Category archives: Music Publishing

Spotify Faces Stepped-Up Legal Pressure from Stevie Nicks, Neil Young, Steve Perry, The Doors, Stevie Ray Vaughan…

Spotify is now facing legal pressure from some of the largest musicians and songwriters in the world. Earlier this week, Spotify was served with multiple lawsuits demanding hundreds of millions in unpaid royalties.  But the list of prominent musicians and songwriters is far deeper than we imagined. According to documents shared with Digital Music News, […]

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Breaking: Hundreds of Musicians & Publishers Just Filed Legal Paperwork Against Spotify

Spotify’s war with music publishers just got 100 times worse.  That’s because more than 100 notable musicians — including Tom Petty, Kenny Rogers, the Black Keys, and Zach De La Rocha — are filing legal paperwork to force Spotify to pay them more. Last week, major music publishers promised a war against Spotify.  But it […]

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Mighty Is an iPod Shuffle for Spotify Users. But Is Mighty Paying Royalties?

Mighty is a crafty solution for listening to Spotify without a phone.  But is Mighty skipping out on artist royalties? It’s a hot idea with impeccable timing.  And it’s a beautifully simple concept.  Basically, Mighty is like an iPod shuffle, but for Spotify users.  So instead of jogging to your stored music collection with your […]

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Exclusive: Spotify Just Won a Huge Ally In Its Fight Against Music Publishers

Spotify may have an ally in its newfound war against music publishers. Spotify’s decision to battle back against hundreds of millions in mechanical license liabilities isn’t going unnoticed.  In fact, it may be drawing substantial support from streaming rivals.  That now includes one very massive rival, depending on how this shakes out. In confidential conversations […]

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The World’s Largest Music Publishers Just Declared War on Spotify — In No Uncertain Terms

Nobody said becoming a Wall Street billionaire would be easy.  Now, the largest music publishers in the world are preparing for a major fight against Spotify. Last week, Spotify’s attorneys decided that the reproductive ‘mechanical’ license doesn’t apply to streaming services.  But that’s definitely the wrong answer for major music publishers. + Surprise! Spotify Says They […]

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Whoops: Spotify Executive Says That ‘Mechanical’ Licenses Should be Paid — In a Federal Filing

Goldman Sachs is about to go Greek on a certain Spotify head of licensing and business affairs. Did Spotify just f—k up their entire IPO?  That might be going too far, but this seriously complicates things. Unfortunately, the streaming giant just handed opposing attorneys a bombshell contradiction — in the form of a federal filing.  And […]

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Music Publishers Taught Spotify How to Pay Royalties. Now, They’re Suing Them for Messing It Up.

Music publishers are suing the crap out of Spotify.  But could this all have been prevented? In case you’re just tuning in, Spotify now has a level 5 legal emergency on their hands.  After nearly two years of litigation hell against music publishers and $70+ million in resulting damages, the streaming giant isn’t even close to […]

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How to Fire Your Sync Agent & Make Some Serious Licensing Money

Music sync is like a secret billion-dollar market.  Except you need all the right handshakes to get access to it.  But a sync agent can only shake so many hands.  Which is why artists, songwriters, DJs, and other content owners are starting to make the deals themselves. Before we jump in, DMN would like to […]

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Turns Out SoundExchange Was Lying About Its CMRRA Acquisition

After flat-out denying acquisition talks with CMRRA last month, SoundExchange has some news.  It’s an acquisition involving CMRRA. Sorry, but I simply must call out SoundExchange on this one. Last month, I directly asked SoundExchange CEO Michael Huppe if his company was acquiring Canadian rights organization CMRRA.  He flat-out said ‘No,’ right to my face. […]

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ASCAP: Stop Lying to Congress. You’re Not Helping Songwriters.

The music industry is giddy to join the D.C. stampede to deregulate.  ASCAP is leading the pack. ASCAP has polls: who knew voters had an opinion about who should set royalty rates? It has Fact Sheets: only free market capitalism can save the music industry. It has songwriter foot soldiers: Rob Thomas says federal regulations […]

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