From Azoff To Slipknot, Music Biz Condemns Spotify, Google Attack On Songwriter Rates Increase

Late last week Spotify, Pandora, Google and Amazon announced they were teaming appeal the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board ruling increasing streaming payouts to songwriters by 44%. The four will file a action with the D.C. Court of Appeals. Now, artists and the industry are reacting, condemning the tech giants and…

Publishers, Songwriters Respond To ‘Tech Bullies’ Spotify, Pandora, Google, Amazon Appeal Of Royalty Increase

National Music Publisher President & CEO David Israelite and Nashville Songwriters Association International Executive Director Bart Herbison have issued responses to Spotify, Google, Pandora and Amazon’s decision to fight the royalty increase granted to songwriters by the US Copyright Royalty Board. The NMPA, who has sad they will file their…

Spotify, Pandora, Google and Amazon Join To Fight Higher Royalties For Songwriters

Spotify, Pandora, Google and Amazon are teaming to appeal the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board ruling that would increase streaming payouts to songwriters by 44%. The four plan to file an action with the D.C. Court of Appeals. Spotify, Google, Pandora issued a joint statement: "The Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), in…

Streaming Revenue Impressive, But Can It Ever Make Up For Lost Physical Sales?

With streaming revenue showing a massive increase in comparison to previous years, the major three record labels are rejoicing at their annual haul. A big part of this income still draws from physical sales however, and as these old-school revenue streams continue to thin to a trickle, will streaming be…

Symphonic Distribution Expands To China

Independent music distributor Symphonic has expanded its reach to China via partnershipd with Tencent, NetEase and soon, says the company Alibaba.The new deals were spearheaded by indie rights powerhouse MERLIN. Content can be placed on Chinese music serives NetEase Cloud Music, Xiami (Alibaba), QQ Music, Kugou and Kuwo (Tencent Music…

100 Million Use Paid Music Streaming Services In US [MusicWatch]

Fresh off the release of RIAA revenue numbers MusicWatch shared its year-end numbers assessing the size of the US streaming market and how music listening is evolving. Among the internet using population 13 and older MusicWatch reported a record 165 million streamers in 4Q, based on listening at least one…

Did Technology Bring About The Death Of Good Music?

After new research was released suggesting that millennials prefer golden oldies to contemporary pop, Stephen Carlisle did some digging to determine if this was in fact accurate and, if so, what role technology may have played in the "decline" of music’s quality. _____________________________ Guest post by Stephen Carlisle of NOVA…

TIDAL Launches $1 Million Emerging Artists Grant Program ‘TIDAL Unplugged’

TIDAL and benefactors Mark Lampert and Robert Nelsen today announced the launch of TIDAL Unplugged, a million dollar grant program for emerging artists. Funded by a donation from Lampert and Nelsen, TIDAL Unplugged will launch in Detroit in March. Local artists will can submit their music through TIDAL to receive…