数码时代音乐人的版权保卫战

    仅仅十年前，Spotify和Pandora这样的流媒体音乐服务看起来还像是白日梦，没人能想到有朝一日，我们仅仅通过一台电脑或一部手机就能获得大量的合法音乐。本月初，谷歌（Google）携其音乐服务Play Music All Access也杀入这个市场，说明流媒体音乐绝对还有发展的前景，而且它继续促使许多歌手和词曲家走向移动化的道路，为争夺更大的市场蛋糕而战。

    与此同时，音乐人们捍卫自己作品版权的方式之一，就是加入各种版权组织（简称PRO）。其中一例就是创立于1914年的美国作曲家、作家与出版商协会（ASCAP）。这个组织近五年来的会员人数出现了猛增，光是在过去四年里就新增了30万名会员，目前已经总计拥有46万名会员。另一个名叫广播音乐联合会（BMI）的版权组织的网站自称现在已经有60万名会员。

    ASCAP的主席兼董事长、同时也是歌曲《雨天与周一》（Rainy Days and Mondays）和《彩虹桥》（The Rainbow Connection）的词曲作者保罗•威廉姆斯指出：“当今世界，越来越多的音乐将在各种设备上播放。”而这些版权组织的宗旨就是要把音乐人们组织起来，为他们争取他们认为应得的版税，不管一首歌曲在任何场合或设备上播放——也就是说，无论是在流媒体设备上，还是在广播、网游、电视节目里，他们都要争取应得的版税。

    早在广播诞生以前，音乐人就开始要求对音乐的播放征收版税了。威廉姆斯表示：“不管音乐是通过什么系统传达给听众的，那个机器的灵魂都是艺术，是音乐或电影。那个机器的灵魂应该获得适当的报酬。”

    不过在数码时代，要想获得“适当的报酬”可不是件容易的事。据科技网站The Verge报道，像Pandora、iTunes和Spotify等流媒体音乐网站，每次播放的版税可能只有0.006美元（或是每播放100首歌缴6美分版税）。经常与Train、Gym Class Heroes等知名乐队合作的音乐人兼出品人山姆•霍兰德说：“这是一场生存之战，我的生计都危险了。”霍兰德在ASCAP中已经有15年的会龄了。

    就连音乐行业的新人都知道即将面临怎样的战争。普丽希拉•丽娜是一名16岁就入行的歌手和音乐人，她说，一开始她并不理解版权组织提供的保护程度。她说：“我是互联网时代的人。我以前也像很多孩子一样，在认识还不深刻的时候就开始玩音乐了。”她还称，作为一个在Napster（P2P下载的鼻祖）以及疯狂的文件分享和非法下载时代成长起来的年轻人，她理解“它的两面性。”

    Just a decade ago, music streaming services like Spotify and Pandora seemed like a pipe dream: vast libraries of legal music that could be accessed with just a computer or phone. With Google entering the fray earlier this month with its Play Music All Access music service, streaming is definitely here to stay, and it's one of many factors motivating artists and songwriters to mobilize and fight for a bigger piece of the pie.

    One way in which songwriters are fighting for their work is by joining performing rights organizations, or PROs.The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), which has been in operation since 1914, has seen a jump in membership in the past five years, gaining 300,000 members in the past four years alone. ASCAP has 460,000 members. Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI), another PRO, has 600,000 members, according to its website.

    "We're in a world where more music is being played more often on many devices," says Paul Williams, ASCAP president and chairman of the board, as well the songwriter behind such hits as "Rainy Days and Mondays" and "The Rainbow Connection." PROs are leading the fight in getting songwriters what they consider a fair share of royalties for any "performance" of a song, be it a play on a streaming service, radio, a video game, or television show, to name a few of the diverse avenues where music royalties can accrue.

    Songwriters have been struggling for performances to be recognized as worthy of garnering royalties since before the days of radio. "No matter what system the music is delivered on, the soul of the machine is the art," Williams says. "It's the music or the movie. The soul of the machine is worthy of decent payment."

    Decent payment in the digital age has been hard to come by, as royalty rates on streaming services such as Pandora (P), iTunes (AAPL), and Spotify could be as low as $.006 per performance (or, 6 cents per 100 songs played), according to The Verge. "It's a struggle for survival," says Sam Hollander, a songwriter and producer who worked with artists such as Train and Gym Class Heroes. He's been an ASCAP member for 15 years. "My livelihood is under siege."

    Even relative newcomers to the music industry understand the fight ahead. Priscilla Renea, a songwriter and artist who has been working in music since the age of 16, says at first, she didn't understand the level of protection PROs provide. "I'm in the Internet generation. I used to be one of those kids doing music before knowing better," she says. "I understand both sides of it" by growing up in the age of Napster and the wild west of file-sharing and illegal downloads.