MMF Comment on 2017 General Election
Annabella Coldrick, Chief Executive, MMF:
Whatever follows on from the hung parliament and potential minority government, one thing we can take comfort from is that the Conservatives and Labour were very specific in their manifesto commitments to ensure that content creators are appropriately rewarded for the content they make available online.
That’s the MMF’s priority too, and along with other creator representative bodies we will be re-doubling our lobbying efforts with the UK Government to tackle the lack of transparency in the digital marketplace. At the same time as addressing the Value Gap, the industry must change the NDA culture that denies artists, songwriters, composers and musicians not just clarity, but fair digital remuneration.
In addition, following the successful FanFair campaign, both parties have publicly committed to ensure the revised law on ticket touting is now properly enforced and we look forward to working with the new government and the CMA to make sure this happens.
With the help of politicians it is imperative that we fix these fundamentals for both the live and recorded business, restoring the connection from audience to artist, to properly reward the creative talent on whose shoulders our entire business sits.
The Conservative Manifesto:
• We will ensure content creators are appropriately rewarded for the content they make available online (p. 80)
The Labour Manifesto:
• We recognise the serious concern about the ‘value gap’ between producers of creative content and the digital services that profit from its use, and we will work with all sides to review the way that innovators and artists are rewarded for their work in the digital age (p. 96)