RAYE Honored at 2025 Ivors Academy Ceremony: ‘We’re Not Going to Stop Until Songwriters Are Correctly Compensated’

RAYE collected an Ivors Academy Honour astatine a ceremonial successful London connected Thursday nighttime (Oct. 2) successful designation of her songwriting advocacy.

The 27-year-old instrumentalist has fought for fairer practice and wage for songwriters successful the euphony industry. She was a starring dependable successful a run that resulted successful U.K. large labels committing to introducing a per diem and screen expenses for songwriters attending their penning sessions, marking the archetypal clip specified an inaugural has been brought up anyplace successful the world.

Speaking from the signifier astatine the Intercontinental London, RAYE said, “Being a songwriter is besides 1 of the top privileges, and I deliberation it’s thing that should beryllium astir grafting and talent, not astir however affluent you are, oregon to beryllium successful a bully concern financially to beryllium a songwriter. It shouldn’t beryllium astir that.”

She continued to inquire for much changes successful the mode that songwriters are compensated. She called for “points connected the master” successful notation to royalty splits, and acknowledged that she mightiness beryllium “pissing radical off” but that the information songwriters aren’t recognized “doesn’t marque immoderate consciousness to me.”

RAYE added, “Songwriters, I privation to promote america to speech successful the songwriter divided conversations. This manufacture has go exceptional astatine dividing america and pitting america against each other. We get told ‘if you don’t o.k. this songwriter divided the opus won’t get released, if you don’t o.k. we’re ne'er utilizing you again’. Those lies and manipulation tactics request to beryllium over. Eliminate the grey areas, destruct america warring against each different and let’s enactment unneurotic to pb the combat to the labels to marque them recognize that we’re not going to halt until songwriters are correctly compensated for their songs.”

RAYE began penning songs for different artists successful 2015, and implicit the years has amassed credits connected enactment by Charli XCX (“After the Afterparty,” 2016), John Legend (“A Good Night,” 2018) and Beyoncé (“Bigger,” 2019 & “Riiverdance,” 2024) among others. Following a quality with her grounds label, Polydor, she near the large statement strategy to merchandise her debut medium 21st Century Blues (2023), which peaked astatine No. 2 connected the U.K. Albums Chart. 

A twelvemonth aboriginal successful 2024 she collected six BRIT Read Entire Article