Copyright

Here’s How Taylor Swift’s Songs Could End Up Back on Spotify

By Joshua Brustein

Bloomberg Business

August 6, 2015

The idea of so-called compulsory licensing has been getting attention lately, because songwriters feel they’re being underpaid for their work. But having compulsory licensing makes the music business more efficient and serves a social good, according to Casey Rae of the Future of Music Coalition. “After all, what would the world be like if Patsy Cline had never recorded ‘Crazy’ by Willie Nelson,” he writes in a blog post.

[…]

Transparency in the Music Industry

By Griffin Davis

Berklee College of Music's Music Business Journal

August 1, 2015

There are a number of reasons for the inaccessibility of this information, one of which is the frequent sale of individual works and entire catalogs and the infrequent recordation of these sales. Further, in recent years there has been a proliferation, particularly in pop music, of songs with many writers, each of whom generally owns a share of the work, making it difficult for potential licensees without great knowledge of music licensing to determine whose permission they need for a certain use. The Future of Music Coalition illustrated this point using a hit song by Flo Rida that had 13 writers who were represented by a total of 17 publishers.

New Music Industry Report Focuses on Transparency & Fairness for Creators

You may have heard about a new report called “Fair Music: Transparency & Money Flows in the Music Industry,” which was recently published by Berklee College of Music’s Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship (ICE), as part of its Rethink Music Initiative. (Full disclosure: FMC was part of stakeholder convenings that informed the report, and works with Berklee on educational collaborations like our “How the Money Flows” infographics.)

Who Is More Powerful - Congress or Taylor Swift?

By Graham Vyse

Inside Sources

July 20, 2015

“Is there any limit to Taylor Swift’s power?” Tim Lordan asks.

It’s just before 1 p.m. this past Friday, and Lordan — the executive director of the Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee — is moderating a Capitol Hill panel discussion on the public policy of music streaming. With just hours to go before the weekend, he’s assembled a group of experts to answer a playful and provocative question: between Swift and Congress, who has a greater effect on the streaming industry?

by Ian Dunham, Policy Fellow

On June 26, 2015 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Obergefell v. Hodges, legalizing same-sex marriage in all fifty states. We at FMC were among those celebrating this step forward for equality and civil rights.

Artists Take on Sony Music in Lawsuit

Post co-authored by FMC Policy Fellow Ian Dunham

In February 2014, 19 Recordings—a record label representing artists from the TV show “American Idol” like Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood—sued Sony Music for allegedly withholding royalty payments totaling $7 million. In March of this year, U.S. District Court Judge Ronnie Abrams issued a ruling allowing some of these claims to go to trial. The upshot is that, while some components of the case will move forward, the court decided that others don’t hold water. Even more recently, Sony swung back with allegations of fiduciary mismanagement at 19.

SiriusXM Settles with Labels—What Does it Mean for Artists?

Today (June 26, 2015), the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced that satellite radio company SiriusXM have settled a lawsuit brought by labels against the service for not paying royalties on older recordings.

The $210 million settlement is being touted as a win for labels, and potentially a resolution to an open legal question that has bedeviled the industry for a while now: whether recordings made before February 15, 1972 are eligible for royalties when “publicly performed” on digital radio. read more

Why Donald Trump Should Have Sought Neil Young’s Permission

by Kevin Erickson & Bryce Cashman

Notable businessman and reality TV star Donald Trump announced his entrance into the 2016 presidential race yesterday, to the delight of late night comedians everywhere. Less delighted was veteran rocker Neil Young whose 1989 song “Rockin’ in the Free World” was played repeatedly at the launch event, in the latest in a long string of conflicts between artists and politicians over the use of music in campaigns.

Grooveshark is No More

Yesterday (April 29, 2015) brought a close to the long running saga of Grooveshark—an online streaming service that grew its userbase by hosting music to which they did not—for the most part—have licenses. read more

Fair Play Fair Pay Act Introduced to Address Musician & Label Compensation

April 13, 2015

WASHINGTON, DC— Today, Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN.), John Conyers Jr. (D-MI.), and Ted Deutch (D-FL.) introduced the Fair Play Fair Pay Act of 2015. Among other things, the bill would establish a public performance right for terrestrial radio, enabling musicians and sound recording owners to collect royalties when their music is played on AM/FM radio.

Here’s How Taylor Swift’s Songs Could End Up Back on Spotify

Transparency in the Music Industry

New Music Industry Report Focuses on Transparency & Fairness for Creators

Who Is More Powerful - Congress or Taylor Swift?

What the Marriage Equality Ruling Means for Copyright

Artists Take on Sony Music in Lawsuit

SiriusXM Settles with Labels—What Does it Mean for Artists?

Why Donald Trump Should Have Sought Neil Young’s Permission

Grooveshark is No More

Fair Play Fair Pay Act Introduced to Address Musician & Label Compensation

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