As the electronic music world continues to struggle with how to get producers credit when their tracks are played by other, usually more famous, DJs, a new campaign is attempting to fix the problem on social media.
It launches today (September 12) and is supported by Electronic Music Association (AFEM), the Respect the Creators campaign aims to gain credit for lesser-known DJs on social media by having DJs, promoters and other platforms.
The campaign offers simple instructions, asking DJs to “post a video of a gig or mix and the music is not yours, tag the artists and mention the full track names in the most visible part of your post. ” Online platforms are asked to “include track lists for all sets, visible directly below the video or audio,” while promoters are asked to credit the music featured in all of their event promotional materials when posting on Facebook, the Instagram, Tiktok and other social media platforms.
The campaign advises that social media is vital to music discovery, with the right music performance having the potential to highlight lesser-known artists and help them thrive. In a speech at the annual IMS Ibiza dance conference last May, Dutch artist Frank Nijinsky noted research that informed this campaign showing that on average, only 3% of a DJ's set is self-produced music, while up to 90% of DJ performance content shared on Instagram doesn't credit the music which is played in the video.
In a statement, AFEM COO Finlay Johnson says that while the campaign “may seem like a simple initiative, encouraging people to share and credit new music faces significant challenges in discovering emerging artists. It also serves as a reminder for people to be mindful of their metadata, which can instantly boost income through royalty collection. While white label and dubplate culture should be celebrated, using generic 'original sound' labels on social media doesn't help artists much. We encourage everyone to recognize and promote the team behind the production and release of a record.”
Respect the Creators is supported by AFEM, along with a number of organisations, including the Dutch collective Buma/Stemra, along with several venues and artists such as Richie Hawtin.
“I thought it was just common decency (and common sense) to support the community and the musicians who make the musical structure that our stage (and DJs) stand on,” Hawtin says in a statement. “So why do we see so many social media posts from DJs, promoters and festivals that completely fail to highlight the music being played in the clips? It's disrespectful and only further exploits musicians who are already struggling for recognition and a fair share of the financial pie of our 'beautiful' culture.”
The campaign follows the recent shutdown of Aslice, a platform that allowed DJs to donate a portion of their set fee to the artists whose music they played during the show. Proper credit and royalty payments for artists in the electronic scene is a vexing issue, as DJ sets often consist of hundreds of songs from a wide variety of artists, many of whom never receive credit for the use of their work.
Hawtin recently expressed his displeasure about the shutdown on social media, saying “Aslice was working and the only problem was that not enough DJs, especially the successful ones, agreed to sign up and share the music ecosystem that they have again. built their careers. Aslice didn't fail, the famous, most followed DJ's of our scene failed us all.”
