I would like to congratulate David and Bart and their teams at the NMPA and the NSAI respectively. Hipgnosis has been fighting and advocating for songwriters for every day of its existence. It’s the reason I started the company. Songwriters winning the CRB III appeal was an incredibly important step but it was an imperfect positive. What’s been achieved with this CRB IV result improves that dramatically and gives Songwriters stability for the next 5 years without arguments or fear of appeal at the highest rates ever paid in the streaming era. For that the streaming services, DIMA and Garrett Levin should also be applauded. This is another important step towards finally recognizing that the Songwriter and the Song are the most important components in the music industry. I’ve always believed that to get Songwriters where they really deserve to be in the economic equation we would have to step out of legislation and have proper free market negotiations with the recorded music companies and streaming services. They are best placed to recognize and reward the incredible contributions of Songwriters as without them their businesses would not exist. The background of stability for the next 5 years provided by what’s been achieved with CRB IV will allow us to ensure that going forward no discussion will ever take place again that determines how a Songwriter is paid without Songwriters at the table expressing the consensus views and demands of the Songwriting community alongside the NMPA, NSAI, DIMA, Spotify, Apple, Universal, Sony, Warner, BMG et al. Merck Mercuriadis, founder and CEO of Hipgnosis Songs