MCN We Are The Hits signs Kobalt and Metrolyrics deals
Music publishers and multi-channel networks (MCNs) have had an interesting relationship over the last couple of years, with publishers often complaining about MCNs’ lack of licensing deals for songs...
View ArticleRap Genius settles with US music publishers
Last year, the US National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) had Rap Genius squarely in its sights, after the startup came top of a table of popular unlicensed lyrics sites (Bulletin, 12-Nov-13). Rap...
View ArticleSony/ATV still considering withdrawal from ASCAP and BMI
Music publisher Sony/ATV is still hopeful that it will be allowed to partially withdraw its rights from US collecting societies ASCAP and BMI in order to strike direct deals with digital music services...
View ArticleSony/ATV beats UMPG to the punch in releasing entire catalogue in list form
Looking for some light bedtime reading this week? How about Sony/ATV’s complete catalogue of works in a big list? Okay, perhaps it’s not a thrilling page-turner, but the move is welcome news to the...
View ArticleSony/ATV still mulling plans to withdraw from BMI and ASCAP
Publisher Sony/ATV has already signalled its willingness to withdraw from collecting societies BMI and ASCAP in order to negotiate deals directly with digital music services like Pandora. An attempt to...
View ArticleSony/ATV boss attacks ‘unacceptable’ Pandora and Spotify rates
Not the most surprising headline you’ll read this week, in fairness. Sony/ATV chairman and CEO Martin Bandier remains unimpressed with streaming payouts, with his latest criticism coming in an internal...
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Grammys bring songwriter digital-royalties row to the fore
After a glitzy night in Los Angeles for the Grammys awards, we can say that it wasn’t just stars who upped their profile – the issue of songwriter royalties has more prominence than ever. Recording...
View ArticleBMI / Pandora rates trial gets underway in New York
Performance rights organisation BMI is getting its day in court with Pandora, as the pair argue over the latter’s royalty rates. BMI wants a rate of 2.5% of revenue for the next four years, while...
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Sony/ATV strikes new Spotify deal despite past Bandier criticism
“While the number of streams on market leader Spotify’s ad-supported, free service has grown by more than 70% in the past year, the royalties for songwriters and publishers have not come close to...
View ArticleSony cites streaming as key to its future music plans
Changes are afoot at Sony Music’s parent corporation, which has announced its “mid-term” strategy for the next three years. That will see the company spinning off its camera and music-player businesses...
View ArticleFormer Mog boss launches his Chosen mobile talent-contest app
David Hyman was the long-time CEO of streaming music service Mog, before departing (acrimoniously, as it turned out) when it was acquired by Beats Music. His new thing is Chosen, an American Idol-style...
View ArticleUMG lost recorded-music market share in 2014 as WMG gained
Ovum’s Music & Copyright publication has published its latest figures for recorded-music and publishing market share, covering 2014. Its key claim for last year is that Universal Music Group lost...
View ArticlePandora prevails in latest court battle with ASCAP
Pandora won’t have to increase the rates that it pays royalty collection body ASCAP just yet, after the latter lost its latest appeal in the court battle between the two. The US Second Circuit Court of...
View ArticleSony/ATV exec questions value of ad-funded streaming
The latest rightsholder exec to speak out on the value of free on-demand streaming music is Sony/ATV’s European EVP of digital and society relations Antony Bebawi. In an interview with Music Week, he...
View ArticleQuincy Jones’ Playground Sessions is raising $1.5m
We last wrote about Playground Sessions – a US music-education startup co-founded by Quincy Jones – back in 2013, when it launched as a $9.99-a-month subscription service teaching piano online...
View ArticleSony/ATV boss warns songwriters of consent-decree changes
We’ve lost count of the different arguments around streaming licensing in the US in recent years, but this week a new one has blown up. It focuses on the US Department of Justice’s decision to consider...
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Despite troubles, Rightscorp bags Sony/ATV as a client
2015 hasn’t been the happiest year for anti-piracy firm Rightscorp. The company began the year enmeshed in a lawsuit over ‘robocalls’ to people suspected of online infringement, and has been reporting...
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Sony/ATV on Pentatonix publishing deal: ‘They’re in their own lane’
For a long time, the world of YouTube musicians – as in YouTubers who make music, rather than established musicians' videos being added to Google's service – has been most heavily associated with cover...
View ArticlePandora’s Sony/ATV deal could lead to ‘new flexibility’
Lots of chatter overnight about Pandora’s announcement of an “unprecedented” licensing deal with publisher Sony/ATV. Even if the precedent is a previous licensing deal with Sony/ATV in January 2013....
View ArticleYouTube stars Pentatonix sign publishing deal with Sony/ATV
For a long time, the world of YouTube musicians has been heavy on cover versions, meaning that publishers’ interactions with the space have focused on their efforts to get paid royalties by the...
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