The Modern Role of Collection Agencies @ Un-Convention Salford 2009

Moderator - Mark Meharry (Music Glue)
Panelists - Keith Harris (PPL), Howard Mills (Humble Soul), Simon Pursehouse (Sentric Music), Ed Smith (MCPS)

With the changes in the market and the very low return from traditional sales models DIY and independent labels need help from the collection agencies, whose current practices are stacked against them.

Many independent artists do tour and do receive record play – sometimes from, but also outside, the traditional media formats. In most cases they never see a penny of the money that is owed to them for the usage of their songs because the process of tracking down and collecting these monies is neither accessible nor designed to help them.

The panel will discuss whether collection agencies and trade bodies can and should develop strategies to account for this and review alternative strategies to either bypass them - or to gain a greater share of voice as independents.