July 17, 2004

More audits on the way

Thanks to Governor Arnie, recording artists will have additional access to auditing the financial books of the labels.

The law, which goes into effect Jan. 1, allows artists to conduct annual audits and applies to any record companies doing business in California. The law holds down the cost of audits through means such as letting a single auditor work for several artists on the same label simultaneously.

"This is a significant step forward for artists' rights," said Sen. Kevin Murray, the Los Angeles Democrat and former music agent who sponsored the bill. "The ability to audit will keep record companies a little bit more honest."

The law is the culmination of a campaign by some musicians, including Don Henley, to give artists more power to determine whether they are due royalty payments.

Posted by Casper at July 17, 2004 12:43 AM
Comments

This bill was actually a long-time coming and started out with MUCH more power than the end-product. The bill that was passed doesn't give artists much more ability to collect royalty checks than their recording contracts do. It doesn't do any harm, either, though... Just kind of a nothing bill.

Posted by: Wendy at July 17, 2004 03:13 PM

Yeah, some of the people that I know who have read the legislation have called it toothless at best. But, it's a step in the right direction, and hopefully the first of many.

Posted by: Casper at July 17, 2004 06:00 PM