All about copyright, understanding music licensing, and government regulations.
SoundExchange introduced a new tool called the Music Data Exchange. This application allows labels and publishers to share their data about music in a free database. It offers a hub for real-time metadata and data requests that could make it easier to claim ownership of a recording or composition. Continue Reading
The Music Modernization Act (MMA) has convincingly passed the U.S. House of Representatives. The pending legislation benefits the creative class of the music industry — songwriters and composers, and enjoys a remarkable degree of across-the-aisle support, both politically and in the music industry. Continue Reading
PRS for Music, a UK collection agency, announced that it paid out record royalties to its members last year. The group’s 2017 payouts totaled £605.1 million, up 14.7% from the 2016 amounts. PRS said that 6.6 trillion performances were reported last year, a 53% on-year increase that led to a record-high collection total of £717 million. Continue Reading
Facebook has continued its spree of licensing deals, inking a bunch of agreements with groups for independent artists. On Friday, it announced deals with Merlin, [PIAS], Beggar’s Group, and InGrooves. Those four groups will make their catalogs available to the social media network’s users. Continue Reading
The Music Modernization Act and its proposed changes to mechanical royalties have arrived in the House of Representatives. The bill was introduced on Tuesday and is scheduled for mark-up today. Continue Reading
Podcasting company and RawVoice subsidiary Blubrry announced a deal with SourceAudio, a B2B music licensing specialist, that will allow podcasters to use music in their shows. Blubrry’s customers will have access to the library of licensed music for their podcasts at a discount. Continue Reading
After several new additions to its team over the course of 2017, Facebook is back on a hiring spree. The social media network currently has two open job listings that focus on music licensing in the Asia-Pacific region. Continue Reading
Merlin has signed agreements with five music streaming services in China. The independent label network now has partnerships with NetEase Cloud Music, Ali Music Group’s Xiami, and Tencent’s QQ Music, Kugou, and Kuwo. As a result, Merlin’s members can now… Continue Reading
Dubset has entered another relationship to further its goal of securing mechanical royalties from DJ sets and remixes. The rights startup has inked a deal with Rumblefish, a music licensing and administration company. Under the agreement, Rumblefish will use Dubset’s MixBANK platform to ensure that compositions used in mixes, remixes, and other user-generated content are cleared and administered. Continue Reading
Facebook continues its assembling of music industry deals. The social media company has secured a broad licensing deal with Warner Music Group that covers use of both its recorded music and music publishing catalogs. Continue Reading
CISAC has published a study investigating the economic impact of safe harbor provisions on the digital market. These legal provisions were originally intended to provide copyright liability protections for digital companies when their users committed infringements. However, the study argues that safe harbors are having the opposite effect and are creating an unfair advantage for user uploaded content companies. Continue Reading
Canadian collection agency SOCAN announced a record-high revenue for 2017, but the organization shared the news with a caveat. Total performing rights revenue surpassed $350 million last year, up 6.4% from the year prior. Royalties distributed to SOCAN members reached more than $300 million, a record high for the group. Continue Reading