The gnarly world of Pop Promo directing has had a growing tendency to generate disputes between the various interested parties in the past few years, and The Music Video Producers Association (MVPA) have partnered with We Direct Music Videos (WDMV) and director Ian Pons Jewell to construct a new template for music video production contracts in the hope that this will minimise problems in the future.

As budgets have declined in this area of film-making, production companies have been expected to take on more and more of the risk and cost without necessarily getting a share of the rewards. The new template aims to recalibrate this situation by ensuring that contracts reflect the investment made by production companies.

According to Steve Davies - the CEO of the MVPA: "It is critical to ensure that [production companies] have a sustainable business model when they choose to invest in a video."

And he feels it's been a very constructive process: "Working with Ian and WDMV on this has been rewarding. I see a determination and commitment to music videos born from their passion and desire to make them."

Ian Pons Jewell is similarly pleased with the opportunity to make progress: "Since the significant change in budgets, music videos have been an incredibly tough world to navigate, with pretty horrendous terms for the directors and crews working on them.

"Despite this, it's a great art form, so we hope that these contract changes can be embraced as a step toward making music videos a better space.

"WDMV kicked off this conversation, shining a light on the realities of the music video world and improving pitching terms, so I'm hoping this will be another big positive step for us. The APA/MVPA have been an incredible partner in this, working with us on the language and realities of this improvement in contract terms''

For WDMV the crucial requirement is for greater transparency within the music industry. Miranda Tiano, Global Lead at WDMV: "We are honoured to work with the APA/MVPA on constructing a music video contract that covers a variety of requests that have not been taken into consideration such as stills usage, profit share for artist merchandise, and directors' cuts. When Ian Pons Jewell approached us with his idea to update contracts, we knew it would be a huge undertaking''.

You can visit the Music Video Producers Association website to download the latest Music Video Agreement.

Follow the conversation on all social media platforms (@ApaLondon and @WeDirectMV) with the hashtag #MVPA2 and #MVPAXWDMVXIJP. Join Ian's LIVE broadcast on Instagram (@ianponsjewell) at 4 pm on Monday, 21 February.