The demanded promoter of Taylor Swift’s concerts in Madrid says that the rate is “abusive”

The promoter of the two concerts of Taylor Swift In Madrid last year, Last Tour, has issued a statement after the civil lawsuit filed against it due to the non -payment of the copyright settlements to the American singer, and also to other musical authors between the 2022 and 2024 four million euros which correspond to musical creators, of which approximately half, are owed to Swift.

“Last Tour,” the statement starts, “does not oppose the copyright, or the payment of the equitable remuneration corresponding to the rights holders, but also Reject the SGAE rate and the practices of the management entity, whose inadequacy has already been confirmed in the past. “

The promoter refers to the rate that the SGAE charges in all live musical shows. Traditionally this was 10% of the box office collection, but for a decade it has been set in a 8,5%although for those promoters “who meet a series of requirements, which are to provide the information to liquidate and the repertoire that is used in each concert, which is essential for the SGAE, the rate is in the end with those discounts on a 7,65%”Entity sources explain to El Mundo. That amount collected is then distributed to the musical authors and/or publishers of the songs played live. In the case of Swift, the issues that sing have been written or co -written by her, so she and her editorial would be the final recipients of that percentage.

“The Last Tour posture is based on the abusive character of the SGAE rate,” the text continues, “which is especially evident in the case of Taylor Swift concerts in Madrid, to which SGAE intends to apply a rate of 8.5%, while the rate that is applied in the country of origin of the artist is limited to 1.15%“. From society it is underlined that the rate should be applied according to the territory where the shows are celebrated, and that Taylor Swift herself has expressly wanted the local entity, in this case the SGAE, which collects and then distributes the amounts corresponding to copyright.”

Likewise, the promoter ensures that “the figure in which SGAE estimates the claim is not correct” and that “Last Tour has provided SGAE to the official certificates issued by the ticketera that was in charge of the sale of tickets of the Taylor Swift concerts and which was designated by the artist herself.” And more: “SGAE has ignored those figures, which are the real ones, and that have been confirmed by an absolutely independent entity of Last Tour, and has issued invoices for these concerts that practically double the figure that would correspond to collect. Last Tour has required Hae Hae to rectify those invoices and the management entity has refused to do so, without a logical basis, without a logical basis, and has announced the presentation of a lawsuit“.

“It is not true that Last Tour does not facilitate the box office information,” says the defendant. “Precisely one of the points of the conversations that were being maintained between Last Tour and SGAE revolved around the information to be provided by the promoter, since SGAE seems that Consider insufficient certificates issued by independent third parties and specialized in the ticket sales service. “

Thus, they explain one of the main friction points, the price of VIP tickets, which were announced at a value of almost 600 euros, but, according to SGAE, they were computed for about 150: “In Taylor Swift’s concerts there were VIP tickets that included A base price (known in the sector as ‘Face Value’) and an increase (called ‘Uplift’). The ‘Face Value’ remunerates the access and enjoyment of the show by the public, while the ‘Uplift’ is linked to a series of additional consideration, such as preferred access or location, ‘merchandising’ of the artist herself and other benefits. The SGAE rate is applied only to the ‘Face Value’, the regulation of SGAE already expressly foresees, and thus the calculation of the rights has been carried out in any of the concerts held in this country in which there has been sale of VIP tickets. The official certificates issued by the ‘ticketera’ that was responsible for the collection of these concerts, and which have been delivered by Last Tour a SGAE, collect 100% of the ‘Face Value’, which is the figure on which the amount of rights is calculated. The ‘Uplift’ to VIP does not even correspond to Last Tour, so SGAE intends to tax Last Tour applying his rate on an amount that Last Tour has not received. “

Less neat is the text regarding another crucial points: The non -payment of another two million euros to various artists between 2022 and 2024: “It is not true that Last Tour has not paid rights since 2022, even some of the concerts cited by SGAE as unpaid are not, but that the rights have been paid by Last Tour.”

“Last Tour”, ends the statement, “He has tried by all means to avoid the appeal to the courts And, in this sense, he raised different ways to solve the situation with SGAE, such as measurement or arbitration, and before different institutions, although each and every one of them have been rejected by SGAE. In the case of Taylor Swift concerts, of all the alternatives raised by Last Tour, SGAE only accepted the possibility of submitting the discrepancy to arbitration before the Intellectual Property Commission (ICC), but finally the entity, in an abrupt and unilateral way, broke the conversations, communicated her decision to take off from the approach that she herself had accepted, she rejected all possibility of dialogue and entrusted to a judicial battle. “

As this newspaper has learned, The affected authors (great more independent figures and artists) expect the situation to be resolved as soon as possible to be able to collect the money that the promoter owes them.