Dan Adams, global head of creative services, music publishing at Apple Music, has spoken about how songwriters can benefit from the streaming revolution.
As revealed in Music Week, Apple Music is backing the Rising Star category at the Ivor Novello Awards. The first new category to be introduced in 10 years, the award honours young British and Irish songwriting and composing talent who demonstrate exceptional potential and ambition.
“I felt there was an opportunity for us to preserve the sanctity of the existing awards and innovate by letting younger songwriters feel that they could be in with a chance of winning an Ivor in the early stages of their career,” said Adams.
“I’ve been so happy with the reaction to the Rising Star award. It received the most applications for any category in the Ivors’ 65-year history, and one of the most impressive things is that 60% of entries were by female [songwriters], so it’s a really significantly result.”
Adams said the new award underlines Apple Music’s support for songwriters.
“We're an artist first company,” he said. “For us, that very much includes the artistry of songwriters – and producers as well – that goes into making a great song. My team was set up to serve those songwriters and their publishers around the world. Our goal is to build creative relationships that deliver new opportunities for them across the Apple ecosystem, and help them understand and engage with us.”
Spotify has recently rolled out songwriter playlists. It follows increased recognition of the role of songwriters by DSPs in recent years.
“Absolutely, songwriters need credit for the work that they’ve created,” said Adams.
Songwriters need credit for the work that they’ve created
Dan Adams
Apple was the lone DSP not to appeal the CRB royalties rate for streaming services in the US. Adams declined to comment on that or the Ivors Academy’s campaign to “fix streaming”.
But he underlined the support for songwriters and publishers through the formation of the global team two years ago to support the sector.
“It’s [designed] to build a team to serve publishers and songwriters around the world,” he told Music Week. “To do that, we've got build creative relationships with them. We've got to deliver new opportunities for them across the ecosystem. We’ve got to help tell the stories behind the songs. Because we know that if you tell those stories effectively, that makes for a more engaging experience, not just for songwriters but for subscribers and listeners as well.
“I also see it as part of out responsibility to help songwriters and producers to understand our business, and engage with them so that we can unlock as much potential as they’ve got.”
Apple Music will further support the Ivor Novello Awards with dedicated playlists in the run-up to the announcement of the winners on September 2.
Click here to read the full interviews – and here to check out our interview with Rising Star mentor Kamille.
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