Music Publishing News Roundup 7.19.16: Songwriters Move To Exclude Sony • Music Dealers Implodes • Sony/ATV Claims Top Spot

The National Music Publishers’ Association and the Nashville Songwriters Association have moved to exclude Sony Music Entertainment from participating in the Copyright Royalty Board’s proceeding to determine mechanical royalty rates for a variety of services. The NMPA/NSAI argue that because Sony is neither a licensor (i.e. music publishers) nor a…

Music Dealers Founder Responds To Site’s Demise, Unpaid Artists

Earlier today, we reported that synch licensing site Music Dealers had shut down leaving many artists that made music available through the site upaid. Now, Eric Sheinkop, the founder who raised more than $9 million to fund Music Dealers but has since left to co-found shopping startup desirelist, has responded…

Donald Trumps Own Viral ‘Freedom Kids’ Now Plan Lawsuit Against Trump Campaign

Some may recall the Trump campaign’s singing/dancing ‘Freedom Kids’ from earlier this year. Now it looks as though the group’s organizer will be suing the campaign after its violation of their verbal agreement and repeated failure to properly compensate the performance group. _______________________________ Guest Post by Mike Masnick on Techdirt…

UPDATE: $9 Million Later, Music Dealers Abruptly Shutters Sync Licensing Service, Musicians Go Unpaid

UPDATE: A music tech startup going out of business is often just another sad story. But Music Dealers raised big money and cut big deals. Now it’s founder has moved on to a glitzy new startup co-founded with a former exec of the defunct synch licensing site’s top former clients….

5 Things Songwriters Must Know About Consent Decrees

In this article we discuss how recent major changes to the federal agreement governing how performing rights organizations like ASCAP, SESAC, and BMI operate has much of the music community up in arms. _______________________________ In a recent posting on MusicThinkTank, Brian Penick breaks down how the consent decree works and…