recording artists, expired way back in 2006, and the two industries have been wrangling ever since.
Italy’s record industry argued that the 1% revenue share was way out of line with the rest of Europe, where the next lowest royalty rate was in Spain, where labels get a 2% share. They, therefore, pushed for a 2% rate in Italy. The country’s radio stations resisted, forcing the record industry to go legal in 2008. A ruling on that legal claim is expected next year.
Meanwhile, the trade body representing Italy’s radio stations, RNA, recently asked the labels to sign a waiver which I think would basically have required the record labels to commit to claiming no royalty at all on new releases that are sent to radio stations as promos, presumably because of the perceived promotional value of airplay. When the labels refused to sign the waiver, the ten national networks announced they would no longer play any new release music.
Responding to that boycott yesterday, the record industry held a press conference including reps from all four majors, from trade body FIMI and collecting society SCF, and from indie label trade group PMI and the country’s leading independent Sugarmusic, all of whom accused the RNA of blackmail, and said they would not be forced to sign any waiver regarding royalties.
FIMI boss Enzo Mazza told reporters that the radio stations’ demands were “absurd” given the importance of music to their output, adding “they [RNA’s members] spend more on their electricity bills than they do on music”.
But the RNA have already hit back, saying they too are being blackmailed, into propping up the struggling record industry. Asked how long they were willing to continue boycotting new releases, a spokesman said the boycott could stay in place until next year’s court ruling on the copyright dispute.
