Huffington Post – November 18, 2017
One would think that a multibillion dollar corporation, like Facebook, is paying royalties for the music that adds significant value to the platform, but they are not. It doesn’t matter if you’re Taylor Swift or an indie artist releasing their first song, no one is being compensated for allowing their music on Facebook, the company doesn’t even attempt to license the work. So, what allows Facebook to do this, well, the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) “safe harbor” contract that controls its usage.
Music Business Worldwide – November 19, 2017
Soundtrap, which calls itself “an online recording studio”, has been acquired by Spotify. The startup allows musicians to record and edit music, all while being given the option to invite collaborators to work on ventures as well. The main reason that Spotify initiated the buyout was because they believed that Soundtrap represented their “vision of democratizing the music ecosystem.” The only issue with all of this is just how “democratic” online recording software can be when it is exclusively owned by one platform.
Billboard – November 21, 2017
It has been over four months since Epidemic Sound, a production music company in Sweden, was accused of sponsoring “fake artists” on Spotify. It was alleged that they wanted to undercut licensing fees and royalty payments to artists. Epidemic’s CEO Oscar Höglund denied these allegations that Spotify had commissioned songs for a discounted rate. Coincidentally, though, Höglund glazed over the most serious accusation that Spotify was generating more traffic to music that they were paying much lower fees for.
Pigeons & Planes – November 22, 2017
Because of the lack of barriers to entry on the music industry the ability for people to bypass record labels and release their own music is significantly easier to do now as opposed to 15 years ago. There are many debates as to whether the quality of pop music has decreased because record labels are constantly looking for a quick hit. However, if that is the case then maybe it is up to music listeners to demand more than over produced, autotuned tracks?
Hypebot – November 28, 2017
If you have ever wanted to own a part of an artist’s song, new company called Vetz.co is giving you that opportunity. Their new system called ISO, Initial Song Offering, allows artists to raise money by selling portions of ownership of their songs. The biggest artist to date to take part in this service is Drake, who has put “Jodeci Freestyle” up for offering. Artists and rights holders can choose how much or how little they want to offer up to others, in Drake’s case, he has only offered 10% of the publishing rights, not the actual master.
