All about copyright, understanding music licensing, and government regulations.
The passage of the Music Modernization Act in October was hailed as a watershed moment for the industry, a big step to bring the law in line with the latest trends in how and where music consumption happens. Work has now begun to enact one of the Act’s critical measures. Continue Reading
Spotify has reached a settlement with Wixen. The independent publisher filed a $1.6 billion lawsuit against the streaming service at the start of the year on claims that Spotify had hosted tens of thousands of compositions from Wixen without the correct mechanical licenses. Continue Reading
LyricFind has entered a deal with South African mechanical rights organization Composers, Authors and Publishers Association (or CAPASSO). The blanket deal will see songs fully licensed and monetized by LyricFind’s lyric licensing platform across 38 countries in Africa. Continue Reading
Major labels and publishers are quick to call in the copyright lawyers, and this time their target was a podcast that they claimed was illegally using music in episodes. David Oxenford explains the distinctions between different performance licenses and what podcasters should do to stay on the right side of copyright law. Continue Reading
Streaming platform Mixcloud has signed a multiyear direct licensing network with Merlin Network, an independent label group and music rights agency. The deal will ensure that recording artists represented by Merlin will receive royalties when their music is played on the Mixcloud streaming service and on its upcoming subscription service. Continue Reading
YouTube paid more than $1.8 billion in ad revenue to rightsholders in the music industry from October 2017 to September 2018. According to the How Google Fights Piracy report, that figure brings YouTube’s total music industry payments to more than $6 billion in ad revenues. Continue Reading
The passage of the Music Modernization Act marked the end of a years-long effort to enact changes to federal laws governing music licensing. But turning that page also marked the start of a new chapter, one where successes could prove equally challenging to find. Continue Reading
SoundCloud announced multiple deals this week, all centered on further raising the platform’s profile with DJs. First, the company announced integrations with several DJ applications. Second, it has secured a partnership with Dubset, a service for quickly licensing and distributing DJ mixes while managing all the appropriate royalties. Continue Reading
Soundtrack Your Brand, a B2B music provider for physical storefronts, commissioned a study from Nielsen Music into the financial impact of where businesses obtain background music. According to the study, rightsholders could be missing out on a total of $2.65 billion annually due to businesses using the personal streaming accounts of staff members rather than products designed for company and for-profit uses. Continue Reading
Universal Music Group has signed a licensing agreement with Mixcloud. The global agreement covers use of UMG’s music in markets excluding China and Japan. The deal includes payments for past uses of UMG’s catalog. Continue Reading
The Music Modernization Act has been signed into law, ending a long battle to overhaul mechanical licensing and rights for both publishers and songwriters at the federal level. The law, as compromised between the Senate and the House of Representatives, has the same three central components as it did while progressing through Congress. Continue Reading
Spotify is facing down another legal case, with a lawsuit filed in July 2017 moving forward in courts. Bluewater Music Services Corporation filed claims of copyright infringement by the streaming platform, listing nearly 2,400 songs where it said Spotify had not acquired the proper licenses. Continue Reading