Loading ...UAE is ‘Wild West’ for Music industry
The UAE is like the “Wild West” for the music business, with radio stations openly breaking the law by using songs without compensating the artists, industry experts said yesterday.
Radio stations do not fear being caught because the Emirates, unlike many other countries, does not have a system to track what is played and collect money for the artist.
During a panel discussion at the Dubai Sound City conference, visiting record company executives said the UAE’s lack of copyright enforcement was holding back the industry’s development here.
“It seems to me like we’re in the Wild West. There is no law and it will catch up,” said Alan Wills, the managing director of Deltasonic Records, a UK music label.
There actually is a law federal copyright regulations were passed in 2002 but no one is responsible for ensuring artists receive royalties for music played on radio and television and used in advertisements.
In the UK, the Performing Right Society keeps track of what is played and collects money for the artist each time. Similar systems are used in other countries such as India, Japan and Germany.
When a song by Jamiroquai is played on a radio station in the UK, for example, it will usually earn the group around £60 (Dh360).
But when the same song is played in the UAE, the band, which performed on Yas Island last week, does not earn a single dirham.
Music by artists from all over the world is used here without their receiving compensation.
Hussain Yoosuf, the managing director of Fairwood Music Arabia in Dubai, said his company had to “fight for every dirham” it made here.
He claimed the Ministry of Economy had rejected proposals to set up a collection system because it believed such suggestions were driven by “self-interest” on the part of record companies.
But he predicted a more coherent system would be in place within the next year or two.
“The will is there. There is a desire to embrace change and bring things up to standard, but everything has to move at its own pace,” he said.
Right now, he said, radio stations take a “catch me if you can” attitude because no one is there to prosecute them for violating the law.
None of the companies represented on yesterday’s panel from Britain, Germany and Japan has a presence in the region.
“It’s an interesting region, but if you don’t have a collection society, how do you make money here?” asked Jens-Markus Wegener, the managing director of AMV Talpa, a German record label.
Shun Mori, the general manager of the international division of Fujipacific in Japan, said the Dubai Sound City conference was “the first step to starting business in the region”.
With CD sales in decline worldwide, he said, publishers were putting more effort into other means of making money including collecting rights money and licensing music.
Panel members also discussed the need to find new talent, saying the Arabic music scene here was massively “under-exploited”.
Mr Yoosuf said the young local industry was only now adapting to the international concept of mass markets, production and copyright.
“There were never even the venues for bands and artists to play in until recently,” he said. “Now, kids here are forming bands. The hip hop scene is alive and well.”
The Dubai Sound City conference is running alongside the live music festival of
After nine months, a Middle East peace initiative launched with high expectations by the new administration in Washington has not only lost momentum but its promise of an even-handed approach increasingly lacks credibility.
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UAE is ‘Wild West’ for music industry
Melanie Swan
* Last Updated: November 06. 2009 12:36AM UAE / November 5. 2009 8:36PM GMT
The band Aslan performs during the first day of Dubai Sound City yesterday. Pawan Singh / The National
DUBAI // The UAE is like the “Wild West” for the music business, with radio stations openly breaking the law by using songs without compensating the artists, industry experts said yesterday.
Radio stations do not fear being caught because the Emirates, unlike many other countries, does not have a system to track what is played and collect money for the artist.
During a panel discussion at the Dubai Sound City conference, visiting record company executives said the UAE’s lack of copyright enforcement was holding back the industry’s development here.
“It seems to me like we’re in the Wild West. There is no law and it will catch up,” said Alan Wills, the managing director of Deltasonic Records, a UK music label.
There actually is a law federal copyright regulations were passed in 2002 but no one is responsible for ensuring artists receive royalties for music played on radio and television and used in advertisements.
In the UK, the Performing Right Society keeps track of what is played and collects money for the artist each time. Similar systems are used in other countries such as India, Japan and Germany.
When a song by Jamiroquai is played on a radio station in the UK, for example, it will usually earn the group around £60 (Dh360).
But when the same song is played in the UAE, the band, which performed on Yas Island last week, does not earn a single dirham.
Music by artists from all over the world is used here without their receiving compensation.
Hussain Yoosuf, the managing director of Fairwood Music Arabia in Dubai, said his company had to “fight for every dirham” it made here.
He claimed the Ministry of Economy had rejected proposals to set up a collection system because it believed such suggestions were driven by “self-interest” on the part of record companies.
But he predicted a more coherent system would be in place within the next year or two.
“The will is there. There is a desire to embrace change and bring things up to standard, but everything has to move at its own pace,” he said.
Right now, he said, radio stations take a “catch me if you can” attitude because no one is there to prosecute them for violating the law.
None of the companies represented on yesterday’s panel from Britain, Germany and Japan has a presence in the region.
“It’s an interesting region, but if you don’t have a collection society, how do you make money here?” asked Jens-Markus Wegener, the managing director of AMV Talpa, a German record label.
Shun Mori, the general manager of the international division of Fujipacific in Japan, said the Dubai Sound City conference was “the first step to starting business in the region”.
With CD sales in decline worldwide, he said, publishers were putting more effort into other means of making money including collecting rights money and licensing music.
Panel members also discussed the need to find new talent, saying the Arabic music scene here was massively “under-exploited”.
Mr Yoosuf said the young local industry was only now adapting to the international concept of mass markets, production and copyright.
“There were never even the venues for bands and artists to play in until recently,” he said. “Now, kids here are forming bands. The hip hop scene is alive and well.”
The Dubai Sound City conference is running alongside the live music festival of the same name.
Melanie Swan
The National