The Orchard adding royalty processing as more indies seek control

Indie distribution company The Orchard announced that it has purchased RoyaltyShare, a royalty-processing service, and made a strategic investment in a second royalty processor, Korrect. Thanks to the combined elements of those businesses, The Orchard will be providing a standalone royalty processing service for independent record labels. Business management has been a pivotal topic for independent artists as more listening happens in the online space, especially with the popularity of streaming platforms. Continue Reading

CD Baby Pro rights management program posts 250% growth

CD Baby shared the latest growth figures for its Pro music rights management subscription. It has increased more than 250% and represents more than 54,000 writers and administrators. The service helps members to collect mechanical royalties from streaming services worldwide. It also has direct registration of songs with more than 40 foreign societies to help with global rights management. Continue Reading

Quick Hits: Tim Cook talks Beats buy; 500 years of music sharing; Argentina’s ‘Netflix tax;’ CD Baby sales are up

Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Tim Cook talks Beats with Charlie Rose; infographic illustrates long history of music sharing; local Argentinian tax on foreign online subscription services; physical music sales up at CD Baby. Continue Reading

CD Baby launches free tier, positions for competition with Bandcamp

With album sales on the fritz, you’d think that CD Baby would be in dire straights. Yet the indie-friendly music retailer is actually getting aggressive with its business with the launch of a new service tier called CD Baby Free. This service eliminates the usual costs for musicians to sign up with the company and set up their songs. In exchange, CD Baby takes a 15 percent cut of digital sales rather than its usual 9 percent rate. Continue Reading

YouTube music administration service snags former CD Baby exec

After several high-profile exits, YouTube has snagged a music industry pro to join the team under its umbrella. Brian Felsen, who was the president at CD Baby, will now serve in the same role at AdRev, a YouTube network partner that operates a music monetization service, a licensing platform, and multi-channel network. Continue Reading