Demand big record labels drop their suit to destroy the Internet Archive
It’s time for major record labels to stop blaming the Internet Archive and start paying musicians fairly.
Instead of paying musicians fair compensation for their art, major record labels are suing to destroy the Internet Archive, claiming that their research library of old music recordings is what’s really hurting musicians. We all know this just isn’t true. Now, hundreds of musicians are speaking out for real change. Sign on in solidarity with musicians to tell major record labels to drop their suit against the Internet Archive and treat musicians fairly!
Background
Today’s music industry favors the shareholders of powerful streaming platforms and record labels, not musicians. In fact, many musicians struggle to make a living from their art, often receiving mere pennies for their work while companies like Spotify rake in billions. This imbalance not only threatens the livelihoods of artists but also undermines the rich diversity of music that shapes our culture.
What’s happening?
In August 2023, record label giants including Universal Music Group and Sony Music filed a copyright-infringement lawsuit over the Internet Archive nonprofit’s Great 78 Project, an unprecedented effort to digitize old 78 rpm records.
These records contain a wealth of music that is increasingly rare. Many of these recordings are the only existing copies of historically significant performances, making their preservation vital for future generations.
For saving these old recordings, the Internet Archive might be sued out of existence. Major labels are seeking $621 million in damages for what might amount to $41,000 in listening since 2006. If the labels succeed with their aggressive tactics, they could scare off anyone who ever wants to preserve music again—and destroy the historical record of the Internet while they’re at it.
The Internet Archive is perhaps known best for the WayBack Machine, which was recently celebrated for saving MTV News articles. This and all of the Archive’s services are also under threat due to the scope of major label’s suit.
Unfortunately, if labels win against the Internet Archive, there’s no guarantee that the musicians—or their estates—will see a dime. Generally with lawsuits like this, the corporations and their shareholders pocket the winnings and musicians see little to nothing.
The fight isn’t over yet.
Join hundreds of musicians to defend the artistic legacies and futures of working musicians and promote an open internet with safe, uncensored music preservation. Sign on now to tell big labels to drop their suit against the Internet Archive and *actually* support working musicians!
Petition Text:
Dear UMG Recordings, Capitol Records, Concord Bicycle Assets, CMGI, Sony Music Entertainment, and Arista Music,
I am writing to urge you to drop your lawsuit against the Internet Archive and take immediate action to support working musicians, as they demand in the Musicians for Fairness and Preservation Letter:
It’s time for the music industry to support the artistic legacies and futures of working musicians—not shareholder profits.
We, the undersigned musicians, wholeheartedly oppose major record labels’ unjust lawsuit targeting the Internet Archive, a crucial non profit cultural institution. We don’t believe that the Internet Archive should be destroyed in our name. The biggest players of our industry clearly need better ideas for supporting us, the artists, and in this letter we are offering them.
By 2031, music industry revenues will exceed 100 billion dollars, yet the average musician is struggling to survive. We’re priced out of touring by LiveNation’s abusive monopolies, and screwed over on royalties as big labels profit from Spotify’s unfair streaming revenue model.
Music is demonetized and censored by DSPs, sued off the Internet Archive by major labels, and physical archives have gone up in flames because of corporate profiteering. It’s no surprise that mental health is a crisis among musicians—we’re sick with worry wondering if anything will be left of our life’s work.
The music industry is not struggling anymore. Only musicians are. We demand a course-correction now, focused on the legacies and futures of working musicians. We call on all record labels, streaming platforms, ticketing outlets, and venues to immediately align on the following goals:
1. Protect our diverse music legacy.
The music industry has a moral imperative to keep its history archived, but we can’t trust it to do so. Old records are falling to pieces, and without proper digital preservation, they’ll be gone for good. The masters of big money-making recordings are going up in flames, and lesser-known musicians are even more vulnerable to erasure.
Incredible music and culture is getting lost forever, even though we have the technology to preserve it. Thanks to the nonprofit Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, almost half a million MTV News articles were spared permanent deletion. But when their Great 78 Project rescued over 400,000 recordings, major labels responded with a lawsuit against the Internet Archive for research library streams of old vinyl records. Going back to the opening of the library in 2006, the suit seeks $621,300,000 in damages. In Spotify bucks, $621,300,000 is 261 billion streams—wildly higher than the “millions” of research library streams alleged in the lawsuit. When songs streamed 10 million times would only pay out $23,800, we have to wonder how much our music is really worth.
Artists and labels alike should partner with valuable cultural stewards like the Internet Archive—not sue them. It’s time to support nonprofit music preservation to ensure that our music and our stories aren’t lost to history.
2. Invest in living, working musicians–not back catalogs or monopolies.
In 2022, music rights was a 40 billion dollar business. But a disproportionate cut of those billions are made by private equity exploiting the back catalogs of legacy musicians, many of whom are no longer living. Working artists took home as little as 12% of music industry revenue, even before COVID decimated touring. Meanwhile CEOs hire lawyers, publicists, and lobbyists to convince the public that music is essentially worthless.
At the same time, we’re shut out of sharing in today’s historic highs in live concert revenue. Musicians, including big-name artists like Lorde and Animal Collective, shouldn’t lose money self-funding tours that cost 40% more post-pandemic. This exploitation comes at the hands of monopolies double-dipping into both ticketing and venue income, and gravely harms the workers and independent live music spaces that also comprise the touring ecosystem.
Venues and ticketing retailers must set a precedent to ensure that artists get a fairer deal, including keeping 100% of merchandise sales, as suggested by the Featured Artist Coalition & United Musicians and Allied Workers’ #MyMerch campaign. We need transparent ticketing practices that prioritize income for artists and clarity for fans, so that live music work can actually make artists a living.
3. Make streaming services pay fair compensation.
The music industry must put musicians before big tech. Lobbyist organizations should redirect their power into making the government appropriately tax streaming platforms to fund artists, rather than side with monopolistic corporate players.
Recently, representatives Rashida Tlaib and Jamaal Bowman introduced the Living Wage for Musicians Act in partnership with United Musicians and Allied Workers to fight for fair pay in streaming. 30,000 working musicians and counting also signed onto UMAW’s #JusticeatSpotify campaign, demanding similar goals of fair compensation from DSPs. Artists have clearly voiced concern that the numbers aren’t adding up in our favor.
Major labels must put forth a public plan with a concrete timeline to end their vertical investment in platforms like Spotify, whose CEO Daniel Ek profits more in one year than Taylor Swift has in her lifetime. The music we make today is valuable, and it’s time for the industry to treat it that way and invest in working musicians by paying fair royalties for streams.
We demand that the music industry stop treating the history and future of musicians as expendable. Thanks to many self-organized groups and collectives, music workers are better organized now than at any other point in history. The inequity that permeates the lives of working artists, in all media, will end. Through the collective power of artists and those that love our work, we will build a sustainable future where our wellbeing and dignity come first.
The music industry cannot survive without musicians. The only way it can continue is with immediate and sustained action to protect artists’ futures, and the long-term preservation of their works. We implore our labels, our agents, our publishers, and our venues to stand with us in demanding fairness for the artists on which this industry is built.
Sincerely,