Sony Music has announced two developments related to the digital music space. First, its Swedish office has created an app for streaming royalty management. Second, it is also currently seeking to hire a director of global playlisting strategy. Continue Reading
Yesh Music and John Emanuele have expanded their class-action lawsuit over unpaid royalty claims, adding Google Play Music to the growing roster of defendants. As with the suits against Tidal and Slacker Radio, the plaintiffs claim that they did not receive correctly executed notices of intent from Google about streaming their creations. Continue Reading
More details have emerged about the royalty lawsuit filed against Tidal. First the streaming platform issued a statement about the legal action, and noted that it has removed all music from the plaintiffs. Second, Tidal confirmed that it has fired two of its C-suite leaders. Continue Reading
Tidal has been hit with a class-action lawsuit over royalty issues. In an ironic twist for the artist-owned company, plaintiffs claim that they did not receive correct notices of intent from the streaming platform and did not get accurate royalty payments for their music that was played on Tidal. Continue Reading
Spotify has made its first parry in the lawsuit filed against the streaming service by musician and activist David Lowery. According to a newly filed motion, Spotify is seeking to remove the class allegations, calling the case “a fatally flawed candidate” for that status. Continue Reading
One of the most interesting aspects of the full determination just released by the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) is the detailed argument put forward by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) that radio simulcasts should pay a lower music royalty rate than pureplay webcasting (e.g. Pandora). The copyright judges praised the NAB witness presentations, but ultimately rejected the attempt. Continue Reading
The Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) published its full determination, as expected following the very brief announcement of new webcast royalty rates on December 16. To whatever extent small webcasters cast a hopeful wish that the complete royalty rate decision would offer some sign of a special provision for low-revenue Internet radio, that hope is dashed. Continue Reading
A large swath of streaming platforms have been hit with another lawsuit over pre-1972 royalties. The plaintiff is Ricky Spicer, a member of the group Ponderosa Twins Plus One, and he is seeking class action status for his case against Spotify, Apple, Google, SoundCloud, iHeartMedia, Pandora, and Sony Computer Entertainment. Continue Reading
News items and worthy reads from around the web: Will Streaming Music Kill Songwriting? Also the RIAA’s half-measures in streaming and forecasting a direct-to-fan future Continue Reading
Internet radio’s landscape looks much different today than it did a week ago, due to numerous webcasters pulling the plug rather than paying the high rates of the Copyright Royalty Board’s (CRB) recent decision for 2016-20 royalties for sound recordings. Kurt Hanson surveys the damage. Continue Reading
Spotify has been hit with a second lawsuit in two weeks, again centered on licensing and royalties. The plaintiff is artist Melissa Ferrick, who said her songs have been streamed more than a million times without proper licensing. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: SoundExchange’s 2014 unclaimed royalties drop; a primer on streaming inequalities; Pirate Bay co-founder at it again. Continue Reading