Blistering attack against piracy by UK culture minister at BPI AGM
Sajid Javid, the UK government’s secretary of state for culture, media & sport and minister for equalities, has declared war against music piracy.
Speaking yesterday (1 September) at the annual general meeting (AGM) of the BPI, the UK music-industry’s trade organization, Javid vowed to use regulation and government support to attack piracy for the crime that it is.
He noted that Ofcom, the UK telecommunications sector’s governing body, had reported almost 200 million music tracks were consumed illegally during one quarter of last year.
“No government can allow infringement to continue at such an industrial scale,” Javid said. “We don’t accept other crimes are so big problem, they are not worth bothering with. Copyright (infringement) is theft, pure and simple.”
He agreed that digital technology had brought revolutionary changes to the music business. But that should not undermine the value of music creativity.
“People in your industry have a true vocation,” he told the AGM audience of BPI record-label members. “You identify talented artists, record, publish and release their works. Intellectual-property protection underpins that passion. Without enforceable copyright, there will be no A&R.”
With the government’s current contribution to funds for the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU), a division of the City of London Police, ending next year, BPI’s CEO Geoff Taylor expressed concern about its future.
But the culture minister pledged to consider injecting more cash into the PIPCU. He was adamant everything must be done to crack down on “career copyright criminals.”
Javid then called for search-engine giants, including Google, Microsoft’s Bing and Yahoo!’s engine, to make a greater effort to stamp out illegal websites from search-engine results. “Let me be clear, if that doesn’t work, we would be looking for a legislative solution,” he declared.
The AGM’s second keynote speaker was Bob Shennan, the new director of music at UK public broadcaster BBC. As the world’s biggest entertainment-TV network, the BBC’s investment in music has always been a major topic of discussion within the industry.
Shennan stated: “The BBC is making music a No.1 priority in 2014.” Check out Rockol.com’s analysis of this promise in the next Rockol Tracks.
Javid and Shennan’s presentations to the BPI came as the UK music sector saw revenues jump 1.9% to £730.5 million in 2013. Streaming music reported the fastest growth rate at 41.2% to £76.7 million last year. This was followed by the 7.6% growth rate for online sales, which rose to £283.8 million.
Online sales revenues include downloads, which fell for the first time by 4.4% to £121.7 million. Physical formats, including CD albums, continued to suffer, dropping 6.4% to £365.4 million.
But the CD, vinyl and other physical formats combined still accounted for 50% of total revenues in 2013. Yet, even that represented a drop from the 54% share in 2012, a sign that piracy is causing major damage to the business.
The £730.5 million earned last year is still a far cry from the £1.2 billion UK music sales boasted in 2003.
The AGM took place at the ME Hotel in London.
[Juliana Koranteng]