Category Archives: royalties

Middlemen make things worse for songwriters in a digital age

Good article with graphics showing how difficult it is for artists and even more so for songwriters as the legacy model of payment distribution gets slowed down by performing rights organizations. Digital Music News Article

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Music Distributor Pulls 234 Labels from Spotify & Rdio

UK-based digital distributor STHoldings Ltd. has pulled 234 member labels from Spotify, Rdio, Simfy, and Napster.  The act was motivated by continued complaints from these member labels, specifically related to payouts, though it appears that a recent study was the … Continue reading

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Black’s “Friday” making money?

With nearly 40 million views on YouTube and the song on iTunes, is Rebecca Black making money on her mom’s $2,000 investment for a video that was produced over a weekend? The terms of the deal between Black and the … Continue reading

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Digital distribution of music goes from % to flat rate

From the Seattle Times The traditional music industry may be whining about how tough times are as revenues continues to sink, but don’t tell that to Jeff Price, CEO of TuneCore. “Unit sales are up, not down,” Price said. “That … Continue reading

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Apple + Beatles = no tunes on iTunes

Little has changed in the negotiations between Apple and The Beatles to bring the the Fab Four’s music to the iTunes Store. John Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono indicated that there are still roadblocks and that fans should not expect a … Continue reading

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Hooray! Net pirates to be ‘disconnected’

The UK government has been laying out some of the ways it intends to pursue persistent net pirates. It comes as Lord Mandelson confirmed that he would introduce tough measures against illegal file-sharers. Initially pirates could have download caps imposed … Continue reading

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Composers and lyricists make pitch to join Teamsters

From the LA Times David Carbonara has a gig many of his peers would covet: He writes music for the critically acclaimed AMC show “Mad Men.” A former jazz trombonist, Carbonara loves his job and is grateful for the work. … Continue reading

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Music: Too Expensive to Be Free, Too Free to Be Expensive

MySpace, rumored to be on the verge of purchasing the free music streaming site imeem, is struggling to keep up with its own payments to music copyright holders, according to a top News Corp executive — a problem that has … Continue reading

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Boyle Is Back: Amazon Pre-Orders ‘Breaking Records’

edited from Digital Music News Susan Boyle just got an extension on her fifteen minutes of fame, and this time, she’s cashing in.  Instead of ad-free, non-monetized YouTube views, Boyle is now positioned for a serious windfall and setiing a … Continue reading

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How Spotify might save the music industry

by Karen Pinchin- Special to Globe and Mail Update Published on Monday, Nov. 09, 2009 9:37PM EST Last updated on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009 3:19PM EST Today’s music industry can be a gloomy place, full of cranky concert promoters facing … Continue reading

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ASCAP loses royalty claim on ringtones

Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility have successfully rebuffed an attempt by ASCAP to categorize a ringtone as a public performance. In separate summary judgments issued by US District Court judge Denise Cote and filed October 14th, a ringtone was firmly … Continue reading

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‘New’ Michael Jackson single over 25 years old

Editted From Reuters published: Tuesday, October 13, 2009 Michael Jackson didn’t do it his way after all. Hours after the pop singer’s first posthumous single “This Is It” was released amid great hype on Monday, it emerged that the tune had … Continue reading

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Copyright, It’s Getting Worse…

Report by Paul Resnikoff@DigitalMusicNews at Digital Music Forum West Is the licensing quagmire getting worse?  Yes, yes, and yes, according to executives assembled at Digital Music Forum West in Los Angeles on Thursday.  ”With each new technology, there comes another … Continue reading

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Lily Allen: Ed O’Brien’s FAC statement is not okay

Lily Allen has responded to Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien’s statement on behalf of FAC (Featured Artists Coalition) to UK government’s plans to cut off the internet access of persistent illegal file-sharers. Ed O’Brien said cutting off illegal file-shares is not going … Continue reading

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More Embedding = More Music Sales?

Even as the web evolves into an interconnected, widget-friendly, 2.0-ready environment,  most paid downloads ultimately happen through a central location like the iTunes Store.  Now, backend provider MediaNet Digital is pushing a totally decentralized, embedded concept called MN Open. The … Continue reading

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