Category archives: publishing

Streaming Gives Albums Wings: Why Album Sales Aren’t What They Used To Be

Although Drake’s latest album remained atop the Billboard album charts for a solid nine weeks, this prominence was not the result of sales but rather streaming, demonstrating the power of streaming in the modern music economy. ________________________ Guest post by Glenn Peoples, Music Insights and Analytics at Pandora Key takeaways:…

Kobalt Acquires Terry McBride’s 18,000 Song Nettwerk Publishing Catalog In Deal Estimated At $25 Million

Terry McBride and Nettwerk Music were once the darling of the new music industry for championing progressive flat licensing and a willingness to work with music tech startups. So it seems fitting that Nettwerk’s 18,000 song catalog has been acquired by another company working to shake up publishing and the…

How Music Laws Affect Local Venues

Bars, clubs and like businesses will frequently play recorded music as well as hiring live bands. To do so, however, said venues must pay performance rights organizations fees in exchange for the use of their copyrighted material. Here we breakdown how the laws surrounding these sorts of transactions work. _______________________…

Music Creators Send Dept. Of Justice Letter Opposing 100% Licensing, Demanding Comment Extension

Here we look at a letter from the Music Creators North America protesting the Department of Justice’s recent decisions regarding full work licensing and partial withdrawals. ____________________________ Guest Post from Artist Rights Watch Dear Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Hesse: The following comments are submitted by Music Creators North America,…

Major EMI Publishing Shareholder Named In $3.5 Billion Scandal

The boss of one of the private equity group that invested in the Sony-led acquisition of EMI Music Publishing in 2012 is caught up in a major corruption scandal involving the Malaysian government’s sovereign wealth fund. _________________________________________________ American authorities have accused various people linked to Malaysia’s state-owned investment fund –…