Congress introduces legislation for pre-1972 royalties; music industry parties react

Congress is preparing to address the topic of royalties for pre-1972 recordings, a move that sparked positive response from several music industry players. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) introduced the CLASSICS Act to establish royalty payments for the creators of music recorded prior to the advent of federal copyright laws in 1972. Representatives from SoundExchange, the RIAA, and Pandora have all reacted favorably toward this proposal. Continue Reading

Apple seeking lower revenue share payouts to labels

Apple is reportedly looking to renegotiate its deals with record labels in a move that could reduce the share of revenue it needs to pay out to those industry players. Unnamed sources told Bloomberg that the talks cover both Apple Music and iTunes. The current deals are slated to expire in June, but could be extended if new terms are not reached, according to the sources. Continue Reading

PwC Entertainment and Media Outlook, Part 2: United States results

Yesterday we shared the top-down global overview from PwC’s Entertainment and Media Outlook. Today’s we’ll drill down into the report’s data specifically for the United States. The results point toward projected total entertainment and media revenue of $666.13 billion in 2017. Music revenue in the U.S. is projected to hit $18.3 billion in 2017 with a CAGR of 5.596% for the report period. Continue Reading