All about copyright, understanding music licensing, and government regulations.
The battle of the bills continues in Washington, as over-the-air radio’s music royalty exemption is again under scrutiny by the 115th Congress. In the latest development, Congressman Darrell Issa (R-Calif) has introduced a new bill with a new solution which gives artists the right to forbid airplay of their music without payment. Continue Reading
ASCAP announced that it collected revenue of $1.059 billion in 2016, breaking the billion-dollar revenue mark for a third year. The performing rights organization distributed more than $918 million to its members over the course of the year, up 5.6% over the year before. Continue Reading
After two years of negotiations, Spotify has broken through with a major label deal. The two companies had been operating on a month-to-month basis while working out a longer-term arrangement. They have been in on-again-off-again negotiations, but now they reportedly just need the sign-off from both CEOs to become official. Continue Reading
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act has been a lightning rod for criticism from the music industry. There have been many calls to update the act, which took effect in 1999, to reflect the changes that have happened in the music industry over the past two decades. The most recent ammunition in the arsenal for those activists is an academic report from the Phoenix Center. Continue Reading
The Fair Play Fair Pay Act has been re-introduced to Congress. This legislation would levy a performance royalty for airplay on AM/FM radio. Stations already pay royalties for songwriters/publishers, and the Fair Play Fair Pay Act would add a payment to performers on top of that. Continue Reading
ASCAP has relaunched its administration services business as Songwize. This rebranded division will offer royalty administration, such as processing and matching performance files as well as paying out royalties. Continue Reading
The Georgia Supreme Court has ruled in favor of iHeartRadio in a pre-1972 copyright lawsuit. The online audio platform was in court over the question of whether its service should be treated as a broadcast, and thus exempt from a state statute that makes it illegal to transfer sound recordings without the owner’s consent. Continue Reading
Financial Times is the source of the latest Spotify speculation, reporting that the streaming service is close to final licensing deals with the major labels. The core of those arrangements, is that Spotify would pay a lower royalty fee to the labels, but in exchange would temporarily gate major album releases for paying customers. Continue Reading
The National Music Publishers Association is circulating a petition among songwriters to gather support for its case with the Copyright Royalty Board. The CRB will decide on a royalty rate for interactive music streams over the 2018-2022 period over the course of this year, hearing proposals from all sides of the music industry. Continue Reading
The latest development in the unfolding legal story between Sirius XM and Flo & Eddie is about the background paperwork. Music Reports has been chosen as the royalty administrator for a ten-year license for the satellite radio company’s use of Flo & Eddie’s recording catalog and other recordings from prior to 1972. Continue Reading
Dubset Media Holdings has secured a Series A fundraising round of $4 million. The company specializes in the licensing for remixes and determining all the appropriate rightsholders. Dubset has inked deals with streaming services including Apple Music and Spotify to get licensed remixes on those platforms. Continue Reading
Independent Music Publishers e-Licensing (IMPEL) announced that royalties it received from online music services increased 60% last year. The group collectively licenses the Anglo-American mechanical digital rights in Europe for publishers. Continue Reading