2017 was an excellent year for rock docs, with major players like HBO, Netflix, and Showtime all eager for compelling original content. This combined with the numerous tragedies which struck the industry in 2017, the past year has provided a bumper crop of music industry documentaries. Here we look at…
Category archives: Publishing & Songwriting
"Massive Victory" For Songwriters, Publishers As Court Allows Fractional Licensing – BMI, ASCAP React
[UPDATED] In a major victory for songwriters and publishers, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled against the U.S. Department of Justice which had sought to end the practice of fractional music licensing. The U.S. Second Circuit agreed with Judge Louis L. Stanton’s September 16, 2016 decision that…
Sony, Universal Strike New Global Licensing Deals With YouTube
[UPDATED] Universal and Sony have joined Warner Music Group in signing new multi-year global licensing agreements with YouTube. The move also paves the way Google and YouTube to launch a new paid streaming service to compete with Spotify this Spring. _______________________________________ Universal Music Group and YouTube have announced a multi-year…
Battling Copyright Woes With Blockchain Protocols
Copyright law has been a source of legal conflict since well before the rise of the internet, but the relatively new presence of blockchain tech on the scene could potentially help cut the number of copyright conflicts the industry sees on a now almost constant basis. ______________________ Guest post by…
Are Catalog Releases Making The Music Charts Inaccurate?
When it comes to measuring album success, it has long been a practice to focus only on the ‘frontline’ releases, with music being relegated to a label’s ‘catalog’ after eighteen month. Thanks to the age of streaming, however, music often sees increased increased spins in the years following its release,…
Live Streaming Music App Spotlite Raises $10 Million
Spotlite, "a direct to fan app that caters to the artist," has raised $10 million in a round led by Sequoia Capital China and BlueRun Ventures. The free app is often described as,“American Idol meets musical.ly.” Spotlite’s nearest direct competitor is Smule, but artists don’t earn money on that platform….
Copyright Royalty Board Raises Rates SiriusXM Pays For Music 40%
Responding to a request from SoundExchange and other artist advocates, the US Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) yesterday issued rate changes for for Sirius XM’s satellite radio service, as well as for cable and satellite television music services provided by Music Choice and Muzak, from 2018 through 2022. _____________________________ The CRB…
Jay-Z Defends ‘Big Pimpin’ Against Copyright Claims In Court
It’s a music copyright case that set rapper Jay-Z against the relative of an Egyptian composer virtually unheard of in the United States and entangled him, or least his lawyers, in an obscure foreign law that protects artists who object to alterations of their work. ______________________________ On Friday, the Ninth…
How Will Soundtrap Acquisition Change Spotify? The Industry?
Here we look at the implications of Spotify’s recent purchase of Swedish cloud-based collaborative creative space Soundtrap as the streaming giant looks to increase the breadth of its offerings by providing consumers with more than just streaming in advance of it’s anticipated IPO. ________________________________ Guest post by Tyler Lyon of…
SONGS Music Publishing Sells Catalog To Kobalt $160M, Co-founder Ron Perry To Helm Columbia Records
SONGS Music Publishing will sell its extensive catalog to Kobalt, both companies announced on Friday. Songs controls the music catalogs of The Weeknd, Lorde, Diplo and more. Sources close to the deal put the price at $160 million. Kobalt Music Publishing is already the home to the catalogs of Paul…