Metadata Explained And 7 Key Reasons Songwriters Should Manage It Themselves

Although the term is thrown around often as an issue which needs fixing in the music business, particularly where streaming is concerned, what it is and why it’s important for songwriters to manage their own is often unclear. Here we work to explain those details. _____________________ Guest post by Niclas…

23 Top Music Organizations Sign Letter On NAFTA Talks Demanding Protections For All Creators

President Trump has forced the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Canada and Mexico; and included in that negotiation are important copyright and intellectual property provisions. Recently, major tech groups lobbied U.S. Trade Rep. Robert Lighthizer as the “new faces of the American content industry.” Not…

Teamwork Makes The Dream Work: 5 Reasons It Pays To Collaborate

While people often expound about the value of teamwork, the specifics of why collaboration is valuable are often left out. Here we look at five music industry specific reasons why working together can be beneficial to all parties involved. ______________________________ Guest post by Suzanne Paulinksi of the TuneCore Blog [Editors…

Judge Denies Spotify Motion That Would Have Upended Songwriter, Music Publisher Payments

In an important ruling that would have changed payments to songwriters and music publishers, a judge has denied a motion from Spotify that claimed that it didn’t need to license tracks from publishers because they are more like online radio streams than downloads. Although the denial of the “motion for…

New Spotify Songwriter Lawsuits, Legal Filings Threaten Streaming Driven Music Industry Recovery

[UPDATED] The recorded music industry is in the midst of a renaissance thanks to revenue from a single source – streaming. But a growing string of lawsuits filed by songwriters and publishers, and an aggressive new legal tactic by Spotify, threatens the company’s pending IPO and could derail the industry’s…

TUE. BRIEF: Songs Music For Sale • Tencent, Alibaba Deal • Berklee’s Open Music Initiative • More

TUESDAY 9.12.17 Music Business News From Around The Web Sadly, as money flows back into the music industry, indies like Songs Music won’t stay indie long. Updated continuously under our More News tab

Spotify Decides That Streaming Does Not Equal Reproduction, Distribution [Op-ed]

In what is turning into a defining battle with rightsholders, Spotify is now arguing that streaming is not the same as either reproduction or distribution and therefore not subject to the same licenses, rules and payments. Techdirt’s Mike Masnick take a look and songwriters might not like – or agree…

BMI Annual Royalty Distributions Top $1 Billion For First Time

BMI has distributed more than $1 billion to its songwriter, composers and publishers for the first time. Fiscal year 2017 marks the third consecutive year of record royalty growth for the performing rights organization. _______________________________ BMI has broken its revenue record for the third consecutive year, generating $1.13 billion to…

Spotify Could Have Dodged Songwriter Lawsuits If They’d Just Asked The Record Labels…

Spotify and other streaming services have been making a fair number of headlines recently owing to lawsuits surrounding a failure to pay proper royalties. In this article we break down how such lawsuits could have been avoided, by simply asking labels. ___________________ Guest post by the Editor of The Trichordist…

Kalbells Talks Beating Cancer, Saying Yes To Yourself, Sowing Songs

In this segment of Soundfly’s new interview series, they speak with Kalmia Traver, also known by the the name of her solo project Kalbells about her sources of inspiration and overall creative process. _______________________________ Guest post by Sophie Chernin of Soundfly’s Flypaper This is part of Soundfly’s interview series, Incorrect…