Teachers: Support the music creators with ‘Every Copy Counts’

The ‘Every Copy Counts’ campaign is urging teachers to play their part in ensuring composers and songwriters receive the correct royalties for copying printed music used in schools. Currently, only two per cent of schools in the UK are correctly logging the music they are copying, creating a huge deficit in data, and resulting in hundreds of musicians suffering financial loss.

During what has been an incredibly difficult time for live musicians where a third of performers may quit the industry due to financial hardship, Printed Music Licensing Limited (PMLL) has launched ‘Every Copy Counts’ to encourage teachers to take part in the simple process of logging the music they are using in order to distribute fees fairly and accurately.

Abigail D’Amore, who is a music education consultant and is leading the ‘Every Copy Counts’ campaign, said:

“The Schools Printed Music Licence is paid for centrally by Government for all State schools in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland and makes copying and arranging music for educational purposes a simple process. This is hugely beneficial for schools but, in order to comply with the rules of the licence, teachers are required to log the music they are using. Unfortunately, due to a lack of awareness, this data simply isn’t being captured effectively.

“We know that teachers are under a huge amount of pressure and don’t have a lot of time, so PMLL has created a simple digital platform that allows music copied and arranged to be logged online. In addition, teachers reporting this information can now benefit from a range of free, exclusive teaching resources. This includes a set of multimedia teaching materials with composing and songwriting classroom ideas devised by teachers for teachers.”

The Schools Printed Music Licence enables schools to copy and arrange published music in hard copy and digital form. Fees paid to the PMLL are then distributed to publishers, and in turn to the creators of that music.

Abi continued: “The last couple of years have been incredibly challenging for many musicians, with performers and composers alike often relying on residual income – such as repeat performance rights – to stay afloat. We know that music educators are passionate about sharing the joy of music with the next generation of musicians.  Recording which music is copied, arranged and performed is a key way of supporting those working in the music publishing industry, enabling composers and songwriters to make a living from their art and demonstrating the integral nature of music in the school curriculum to Government.”

To record the music that has been copied in your school and access a suite of free resources, simply go to www.everycopycounts.co.uk and play your part in protecting the music publishing industry, its creators and their livelihoods.