Copyright and publishing law is complex enough, but once remixed enter into the equation, the amount of gray area can often double. Here Chris Robley details some of the complications that exist, and what steps you should take to make sure a remixer is compensated appropriately. __________________________ By Chris Robley…
Category archives: streaming
SoundCloud Revenues Up 80%, Tops $100 Million
SoundCloud, the Berlin-based music streaming platform, made good on its promise to bring in more than $100 million for the 2017 calendar year, according a filing with UK Companies House this week. According to the filing, SoundCloud’s global revenues hit $102M in 2017. That’s an increase of 80% over the…
Mystery Artists, Tracks Hacked Into Spotify Accounts To Generate Fake Streams
Mysterious artists and tracks are showing up again on Spotify and being hacked into user accounts and playlists, apparently to generate fake streams and undeserved income, according to a new BBC report. Unknown artists with names including Bergenulo Five, Bratte Night, DJ Bruej and Doublin Night are showing up in…
Music Distribution: Upfront Revenue vs. Revenue Sharing
Once you’ve finished creating your music, its time to develop a strategy for how you want to release it. With so many digital distributors out, it picking one can be a difficult choice, something made more complicated by the decision of whether you want to pay an upfront fee, or…
Eminem Is Only Artist w/ 7 Albums Passing 1B Spotify Streams
Eminem has become the first artist with seven albums surpassing the 1 billion streams mark on Spotify. The milestone comes as his 2000 album The Marshall Mathers LP hits the billion stream mark. Less than five months after its release, Eminem’s latest, ‘Kamikaze,’ has passed 500,000 in traditional sales in…
Why Spotify Is Actually A Win For Artists, Listeners
While Spotify has been a fairly polarizing company in the music industry since its inception, with many in the business feeling that it’s financial practices are less than fair, this piece looks at how the platform (and its new ‘block’ feature) is actually beneficial to both artists and consumers. _________________________________…
Indie Label Tru Thoughts Celebrates 20 Years of Innovative Vinyl Releases
Brighton label Tru Thoughts is celebrating two decades of innovative vinyl releases this year. From downtempo instrumentals to heavy club tracks, through reggae, dub and hip hop to folk, jazz and soul-influenced singers and songwriters, the label really has done it all. “As we celebrate 20 years of the label…
Why Subscriptions Matter To Musicians [Jack Udell]
As subscription based services begin to occupy an increasingly large section of the market, artists are wondering how they can better get in on the action. Here we look at why a subscriber base would be so valuable to artists, and some of the challenges in creating an artist-specific subscription…
RealNetworks Takes Control Of Napster Music Streaming Service For Just $1M Up Front
RealNetworks has doubled its stake in Rhapsody International, which operates the Napster music streaming service. RealNetworks now owns 84% of Napster and will operate it as an independent subsidiary. The transaction values Napster at less than $140 million. Bill Patrizio will continue to be Napster’s CEO, and Rob Glaser will…
New Nielsen Music Report Reveals Industry Quite Healthy
Thanks to the expedited turnaround of our new digital age, Nielsen’s latest annual report has already become available and (spoiler alert) the news is good. Most numbers gathered over the past year seem to indicate a happy, healthy music industry. _______________________________ Guest post by Bobby Owsinski of Music 3.0 It…