Yesterday in Washington, the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) held an opening hearing to start the trial portion of Webcasting IV, the music royalty rate-setting process for the upcoming 2016-2020 royalty period. We spoke to sources who were in the (apparently rather small) room). Continue Reading
For nearly two years, Pandora has attempted to close its $600,000 purchase of KXMZ, a Rapid City radio station. There are signs of movement now as FCC Chair Tom Wheeler has reportedly asked FCC members for a waiver in this case. Pandora would benefit from lower music royalty costs. Continue Reading
The German Music Publishers Association held its annual meeting yesterday and royalty rates from streaming services were a hot topic. President Rolf Budde had some strong words about the state of compensation for songwriters. “The 60,000 composers, lyricists and music publishers must not be sacrificed on the altar of digital music,” he said. Continue Reading
Canada is extending the copyright term for sound recordings from 50 years to 70 years. The change is happening as part of the country’s 2015 budget. Many other countries, including the UK and Australia, have copyright terms of 70 years, while the U.S. term is 95 years. Continue Reading
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THIS WEEK: Anthony Bay announces Rdio Live; IFPI global music revenue report; Is Spotify worth $8.4-billion?; 6 Seconds streaming app; EFF wins podcast patent pushback. Continue Reading
SiriusXM and Flo & Eddie, the company representing 60s band the Turtles, have been playing legal ping pong over the copyright for songs that were recorded prior to 1972, the date when federal copyright law took effect. The latest salvo comes from the satellite radio company, which has successfully petitioned the 2nd Circuit court to receive a review of the decisions handed down in the New York case by Judge Colleen McMahon. Continue Reading
Spotify has four more lobbying firms now supporting its interests in Washington. The newly registered firms are focused on competition, licensing, and “platform neutrality,” sources told Politico. It also added at least two firms to provide similar services in the EU. It’s likely that this push for representation in D.C. stems from the number of big legal issues that intersect with Spotify’s core business and are currently in discussion on the Hill. Continue Reading
During a press conference, IFPI CEO Frances Moore said that safe harbor protections that YouTube, Dailymotion, and similar free platforms receive mean that the music industry loses billions in potential income. “YouTube and Dailymotion are in the business of promoting, distributing and monetizing content, but claim to be mere hosting services, and then say they don’t have to take a full license,” she said. “That is unfair.” Continue Reading
The congressional copyright melee has taken a new turn today as a bipartisan group of Representatives introduced new legislation aimed at revising and equalizing the royalties paid by terrestrial and online radio services. The Fair Play Fair Pay Act of 2015 includes, among other points, a move to have terrestrial radio stations pay royalties to performers in addition to the songwriters and publishers. Continue Reading
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THIS WEEK: Streaming exclusives don’t stay exclusive; Webcast listening reaches new record; when a music label and a bank hook up; milestone moment for 8tracks; Pandora pays more than half of all webcast royalties Continue Reading
Barely a day goes by without seeing some article about a songwriter whose song was played a million times on a digital music service like Pandora or Spotify, with the artist only receiving a relatively small amount of royalty revenue from that seemingly large number of plays. A number of issues are misunderstood — especially about big numbers. 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