Month: November

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For the past two quarters, Universal Music Publishing group has been on top of airplay for United States radio. Its share of 20.58% for this period that ended at the end of September was even higher than the quarter before by almost 2%. Right behind Universal was EMI Music Publishing with 18.29%, which was up from the prior quarter. The way that shares are calculated for radio airplay is based on the top 100 songs determined by Nielsen BDS. The Harry Fox Agency takes and researches the information that it is given to find the market share for those those songs. Universal had 34 songs in the top 100, while EMI had 43, Sony came in third with 31, and Warner/Chappell stayed in fourth with 28 songs. Publishers among the top ten were Kobalt Music Group, Bug Music/Windswept Holdings, and Walt Disney Music.

Month: October

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After years of debate over many proposals, the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) has made a decision on statutory and industry rates for physical product, permanent downloads, and master ringtones. The new royalties did not stray far from the existing rates. Permanent downloads and physical product rates remain at 9.1 cents/song. Ringtones have moved from a 10% of retail price to a rate of 24 cents/mastertone. Two new types of services that were ruled upon were interactive streaming and limited downloads (DRM-wrapped). Each were given a mechanical royalty rate at 10.5% of revenue. Despite the fact that these rates are far off from many of the rates proposed by the NMPA, DiMA, and RIAA, every group involved in the matter seems to be very pleased. These and other groups involved have issued statements regarding their content with the decision and the certainty it provides all sides. Even Apple, which stated that an increase in mechanical rates would shut down iTunes, said they were pleased. We are still waiting for President Bush to sign off on the Webcaster's Settlement Act of 2008. This allows webcasters, National Public Radio, and SoundExchange to continue negotiating a settlement for royalty rates.

Month: october

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As the music industry heads more towards distributing through music services on line, new business models are coming to surface. The question is now, how will labels and publishers be compensated? On September 23rd labels, publishers, and digital music services came together and agreed on a mechanical royalty structure connected to ad-supported streaming music and subscription services. This agreement is a step towards supporting a future in music distribution in the digital music market place. In the article, innovative music models that were discussed were Myspace Music, Sandisk’s Slotmusic, Nokia’s comes with music, and Sony’s Playnow Plus. Each business model explains the way in which labels and publishers will be compensated for their involvement in the particular venture. In some cases the labels will receive cuts off generated revenue, and in others publishers will be paid royalties and whatever rate that is set by the CRB judges.

Month: July

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EverGreen Copyrights continued its purchasing of assets by acquiring the publishing catalog of Lil' Joe Wein Music. This includes the entire output of 2 Live Crew and songs by Poison Clan and 69 Boys. It is estimated that EverGreen paid $3 million for the 700-plus song catalog. This marks the 19th acquisition by the company and brings their hip-hop catalog up to 75,000 songs. Working with Lil' Joe Records, which will retain the master recordings, they look to grow the catalog in film and television. EverGreen's catalog also contains a number of other diverse artists and genres like Nick Drake, Bill Monroe, Bruce Fisher, and more.

Month: July

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Many labels and publishers are going with branded CDs to expose their music to audiences. They can approach a particular outlet, like Hello Kitty or Lancome, with a certain demographic of customer an create a compilation CD filled with songs specifically picked for that target market. For Hello Kitty, having the product closer to toys and in the same store is important. Parents may not think twice about picking up the CD if it is already in the store they are shopping in, rather than having to go to a CD store. Wal-Mart has done a similar practice with their "Soundcheck" series, where artists would play short sets and Wal-Mart would release them on CDs in their stores, sometimes packaging them with "official" releases. The labels and publishers are trying to find any non-traditional way to get their music noticed, and are realizing the power that retailers have in exposing the music.

Month: July

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As recorded music sales slip for the business and advertisers find their markets to be fragmented over new media platforms, it's easy to see why both are looking to co-brand in new campaigns. Marketers see using music as a way to reach consumers with a deeper ring that is not forced or contrived. Sara Bareilles' success within the Rhapsody spot along with The Shins and McDonalds, Santogold and Bud Light, and many more have shown a change in how it is easier to pair artists with brands in a day where people are just looking to make things work. Toyota, Red Bull, Barcardi, and Procter & Gamble have marketed, financed, and released music as part of branding campaigns. The next step happened when Reckitt Benchiser's agency of record Euro RSCG acquired a majority stake in an independent record label, the:Hours, with a distribution agreement with Universal Music. The:Hours' goal is to create a large, commercial friendly catalog through signings to be used for many campaigns. The company will continue to work through other labels and publishers, as well.

Month: June

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Music publishing rights distributor Kobalt Music Group has created an online tool for its songwriters and rights holders to use to view their account online in real time. They can check the exact amount of money available to them as well as calculate fees associated with taking advances at different monetary levels. Universal Music Publishing Group has also launched an online service. RoyaltyWindow.com is a new royalty administration system that offers global royalty statement analyisis and tracking. It can also manage a large amount of copyrights.

Month: July

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Music publisher ole has just bought a 50% stake in Jody Williams Music Catalog. This contains 3,300 titles and the terms of the deal are not disclosed. The catalog contains several major country hits and songs on the new Taylor Swift album. Ole will team up with Sony/ATV to assess how they can make some of the songs active, whether within the Nashville music scene or in film and on TV. The catalog generated between $500,000 and $1 million annually in net publisher share. Ole is optimistic because country songs have the ability to work across genres and territories. The company also looks to remain aggressive in acquiring more publisher assets in the future.

Month: June

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After the Copyright Royalty Board sets compulsory-license rates for works this fall, groups will be preparing to lobby in an attempt to revise the process for obtaining such licenses next year. But a new group of independent music publishers from Nashville is thinking about forming their own indie group if they feel the National Music Publisher's Assn (NMPA). is not representing their best interests. This idea came about after a bill revising came close to passing in the House and Senate that would have given the Harry Fox Agency the right to be the primary administrator of a new blanket license for digital uses of all compositions under the compulsory license. The indie publishers in Nashville are worried that an administrator would not distribute the royalties regularly and that could possibly put these companies out of business. They want to make sure that there is a group letting their needs be heard. The NMPA is trying to assure that they are doing their best to let everyone's voice be heard.

Month: May

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US court ruled that three top webcasters should pay ASCAP and its members up to $100 million in copyright royalties for streaming music online. AOL, Yahoo, and RealNetworks had been streaming music without an official agreement since 2002 because of a 1941 consent that requires ASCAP to have a blanket license if they could not agree on a performing right tariff. ASCAP sought 3% in music-related revenues, but the webcasters were looking to pay a significantly lower amount. The court ruled a main difference in this case is that webcasters have the ability to offer any song, music video, or playlist to consumers on demand at any time or place, whereas radio or television cannot and only provide selected music at certain times. The court sided with ASCAP's argument and method of calculating royalties, but only lowered the amount from 3% to 2.5%. The ruling, which may be appealed, only covers the year 2006. The payment for the remaining years between 2002 and 2009 is still up in court.