The MMF (Music Managers Forum) aims to change the way songwriters are paid for streams. It launched a report yesterday morning at The Great Escape conference in Brighton called the "Song Royalties Manifesto."
It’s all about increasing transparency and getting songwriters paid more quickly – with their ultimate goal for writers to receive their first royalty payment for a song no more than two months after release and to put a stop to the "misallocation of writers revenues." The report sets out three key steps the MMF would like to see taken, revolving around the "proper" use (being frank) of ISWC codes by labels, distributors and streaming services. ISWC's tend to be overlooked – just like an ISRC, an ISWC is a unique code assigned to a specific musical work or composition written by a songwriter.
Let's say, management of these codes within metadata is... lacking. There is of course a myriad of other factors, but it's a good step forward and is already being back by the Ivors Academy and Hipgnosis Songs. Download the report for yourself, just enter your name and email to unlock. Via MMF