The Radio Music License Committee won a victory in court over the performing rights organization Global Music Rights. GMR launched in 2014 under a joint venture from former Live Nation Entertainment chairman Irving Azoff and the Madison Square Garden Company. Continue Reading
Facebook is soldiering on with its music industry deals. Head of Music Tamara Hrivnak penned a blog post announcing multiple arrangements with songwriting and publishing outfits. Continue Reading
Irving Azoff and his Global Music Rights PRO have intensified their scrutiny of the new YouTube Music Key streaming service. According to a written exchange between lawyers for both sides, Azoff has questioned whether YouTube has the appropriate licenses to be streaming the songs represented by GMR. The group asked for the roughtly 20,000 songs GMR represents to be removed, but YouTube has not complied. Continue Reading
Copyright has been the hot-button topic of this year, and the role of performing rights organizations has been a central topic of debate. While some of the top publishers like Sony and Universal Music Group are looking for a chance to break from the outside management of their compositions by ASCAP and BMI, the top two PROs embroiled in consent decree rules, there is still some opportunity for shuffling within that business and legal infrastructure. Continue Reading