RAYE: “You’ve got these CEOs and big label execs living in their fat huge Chelsea mansions, while songwriters you are profiting off are broke”
RAYE has hit out at industry executives for underpaying songwriters while taking huge profits for themselves.
The British artist – who took home a record-breaking six BRIT awards this month – said that songwriters are left “fighting over scraps of publishing”.
Speaking in an interview with the Daily Star‘s ‘Wired’ column (per MusicNews), the ‘Escapism’ singer said: “For an industry that profits off songs, you got these CEOs and big label execs living in their fat huge Chelsea mansions, living a beautiful life, meanwhile songwriters you are profiting off are broke, can’t afford rent and fighting over scraps of publishing that is sat in bank accounts for two years before they receive a penny, because publishers have kept it in there so they can collect interest and make a whole separate business.”
The artist also broke down the payment model for artists and songwriters, explaining: “Every single song that’s released in the world, there are 100 royalty points.
“The label will take, say, 80 points. The artist, in a good deal, will take maybe 20, 15, or maybe 12 and then producers get four points, but it has to come out of the artist’s points.
“And the songwriter doesn’t even get one point. It’s disgusting, the whole industry is disgusting. That’s one little example of what goes on behind closed doors where there is no accountability.”
RAYE added that the whole situation makes her “very angry”.
At this month’s BRIT awards, RAYE used her Songwriter Of The Year award acceptance speech to call on music executives to allow songwriters to receive royalty payments.
“I think we need to have a conversation,” she said. “I want to normalise giving songwriters master royalty points”.
“It doesn’t have to be at your expense, but it just means that if the songs win big, then the writers get to win big too. Please allow that to happen.”
Back in 2022, RAYE spoke to NME about how she felt like her songwriting talents were seen like a “rent-a-verse” service.
Having written for artists like Beyoncé, Mabel and Charli XCX, the songwriter said that “people would know my songs, but they wouldn’t necessarily know me”.
The artist has also spoken extensively about how she “wasn’t allowed to put an album out” for seven years with her former label Polydor.
She parted ways with the label just weeks later and has continued as an independent artist.
At the 2023 Mercury Awards, RAYE told NME that to be “recognised for a body of work is something that I’ve really wanted for a really long time”, following the release of her debut album ‘My 21st Century Blues’.
@nme After making history at this year’s BRIT Awards by becoming the first ever artist to secure six trophies in one night, @Raye spoke to NME after the show to recall how the moment felt, and what it meant to have support from her grandmother during the ceremony #raye #britawards #brits #music #fyp #foryoupage
A year prior, she was still speaking about the challengers facing young songwriters in the industry.
Speaking to NME on the red carpet at the Ivor Novellos, she said: “There need to be things put in place. At the very bare minimum, a fee. Food, drink and travel should be covered – and it’s not. That’s coming out of a songwriter’s pocket. You don’t get a fee if the song gets cut, because major labels will pay the producer, but they don’t pay the songwriter.”
She also encouraged budding songwriters to keep “keep evidence”, so that “if everyone tries to come in and take your split, you’ll have all of the evidence you need to show your contribution”.
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Hollie Geraghty
NME
