Archive:

North America

Mechanical Licensing Collective receives $424m in unmatched digital royalties

16 Feb 2021

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…

International Council of Music Creators issues new year update on unidentified royalties

16 Jan 2021

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…

Music creator organizations meet with US Copyright Office

18 Nov 2020

On 13 November, Fair Trade Music board members, Rick Carnes and Eddie Schwartz met with the United States Copyright Office in their roles as SGA President and MCNA President respectively. They were joined by SCL president, Ashley Irwin and by…

“Justice at Spotify” campaign launched by Union of Musicians and Allied Workers

27 Oct 2020

A new artist-focused campaign has been launched in the US by the Union of Musicians and Allied Workers that aims to redress what it sees as an imbalance in the royalties paid out by streaming companies. The campaign is called…

Your Music, Your Future

21 Dec 2019

A new campaign targeting the fair remuneration of composers has recently launched. Operating under the banner “Your Music, Your Future”, the campaign is dedicated to educating composers and creators about their options when it comes to compensation. A new website…

Streaming platforms to appeal against decision to increase songwriter royalties

09 Apr 2019

A report published by Variety has described plans by Spotify, Google, Pandora and Amazon to team up in an appeal to overturn a U.S. Copyright Royalty Board ruling that could increase payouts to songwriters by 44%. The four companies all…

American Music Licensing Collective adheres to Fair Trade Music principles

21 Mar 2019

Fair Trade Music International welcomes the American Music Licensing Collective (AMLC) as a Fair Trade Music partner organization with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The AMLC is currently working to be designated as the Mechanical Licensing Collective…

Indie Air Radio joins roster of Fair Trade Music supporters

04 Jul 2018

The curated, cooperatively-owned fair trade media company and Internet radio station, Indie Air Radio, has become the latest organization to join the roster of Fair Trade Music movement supporters. Formed in 2015, Indie Air Radio is 60% owned by its…

How significant is the “value gap” and can it be fixed?

21 Jul 2017

Creators, record labels and music publishers are complaining that large internet companies do not compensate rights holders fairly by using loopholes in legislation around the world. Is this “value grab” really significant? How does it affect rights holders? And what…

500,000 creators are changing the music business

20 Apr 2017

Truth, Technology, Money and Music: How 500,000 Creators are Changing the Business. For the first time, music creators around the world are working together on initiatives for a fair, sustainable and transparent music ecosystem. Eddie Schwartz, songwriter and chair of…