In the new issue of Music Week we welcome Lucie Caswell,a key voice in fighting for artists’ rights, to our cover for her first interview since taking the role of CEO of the Featured Artists Coalition.
Caswell was appointed to the FAC role in May 2017 and arrived armed with an intimate knowledge of the modern licensing process from all possible angles and a pledge to campaign for a “sustainable, innovative and ethical” music business.
Inside our exclusive feature Caswell tells us all about about streaming, copyright, why the music industry could yet save Brexit, but also takes time to reflect on her FAC experience so far and outline her ambitions going forward.
One part of the discussion revolved around the question of whether the music industry takes artists seriously enough.
“In some forms yes,” argued Caswell. “But that’s one of the core reasons for the FAC existing; to give artists those voices. Knowledge is power. We are very much about emancipating artists to not only have a seat at those business tables, but also being validated as the experienced, articulate business people that they are. It’s our job to make sure that artists are taken seriously and given the opportunity to express themselves in that way. And we’re getting there. We’ve made sure that we are present at all the policy-making tables, we are very much present in the international debates, such as the current copyright debate.”
It’s our job to make sure that artists are taken seriously and given the opportunity to express themselves
Lucie Caswell, FAC
Outlining her vision for where she sees the FAC in five years’ time, Caswell hopes the organisation expands and effects real change in the industry.
“The FAC is on track to be as much of a movement as it is a trade body,” Caswell told Music Week. “For all of the reasons we talk about, whether it’s making the business better for creators, working with innovation, being more inclusive… The FAC can only get bigger, and we are the sum of our parts. So I’d like to see the community in five years’ time be five times the size. There are so many things we have to do, so many of the things we have talked about that the artists, the creators of music, should be central to. We could be part of a sea change over the next five years.”
Subscribers can read the full Lucie Caswell interview here.
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