Coalition of songwriter groups calls for fairness on US mechanical rates
On May 17, 2021, a coalition of international songwriter groups sent the following letter to the US Copyright Royalty Board. Addressed to chief copyright royalty judge, Jesse M. Feder; and copyright royalty judges, David R. Strickler and Steve Ruwe in…
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Honoring indigenous American music creators and artists
Update from advisory committee member, Charles Sanders: “It was my honor this afternoon to moderate an A2IM Panel that included three of the best young singer songwriters working and writing today: Quinn Christopherson, Raye Zaragoza and Katherine “KP” Paul (Black…
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“Fans deserve better” says Anita Baker in comments on music streaming
One thing on which songwriters and music streaming platforms generally agree is that the more people that hear a song, the better. For the music creator, this certainly builds awareness of their work but as “exposure doesn’t pay the bills”,…
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The key drivers for music streaming adoption in 2021
The Mobile App Daily website has published a fascinating in-depth analysis of the key Spotify statistics driving music streaming adoption in 2021. In the article, writer Aparna Kaushik looks into the history of the company and reviews the strategies and…
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SoundCloud prepares to launch user-centric streaming model
SoundCloud, the digital audio distribution platform based in Berlin, is to become the first service of its kind to switch to a user-centric royalty model for 100,000 of its indie artists. Under this system, the amounts paid to artists are …
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Music streaming platforms give evidence at UK government inquiry
Following a successful campaign and public petition, the UK government has been conducting an inquiry into the economics of music streaming. The process is examining the economic impact music streaming is having on artists, record labels and the sustainability of…
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UK based #FixStreaming campaign gathers momentum
In the UK, the Musicians Union and Ivors Academy are continuing work on their joint campaign to address what it sees as fundamental inequalities in the music streaming economy. Following the launch of a petition that attracted more than 17,000…
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Mechanical Licensing Collective receives $424m in unmatched digital royalties
The Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) today announced receipt of US $424m in accrued historical unmatched royalties from digital service providers. Also received were more than 1,800 data files, which contain in excess of 1.3 terabytes and nine billion lines of…
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International Council of Music Creators issues new year update on unidentified royalties
The International Council of Music Creators (CIAM) has issued a new year update on the growing pool of streaming royalties that are currently unidentified and cannot therefore be distributed. While specific details are still emerging, the total figure is estimated…
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