Bermudian singer-songwriter and international recording artist Heather Nova has spoken about the importance of supporting music creators and protecting intellectual property.

Ms Nova is a member of PRS for Music, which represents the rights of songwriters, composers and music publishers in Bermuda, the UK and around the world. It ensures creators are paid whenever their music and songs are played, performed, streamed, downloaded, or broadcast in public.

World IP Day, which was yesterday, was created by the World Intellectual Property Organisation in 2000. this year’s theme was “Powering Change: Women in Innovation and Creativity”, with the aim to celebrate the “brilliance, ingenuity, curiosity and courage of the women who are driving change in our world and shaping our common future”.

Ms Nova has sold more than two million albums worldwide since 1993. She has appeared on chart listings in six countries, including the UK, New Zealand, Germany and the US. In the questions and answers that follow she shares her thoughts with PRS for Music about the importance of protecting intellectual property.

Q: For those that aren’t familiar, what is IP and what does it mean to you as a music creator?

IP is literally the ownership of one’s creation of the mind. In my case, my IP is my songs. I have written over 150 of them over the course of my career.

My IP rights are very important to me, not only because they are the unique result of my artistic expression and hard work, but because songwriting is how I earn my living. My IP is something that has value; something I can pass on to my son. For some reason in our culture, music is often taken for granted, and many people don’t stop to think about how the writer of a song they love to listen to, or dance to, is being compensated — or not. There’s a common belief especially nowadays, that music should be free. This is a direct result of the internet — everything is at our fingertips and easily accessible and attainable.

Q: What advice would you give to Bermudian music creators to protect their IP?

Make a detailed list of your works, and make sure you have a recording of each song (it doesn’t have to be fancy — just an iPhone recording is fine). Any songs that you are going to release, you should register with a publisher or with a collection society like PRS, so that anyone using or playing your songs in public can be tracked, and you can be accounted to.

Q: This year’s World Intellectual Property Day celebrates the brilliance, ingenuity, curiosity and courage of the women who are driving change in our world and shaping our common future. Which women creators have you been inspired by throughout your career?

Early on I was inspired by Joni Mitchell for her confessional lyrics and her pure voice, later Patti Smith for her poetry and fearlessness, and Kate Bush for her innovation.

Q: Where do you think the music industry is at right now in terms of gender equality?

I’m not sure. I can only speak from my personal experience and I haven’t been subjected to sexism in the industry for a very long time. I’m an independent artist now, which means I’m not signed directly to a record label. Instead, each album I make, I license out individually to a record label, or I simply go straight to a distribution company. That, of course, means less financial support as there are no big advances, but it also means that there’s no longer a man in a suit at the record label trying to get you to dress sexier in your videos, or to record a more radio-friendly version of your song. For me this has been freeing, and I feel more in control and empowered, but it also means that to some extent I’ve had to become a business woman as well as an artist.

I guess because I’m already established, I find that people are generally respectful. I don’t know what it is like for a young woman starting out now, and I fear that some of that sexism probably still exists. Where I do think we’ve gone backwards is in the content in a lot of pop and rap music. I still hear women being objectified and that’s depressing because it’s sending our kids negative, confusing and distorted messages, without them realising it.

Q: What is the most pressing issue you would like the industry to address?

There needs to be a better royalty return for streaming music. Spotify is the biggest online music streaming platform, and artists receive a mere .0006 of a cent for a play of their song. In contrast, the record labels are getting big paycheques from Spotify, but it doesn’t trickle down to the artists; such is the way the contracts have been structured. This needs to change. Some artists see Spotify more as an opportunity for exposure which will hopefully create more ticket sales for their live shows. This is OK for big established artists, but for new artists it is very hard to survive playing small gigs. Either way, the artist deserves a much better royalty rate.

Q: And how do you think we can make positive change in the area you have identified?

Collection societies like PRS for Music can help artists by staying on top of airplay, whether it be in shops, businesses, radio, adverts etc. I think a lot of people just aren’t aware that when they use someone’s song, that writer should be compensated. I don’t think people are trying to get away with it so much as they just don’t think about it. So a lot of what is needed is more awareness.

If you like music, make sure you are supporting the people creating it, otherwise they won’t be able to continue.