Artist Compensation

July 16, 2013

Are we willing to pay for creativity anymore? Musical hero Thom Yorke of Radiohead fame isn’t so sure. Yorke is boycotting the super music streaming service Spotify with his latest album “Amok.” Says Spotify doesn’t pay new young musicians enough to survive on. Fractions of a penny per digital listen. Pauper wages.

Guests

Greg Sandoval, senior reporter for The Verge. read more

Artists: Do You Have Health Insurance?

Are you a musician or songwriter? Are you an actor or filmmaker? A dancer? Visual artist? Writer? No matter what type of artist you are, we have a question for you: do you currently have health insurance?

From today until August 31, 2013, Future of Music Coalition, Fractured Atlas and the Artists’ Health Insurance Resource Center (AHIRC) are joining forces with artist service organizations across the country to take the pulse of the artist community regarding access to health insurance via an online survey. read more

Radiohead's Thom Yorke Pulls Songs From Spotify as Artists Fight For 'Leverage'

By Jason Cherkis

Huffington Post

July 15, 2013

Streaming music services such as Pandora and Spotify promise a seemingly limitless song selection for listeners and actual royalties for artists. But amid growing complaints from artists that the Internet music services are hardly ideal for their bottom line, Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke has become the best-known artist to pull his music from Spotify. read more

Radiohead's Thom Yorke Drops Spotify

By Ben Johnson

Marketplace

July 15, 2013

Add Radiohead’s Thom Yorke to the list of high profile musicians protesting the amount of pay artists get from Spotify. Yorke pulled two albums from Spotify, Tweeting that he was quote “standing up for our fellow musicians.”

The growing popularity of music subscription services has sparked a debate about compensation and the worth of exposure. Casey Rae, deputy director at the Future of Music Coalition , an advocacy group for artists in the digital age, joins Marketplace Tech host Ben Johnson to discuss.

Clear Channel Strikes Deal With Fleetwood Mac: But What About The Rest Of Us?

by Cody Duncan, FMC Policy Intern

Last week, in an event that was called “the first of its kind,” Fleetwood Mac entered into a direct deal with broadcasting behemoth Clear Channel, wherein the celebrated rockers will receive a share of advertising revenue for spins of their new EP, and Clear Channel will save on performance royalties for its online broadcast and streaming services. (Keep in mind that AM/FM radio is not obligated to compensate performers, but under the terms of this deal, Fleetwood Mac will receive revenue from over-the-air plays.) read more

Future of Music Coalition Statement on Administration's IP Enforcement Plan

June 21, 2013

On June 20, 2013, the Office of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator for the United States (IPEC), released its 2013 Joint Strategic Plan for Intellectual Property Enforcement, which lays out the administration’s agenda for coordinating efforts to protect and encourage American intellectual property (IP) at home and abroad. The following statement can be attributed to Casey Rae, Interim Executive Director for Future of Music Coalition:

“Future of Music Coalition is glad to see that IPEC has again issued a Plan that is balanced and takes into account the current landscape intellectual property, especially copyright. read more

Obama Administration's Latest Plan for Intellectual Property

Today (June 20, 2013), the Office of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC) released its 2013 Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement [PDF].

Here’s a little background: Victoria Espinel is the chief officer of IPEC and serves the White House on matters of IP enforcement. In this capacity, she is tasked with coordinating the many federal agencies that work to prevent copyright infringement and counterfeiting. This covers everything from books, movies, and music to software, designer clothes and potentially harmful consumer items. Espinel’s post at the White House blog provides a good overview of her work and purpose of the Joint Strategic Plan.

Here at FMC, the part of intellectual property we pay the most attention to is copyright.

A New Service for Collecting Royalties From YouTube

This post co-authored by Policy Intern Cody Duncan

Last week, TuneCore co-founders Jeff Price and Peter Wells announced the launch of Audiam — a new service designed to help artists make money off their music when it’s part of user-uploaded content on YouTube. As you probably are aware, there’s a lot of music on YouTube, and not all of it is licensed from the rightsholder. YouTube already has a system called Content ID in place that allows rightsholders to block or allow a user-uploaded video that contains copyrighted material when it is posted. Owners can choose between 1) refusing the use 2) allowing it and “tracking” views, demographics, referrals and engagement or 3) monetizing the use through revenue-sharing from ads. Major and independent labels as well as publishers have been utilizing Content ID for at least a couple of years; Audiam aims to make the system more accessible to unaffiliated and self-published musicians and songwriters.

Music and How the Money Flows

How are musicians and songwriters compensated when their music is played on the radio, sold on digital platforms, webcast or streamed on interactive services?

We know it’s difficult to keep things straight, especially when: (a) compositions and sound recordings are treated differently in the licensing process, even if the songwriter and performer are the same person; (b) there are usually multiple rightsholders; and (c) the processes by which music is licensed and the money flows back to creators varies by platform/service.

Music and How the Money Flows

Kristin Thomson

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

How are musicians and songwriters compensated when their music is played on the radio, sold on digital platforms, webcast or streamed on interactive services? Click through any of the infographics below to see how the money flows, at least on US sales, performances and streams.

Want a full-color, 33” tall poster version of the big infographic? Order one on our merchandise page for only $15. read more

Is Spotify Fair To Musicians?

Guests

Artists: Do You Have Health Insurance?

Radiohead's Thom Yorke Pulls Songs From Spotify as Artists Fight For 'Leverage'

Radiohead's Thom Yorke Drops Spotify

Clear Channel Strikes Deal With Fleetwood Mac: But What About The Rest Of Us?

Future of Music Coalition Statement on Administration's IP Enforcement Plan

Obama Administration's Latest Plan for Intellectual Property

A New Service for Collecting Royalties From YouTube

Music and How the Money Flows

Music and How the Money Flows

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