APRA AMCOS has responded to venues threatening to boycott Australian music following proposed changes to royalty fees.
As News Corp reported this week, new entity and joint venture of APRA and the Phonographic Performance Company of Australia (PPCA), OneMusic, proposed changes which the industry claims will result in music royalties almost doubling by $150,000 a year.
Surfers Paradise Licensed Venues Association president Tim Martin said the proposed fees will be "significantly higher than what we are paying now" and that venues are now in "panic mode".
Speaking exclusively to The Music, APRA AMCOS' Head Of Revenue & Licensing, Richard Mallett, said the proposal offers a "simplified process" for nightclubs and bars.
"For years nightclubs and bars have been asking for a simplified process to license all their music use, and now we will be able to deliver a one-stop-shop approach," Mallett said.
"I want to stress this scheme is still at proposal stage and we sincerely welcome feedback from industry so that together we can finalise a system that is fair and viable for both the nighttime industry, songwriters and recordings artists."
The proposed scheme would see fees based on venue capacity, not attendance, and would also take into account varying actual capacities on different nights of the week; for example, if a two-level club operates only one level on a Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, their fee on those nights will be based on the lower ‘one level’ capacity, not the full capacity of the club.
If a venue with a capacity of 100 sees 500 people come and go in a night, they are still only charged at the 100-capacity rate.
"We have run the numbers on a range of real-life dance venue scenarios," Mallett added.
"The result was an average saving of 3.8% for venues currently licensed under both APRA AMCOS' and PPCA's current schemes."
PPCA General Manager, Lynne Small, said, "This is the first dance venue proposal.
"There is time for healthy debate from industry and artists. It is up to the industry to present us with alternatives and OneMusic Australia will consider that against the rights of our members and licensors to be fairly remunerated ahead of launch late next year."
Venues are encouraged to provide feedback on the OneMusic Australia license proposal by 27 November; click here for more details.
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