Richard Osborne Interview
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Richard Osborne is Associate Professor of Music and Creative Industries at Middlesex University. His new book is Owning the Masters: A History of Sound Recording Copyright. “It has long struck me as unjust that recording artists have not been copyright owners,” explains Richard. “I wanted to find out the reasons why this has been the case and what the consequences have been.”
How did you get to where you are today, professionally?
I didn’t become a university lecturer until having had a career elsewhere. My original ambition, I thought, was to have a successful music career. It took me a long time to realise that, not only was I not good enough for this but I didn’t really want to be a success. Music has always been my main interest, though, and so alongside being in bands I always had music-related jobs, first working in record shops and then working for CMOs (MCPS and PRS). At the same time I never stopped reading and analysing, and belatedly realised that I had an academic bent.
PRS paid for me to do a masters with the Open University, and having successfully completed that I was encouraged by my assessors to do a PhD. All this time, I still didn’t clock that I could become a university academic: while I was doing my PhD, I was working as the co-manager of a pub. The main thing that you can do with an arts PhD, though, is to become a lecturer. I was lucky too in that, just as I was contemplating this, more jobs were opening up in the UK to lecture in the fields of popular music and the music business. I’ve now worked in academia for over ten years, teaching music students and conducting research that draws and expands upon my musical past.
Did you have any mentors along the way? What did they teach you?
I’m always a bit jealous when I hear other academics talk of mentors and when I see long lists of acknowledgements in their books detailing the help they have had. I haven’t really had this type of mentor as I have tended to work independently. This is maybe the result of coming to academia later in life and doing so via a distance learning route. That said, I’ve had some great support and encouragement from established academics, including Dave Laing, Martin Cloonan, David Hesmondhalgh, Steve Connor, Simon Frith and Ruth Towse.
Can you please briefly describe the thesis of the book?
There are two main copyrights in a piece of recorded music: the copyright in the song and the copyright in the recording itself (the master rights). Copyright law accords ownership of the former to the songwriter, but recording artists have rarely gained ownership of the copyright in their recordings. Instead, it is record companies who have traditionally assumed control. This book sets out to find out the reasons why musicians have been denied ownership and what the consequences have been for power relations in the recording industry. It also looks at how things are changing: some artists are now claiming ownership of their masters. Doing so is helping them to assume creative, symbolic and economic control of their work.
How did you come to this subject for a book? What made the topic so interesting to you?
My main passion in music has always been for recordings rather than live music. I have also believed that the musicianship and production work that goes into the creation of the recording is as of much worth as the creativity in the songwriting. As such, it has long struck me as unjust that recording artists have not been copyright owners. I wanted to find out the reasons why this has been the case and what the consequences have been. I also wanted to chart the changing landscape and what it means for the recording industry to have more artists who are in control of sound recording copyright.
Tell me a bit about the process of securing the book deal.
I was approached by Simon Frith and Matt Brennan, the editors of the series Alternate Takes, to submit a book proposal. Once accepted, my proposal and sample chapter had to go through a peer review process but this wasn’t too painful!
What did the research process look like?
It was daunting. Copyright is a complex subject that generates hundreds of lengthy documents and reams of analysis. I originally intended to look at UK law only but Simon Frith rightly suggested that I should look at the US as well. This more than doubled my task, as not only did I have less knowledge of American copyright law but it also works in a fundamentally different manner to copyright law in the rest of the world. Ultimately, this task was worthwhile as this is a subject that needs to be assessed across territories.
How did you go about writing the actual book?
From book proposal to completion it took about three years. I did have a bit of research leave but the project was mostly undertaken while performing the other duties of a university lecturer. I worked on the book a chapter at a time, but did have to revise its structure occasionally. Ultimately, it proved best if the book was dictated first by chronology and then by theme, rather than the other way round.
What are a few tracks / videos / films / books we should also look at, in addition to your book, to get a better sense of the topic you’re writing about?
There are some hip-hop and grime tracks that deal directly with owning the masters, including ‘We Made It (Freestyle)’ by Jay Electronica ft. Jay-Z, ‘No Problem’ by Chance the Rapper ft. 2 Chainz and Lil Wayne, ‘100% Publishing’ by Wiley and ‘Angel’ by Little Simz. It is telling that all of these pieces of music are by artists as colour, as black musicians have traditionally been the victims of poor music deals and the biases of copyright law, but are now using their knowledge of the business to claim their rights. Prince was a pioneer here, proclaiming that he was a ‘slave’ because his record company, Warner, owned his masters and eventually making some headway in his desire to own his work.
What’s one tip that you’d give someone looking to write a music book right now?
Find an original subject to tackle. There are plenty of fascinating aspects of music and the music business that remain under-explored.
What’s next for you?
As well as writing Owning the Masters I have been involved in research for the UK government’s Intellectual Property Office about musicians’ earnings from streaming and whether copyright law can be changed to address the asymmetry of music contracts. The first report on this subject, Creators’ Earnings in the Digital Age, came out in 2021. A second report, addressing contract adjustment and reversion rights, is just out. In terms of my own work, I am thinking of expanding on this research to create a monograph.
Anything you want to plug?
Owning the Masters!
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