Mr Rowntree – a former Labour county councillor at County Hall – was seeking to bring a collective action against the Performing Right Society (PRS) on behalf of 160,000 songwriters.
He argued PRS pays “black box” royalties – also known as unidentified royalties – to publishers, but not to songwriters, which his lawyers described as “systematically and disproportionately biased”.
In August, the Competition Appeal Tribunal dismissed Mr Rowntree’s claim, ruling it had no “reasonable prospect of success”.
Blur performing at Wembley (Image: Press Association)
Mr Rowntree, whose band had a rivalry with Oasis in the Britpop years of the 1990s, appealed the decision, but Court of Appeal judges rejected that appeal on Monday (June 29).
A spokesperson for PRS said: “We welcome the decision and look forward to continuing to focus on our main priority which has always been, and remains, delivering value for our members and protecting their rights wherever and whenever their music is used.”
Mr Rowntree, who had hit singles with Blur including Parklife, Girls & Boys, Country House, Song 2 and There’s No Other Way, was a county councillor for Norwich’s University division from 2017 until 2021.
In 2011, he was one of four candidates who vied for Labour’s nomination in the Norwich South constituency, losing out to current MP Clive Lewis.