|
Australia's independent labels want a fairer slice of
the action, writes Patrick Donovan.
THE Australian independent music scene had much to celebrate
this week. About 500 indie cognoscenti converged at Richmond's
Corner Hotel last night to celebrate the best releases of the year
at the AIR Awards.
AIR, the Australian Independent Record Labels Association, is
the peak body for Australian-owned labels.
Some of the most exciting songs of the year were performed by
the Drones, Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, Eddy Current Suppression
Ring, the Herd, Channel V favourites the Getaway Plan, Lior and
international guest Martha Wainwright. Yunupingu was the big winner again, taking out Best Independent
Album, Best New Independent Artist and Best Australian Independent
Blues/Roots Album. Socially conscious rap act the Herd cemented its relevance in
the post-Howard era by taking out Best Independent Artist.
But while there was clearly much to celebrate, there was an
undercurrent of fear and frustration at the inferior treatment the
independent sector, which makes up about 85 per cent of the
Australian music industry, feels it has been receiving of late.
Despite social networking website MySpace helping launch many
independent acts, it recently struck an exclusive equity deal with
the major labels to share revenue, and the indies are not
happy.
Last month, local independent dance artist Muscles was so
incensed that he threatened to remove his music from MySpace,
before delaying his decision until the company launched the
Australian version of its music site.
Speaking at AIR's inaugural digital conference, dotbleep, at
Toff in Town yesterday, Music Void's Jakomi Mathews described the
MySpace deal as "morally reprehensible".
A spokesman for MySpace said the site believed its recent
alliance with IODA — the Independent Online Distribution
Alliance, which represents 50,000 independent artists — was an
endorsement of MySpace by independents.
And Australia's largest independent record label, Shock Records,
is at loggerheads with MTV Australia, claiming it does not pay
independent bands and labels for airing its videos on TV and
online. Five months ago Shock withdrew its artists' videos, so local
viewers miss out on seeing clips by acts such as Bloc Party and
Martha Wainwright on the channel.
AIR also wants to scrap the 1 per cent cap on broadcast licence
fees from commercial radio stations, which it claims are an
"artificial and unjustified constraint". Such fees, collected by the Phonographic Performance Company of
Australia (PPCA), make up about 20 per cent of their income —
a vital revenue stream considering the downturn in CD sales.
"It's independent labels that are supplying the most diverse
acts, many of which have been on show tonight" said AIR chief
executive Stuart Watters.
"If the acts and labels don't get their fair share of the
revenue, CD shelves will start to look a lot more homogenous." |
(C) 2009 Australian Independent Record Labels Association Ltd (AIR)