With the news today that the Featured Artists' Coalition is meeting up in London to discuss how to make online music financially viable for musicians all over the world, TechRadar spoke to the NME's News Editor Paul Stokes about the FAC and what they hope to achieve.
The FAC comprises around 100 musicians, including Ed O'Brien from Radiohead, Billy Bragg and Dave Rowntree, drummer of Blur.
Today marks the first time the group has got together to discuss the future of music, and Stokes thinks that its timing is a great one.
"For a very long time record labels have treated artist as the most expendable part of the music industry," said Stokes.
"So it's no wonder as business models change and the traditional label dominance wanes, it's not only timely but deserved the FAC is looking to readdress the balance."
Think ahead
The music industry is changing fast and YouTube's decision to remove premium videos from its UK site just shows how delicate talks can be.
Stokes agrees with this, but thinks something needs to be done soon. Not just for the musician's of today, but the ones of tomorrow too.
"While established artists clearly deserve a great share we must think ahead to future generations of musicians and make sure there remains enough revenue within the music industry so that people have the money to be able to gamble on finding and promoting new talent," he explained.
We have contacted numerous other music agencies, including Spotify, and will bring you their comments if and when we get them.
