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Commission Fee Guidelines

The Academy is rigourously continuing its campaign to overturn the ban imposed by the Office of Fair Trading on its annual publication of Commission Fee Guidelines for concert music . . . . .

Commenting on the present impasse, Academy CEO Chris Green said

"It is now some eighteen months since we were first advised by the OFT that we were in contravention of 1998 Competition Act (fully enacted in 2002, following an earlier European Competition directive). The OFT claim was that the issuing of fee guidelines by a trade association was a restraint on competition. A number of organisations, including the Incorporated Society of Musicians and the British Association of Photographic Libraries, have also been forced to change their practices in this area and several others have discontinued the practice voluntarily. "Over the years, the Academy’s guidelines have provided a useful starting point to negotiations for composer members, commissioning bodies and other music organisations including the Arts Council and the Musicians Union. The Academy’s guidelines were updated annually in consultation with composers, publishers and other relevant parties.  The last year for which the Academy published guidelines was 2004/2005.

"The Academy’s defence is that the fee guidelines are not and never have been regarded as enforceable rates, but have provided an invaluable indicator for both composers and commissioning bodies.

"After a frustrating initial meeting with the OFT, we have subsequently lobbied both the DTI and the DCMS, sought the support of the Arts Council, reinforced by a recent letter by Academy Fellow Sir Peter Maxwell Davies to ACE CEO Peter Hewitt. The issue is also now on the agenda of the newly established European Composers Federation representing some 16 European classical composers’ organisations and it is planned to raise our concerns and seek exceptions via the European Commission’s DG Competition authority.

"On the domestic front., the Academy and the Musicians’ Union are hosting a lunch for DCMS Minister Shaun Woodward MP in November on which this issue will be high on the agenda.