REVIEW: Prime Music

Posted on by Brad Hill

REVIEW by Brad Hill

Amazon’s gleaming-new music subscription service stepped into the market today, and we dove in quickly for a test drive.

Prime Music feels like a beta service on its first morning. We found problems with playing music, and an unwieldy system for streaming whole songs, albums, and playlists, which should be easy in an on-demand streaming service. The catalog is demonstrably small, with obvious voids in which one’s listening hopes are extinguished.

But all this might not matter to the intended audience, which is (for now, at least) existing Amazon Prime members. As of today, Prime Music is instantly one of the largest music subscription services in the world. Continue Reading →

Call for change in U.S. House committee hearing on music licensing

Posted on by Brad Hill

SPECIAL COVERAGE

On Tuesday the U.S House Judiciary Committee held the first of two hearings in its review of music licensing. These hearings potentially affect all stakeholders: radio stations, online music services, webcasters, performers, and creators.

Sharply-worded arguments politely flew around the House chamber. One congressman issued a powerful and comprehensive call for change. It was momentum vs. inertia, reform vs. status quo. Four main issues were in play:

  • Songwriters getting lower royalty rates than performing artists
  • Broadcast radio not paying artist royalties
  • Compulsory licensing that regulate music publishers
  • Pre-1972 songs that earn no royalties whatsoever
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SoundExchange CEO: Radio ruins record sales

Posted on by Brad Hill

In a punchy keynote address at the New Music Seminar in New York yesterday, SoundExchange CEO Michael Huppe provocatively claimed that music sales decrease when radio plays songs. Huppe used that theme to support an argument that broadcast radio should be required to pay performance royalties to artists and labels, from which radio is currently exempt. Continue Reading →