Dave Rowntree, drummer for Britpop veterans Blur, is having a busy 2024. Like fellow musician Tom Gray he’s standing to be a member of parliament (MP) in the UK’s upcoming general election.
However, Rowntree is also getting involved in a legal battle with British collecting society PRS for Music over ‘black box’ royalties.
The Times newspaper reported this weekend that Rowntree is leading a claim issued through the UK’s competition appeal tribunal.
It focuses on whether royalties where metadata is missing or incorrect are being inaccurately distributed to publishers on a ‘market share’ basis, when they should be going to individual songwriters.
According to The Times, Rowntree’s claim criticises the fact that there is “no transparency regarding the market share distribution of black box distribution… if there is a data error, it is difficult for writers to verify the accuracy of their data or the royalty payments”.
PRS for Music has hit back, saying that the claims are “factually incorrect” and “fundamentally misrepresent our policies and operations”.
