Sony extends unrecouped balance policy to heritage songwriters

The news follows Sony Music’s announcement of the policy in June for recording artists, which forms part of its Artists Forward initiative. The latest development was revealed in a letter sent by SMP CEO Jon Platt to the label’s songwriters. The letter says the company will “no longer apply existing unrecouped balances to earnings for eligible songwriters signed prior to the year 2000 who have not received advances since.” The move will be applied retrospectively from 1 January and qualifying songwriters will be contacted by SMP in the coming weeks.

Songwriters who received an advance from SMP before 2000 and did not pay it back will begin earning money from streaming and other royalty sources generated from 1 January 2021. Sony owns and administers more than 5 million copyrights, according to the company’s financial report published at the end of March.

SMP says the move is a step towards creating “a more equitable, transparent music industry for songwriters and all creators”.

“Under Songwriters Forward, we are introducing the Legacy Unrecouped Balance Programme to qualifying Sony Music Publishing songwriters,” Platt’s letter reads. “We have been working for some time to develop this plan, which complements Sony Music’s recently announced Artists Forward. These efforts are a continuation of our songwriter-first approach and accompany our ongoing investment in administration modernisation, including new score data and analytics upgrades, cash-out payment options, and real-time foreign royalty processing.”

The news comes on the heels of a report by the UK Parliament’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee on an inquiry into the economics of streaming, which took place earlier this year. In the report, the committee called for a complete restructuring of the music streaming ecosystem and urged the British government to introduce legislation that gives artists a “right to recapture” their works after 20 years and a “right to contract adjustment” if the royalties generated are unreasonably low compared to the success of their music.