Last month, Sirius XM agreed to a $210 million settlement with labels regarding copyright royalties for playing songs recorded prior to 1972. Although that ruling did not appear to have any bearing on the other legal cases artists have brought against the satellite radio company, Flo & Eddie is trying to block the deal. Continue Reading
Sirius XM has agreed to pay $210 million to settle a lawsuit centered on royalties for recordings made before 1972. The settlement covers about 80% of oldies played by Sirius, and allows the satellite radio company to play those labels’ old recordings through the end of 2017. Continue Reading
Pricewaterhouse Coopers released a report about the global entertainment and media markets. The research covered both the radio and music market segments. The report found that radio had total revenue of $20.67 billion in 2014. On the other hand, the music industry was valued at $15.06 in 2014 and total recorded music revenue was $6.01 billion. Continue Reading
The role and value of free listening to on-demand services (freemium) has been under scrutiny for months. Industry finances might support the logic of arguments that freemium should be limited. But is that strategy near-sighted? Continue Reading
Intellectual property attorney Angus MacDonald examines the 2014 royalty collections by SoundExchange, and Pandora’s earnings reports, to determine that Pandora accounts for more than half of all SoundExchange revenues distributed to artists and labels. What does the future look like as the Copyright Royalty Board prepares a ruling of webcaster royalty rates for 2016-2020? Continue Reading
The recording industry has always been troubled by free music, understandably. Yet the progression of disruptive technology has made music an Internet commodity. Spotify is arguing that free listening is necessary to scale streaming revenue. Continue Reading
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THIS WEEK: Streaming surpasses CD sales in 2014 RIAA report; iTunes Radio goes to programmatic sales; Rdio’s new social features; Rhapsody plays on Twitter; BBC seeks to reinvent radio. Continue Reading
Broadcast attorney David Oxenford digs into the Songwriter Equity Act in this comprehensive analysis of proposed legislation. “This is perhaps one of those questions that can never be answered — which is more important, the song or the singer?” Continue Reading
Double-digit growth in all forms of streaming buttressed the U.S. music industry against the continued slide in music purchases, holding the industry’s total value steady at 7-billion dollars. For the first time, streaming revenue surpassed CD revenue. Continue Reading
The Internet Radio Rewind podcast is an audio recap of recent news, featuring RAIN editor Brad Hill, a splash of music, and a dash of humor. Sponsored by AudioBoom Unlike chatcasts, Internet Radio Rewind is quick and to-the-point, with concise need-to-know… Continue Reading
As we reported last week, the U.S. Copyright Office released a comprehensive review of music licensing, and made recommendations for changes. Broadcast Law Attorney offers this thorough analysis of the report’s contents.
“The report tees up many issues for consideration. So now, let the debate begin!” Continue Reading
Apple released some mind-boggling financial figures from the first quarter in its latest SEC filing. The company’s net income for Q1 was $18.02 billion on net sales of nearly $74.6 billion. Underneath the huge revenue, though, the news was not so good for iTunes. Continue Reading