Photo Credit: On Air

Content from the UMG-owned production studio is available to stream now.

With the emergence of concert streaming’s high-growth potential, on-stage performance streaming platform On Air is now offering new monetization opportunities for intellectual property owners and artists. The platform aims to elevate the fan experience by offering a true cinematic experience with content available in 4K UHD with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos technologies.

Since 2020, On Air has hosted a serious catalog of live concerts and performances from A-list artists and shows. That includes performances from the likes of Zara Larsson, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, and Years & Years from iconic music venues spanning Royal Albert Hall, OVO Arena Wembley, BBC Studios, and more.

But that’s just the beginning: expanding upon their existing on-stage video catalog, On Air recently forged a deal with Mercury Studios for concert performance footage. Mercury Studios, a division of UMG, is a multi-faceted music content studio and treasure trove of seminal concert footage. Just recently, On Air joined forces with DMN to further propel the platform.

Mercury Studios’ sizable catalog features over 2,000 hours of standout performances by the most prominent names in music — including Peter Gabriel, Lynyrd Skynrd, Duran Duran, Black Sabbath, Journey, ZZ Top, Santana, Eric Clapton, Toto, and The Who, as well as assets from legendary production company Eagle Rock. Now, that historic and important catalog is finding another outlet via On Air to reach fans – with the ingestion and dissemination process well underway.

“On Air provides an exciting opportunity to showcase the breadth of Mercury Studios’ programming, from award-winning documentaries to concerts by iconic artists like Eric Clapton, Miles Davis, Chicago, Jeff Beck, Cypress Hill, and INXS. This partnership with On Air will further expand the reach of these remarkable performances,” said Rob Gill, SVP Global Operations, Mercury Studios.

Jakub Krampl, co-founder and CEO of On Air, sat down with DMN to reveal how On Air’s latest deal with Mercury Studios expands global exposure opportunities and monetization for all IP owners, labels, and artists on the platform. For starters, Mercury Studio’s catalog is impressive, and that will draw a bigger audience interested in higher-quality live performances.

“We’re here to support the distribution of catalogs and monetization of longform content in 4K with Dolby Vision and Atmos technology,” said Krampl. “On Air provides an end-to-end service to artists, labels and rights holders — all backed by a cutting-edge tech stack.”

On Air’s vast infrastructure expertly covers every aspect of the streaming process, solving problems typically faced by IP owners when they attempt to distribute content across mainstream channels.

A sampling of On Air’s live concerts and performances from A-list artists filmed at iconic music venues. (Photo Credit: On Air)

According to Krampl, On Air offers a ‘premium streaming service for on-stage entertainment,’ handling everything from pre-production and on-site production management to an exclusive post-production process that ensures higher-quality content for its users.

On Air’s DRM-protected streaming platform plays comfortably across desktop, mobile, and TV endpoints. Stretching things further, the company also pushes engagement by marketing content and managing assets across multiple platforms, including social media with tailored campaigns.

And when the opportunity arises, On Air also helps to negotiate branding and agency partnerships to further stretch the reach of its footage.

The platform offers prime viewing experiences to fans in over 190 countries, while taking adequate measures to prevent unlawful distribution. Among the most prominent offerings available to stream are Zara Larsson’s sold-out ‘Venus Tour’ at AFAS Live in Amsterdam, Noel Gallagher’s High-Flying Birds live at Wythenshawe Park in Manchester, Yoshiki’s ‘Requiem Classical World Tour’ recorded at the Royal Albert Hall, and a pair of sold-out All Time Low shows, captured at OVO Arena Wembley (2023) and Merriweather Post Pavilion (2024).

One of On Air’s biggest differentiators is its audio and picture quality, with streams available to watch in 4K UHD with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos technologies.

Krampl explains that the solution, crafted by On Air’s partnership with Dolby, “provides every user with the opportunity to experience our productions with the immersive sound of Dolby Atmos and ultra-vivid pictures of Dolby Vision for a premium entertainment experience.”

“On Air has successfully achieved a live stream in Dolby Vision, which hasn’t been done before — and that’s only one of the many advanced solutions we’re capable of providing,” Krampl continued, while pointing to the company’s All Time Low OVO Arena Wembley capture. That show was delivered in 4K UHD with HDR and Dolby Atmos immersive sound, and accessed across 56 countries simultaneously over the web, mobile and TV apps.

In fact, all On Air-produced shows are filmed in close partnership with Dolby. “We’re delighted that On Air uses Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision to give them an edge in concert streaming,” said Jane Gillard, Head of Music Partnerships Europe for Dolby. “Artists invest so much into live shows – sound, visuals, effects, lighting. In using the best in Dolby technology, On Air are able to deliver an experience that beats standard video and stereo hands down.”

The on-stage performance streaming space has a number of big competitors, though On Air’s focus strategies of Dolby-powered streams, complementary solutions, and competitive pricing could prove to be significant differentiators.

Krampl explains that On Air’s entire service infrastructure is developed in-house, which makes it ‘independent of third-party platforms and agencies.’ This self-developed tech-stack and content delivery platform, according to Krampl, allows On Air to address problems before they arise, ‘while continuing to develop and innovate’ for their stakeholders.

The On Air HD stereo service is available to viewers at $10.99 per show, with the On Air catalog available to stream on-demand with unlimited replays.

Photo Credit: On Air

Why is now the moment for concert video to expand and reach a wider audience? Krampl points out that On Air is aware of how current economic challenges have significantly shuffled audience priorities and where they want to spend their money.

Exorbitant ticket prices and the cost of travelling to venues present barriers that threaten to separate artists from their fans.

On Air aims to democratize access to live music and provide a genuine connection between audiences and performers. Their ‘cutting-edge solutions directly offer the energy and magic of live performances to audiences’ around the world.

The On Air app, available across Apple iOS, Android, and Fire TV, is designed to make viewers feel like they’re in the center of the action. Users can tune in to On Air’s cinematic show library in 4K UHD and spatial audio from anywhere, and seamlessly switch to the big screen at any time.

UNIFI Music Founder & CEO La’Shion Robinson (Photo Credit: UNIFI Music)

Finding and retaining effective management is a significant hurdle for many emerging artists. Now, UNIFI Music is building an AI-driven intelligent platform for that.

Superstar music careers frequently start on the fringes: in a poorly-lit rehearsal space, late night on a laptop and cracked DAW, or as part of a local scene that hasn’t yet crossed over.

If an artist or group is lucky, an ardent believer is pulling the strings to get gigs, upload tracks to DSPs, monitor royalties from different licenses and platforms, and settle disputes. But professional managers with acumen, experience, and connections are usually out of reach at the beginning.

And that’s a problem.

The real artist management pros are usually overloaded with their high-demand clientele. And they’re generally inaccessible if they’re taking on emerging artists, or simply too expensive for artists in the early stages of their careers.

The music industry is laser-focused on the profound threat AI-generated music poses – which makes sense. But can AI fill a meaningful role in other areas like artist management?

That was the light bulb for execs at UNIFI Music, a company focused on building artist-focused solutions. “We’ve seen a huge need for artist management from artists in the 0-5 stages of their careers,” La’Shion Robinson, UNIFI’s founder and CEO, told Digital Music News.  “There’s simply an overload of tasks beyond the core competencies of creating music, building a cultural connection, and performing.”

‘Overload’ is a fitting descriptor.

From securing competent management to navigating the complexities of promotion and distribution, the path to success is often fraught with obstacles. And with tasks spanning social media engagement to booking gigs and navigating the complexities of streaming platforms, the workload can be immense – especially in the face of fierce competition.

With that problem in mind, UNIFI Music’s vision is to solve these pain points with an innovative AI-powered solution that could redefine artist management. That is perking the ears of investors, many of whom feel that AI-related models in the music industry are overlapping and saturated.

“Here’s something extremely useful, relevant, with tremendous potential to scale,” Robinson summarized. Just recently, UNIFI joined forces with DMN to further expand their concept.

According to Robinson, AI can play a meaningful role in streamlining artist management and empowering emerging musicians. UNIFI’s AI-powered platform, called Sasha, will act as a centralized toolbox, offering a range of features and services to support artists in their career development.

Sasha is designed to complement platforms like SoundCloud, providing artists with a comprehensive suite of tools to manage their careers effectively. That includes a question-driven interface, with Sasha understanding virtually any language. “This isn’t just a customized ChatGPT,” Robinson continued. “Sasha employs LLMs to provide customized guidance to the artist.”

The SaaS-like Sasha will also integrate with UNIFI’s “LinkedIn for Music” platform, enabling artists to connect with industry professionals and build valuable relationships. The broader aim is to bolster intelligent, AI-driven management with a rich network of connected musicians and opportunities.

According to Robinson, UNIFI Music’s vision for Sasha extends far beyond simple task management.

“This is a brand-new, functional direction for AI in music,” Robinson relayed. “We’re building a complete AI manager built from the ground up for musicians, music companies, and the entire music managerial ecosystem.”

The ultimate goal is to create a virtual manager capable of strategically, tactically, and emotionally guiding an artist’s career. For existing managers, the platform helps to eliminate time-consuming ‘assistant’ tasks like venue research, social media posts, and transportation logistics. “There’s less need for an assistant manager and more opportunity to create the ‘super manager,'” Robinson described.

Currently, Sasha can handle tasks like social media recommendations and identifying promising venues. However, as the platform evolves, it will take on increasingly complex responsibilities like contract negotiation, release planning, and tour management.

Ultimately, UNIFI Music’s vision is to create a virtual manager capable of guiding an artist’s career toward success.

Unifi’s Sasha in action (click to enlarge).

Unifi’s Sasha in action (click to enlarge).

Music management agencies may not like Sasha, but UNIFI’s vision is unique when compared to typical AI creation and management companies.

While the debate over AI-generated music continues, UNIFI Music is simply exploring the potential of AI in other areas of the industry. By leveraging AI’s capabilities, the company’s vision is to provide artists with personalized guidance and support, leveling the playing field and democratizing access to the tools and resources needed to succeed.

“UNIFI has the potential to revolutionize artist management and empower emerging musicians. We may also catapult fringe scenes and artists to the fore by boosting their industry savvy and experience overnight,” Robinson relayed. “That’s exciting stuff.”

If you’d like to connect with UNIFI Music, please contact La’Shion Robinson directly at l@unifimusic.ai.

Where’s Vinyl? Billboard Removes the Format From Its Site (Photo Credit: DMN Screengrab)

What are vinyl record sales like in the US? Don’t ask Billboard, which has now scrubbed its site of vinyl sales figures after reporting an extreme 33.3% year-over-year sales decline.

That shocking decline raised serious questions about the ‘vinyl comeback’ and resulted in an investigatory report by DMN Pro. Unfortunately, the takeaways from that report were hardly upbeat, with Luminate, Billboard, the Vinyl Alliance, and other organizations differing wildly over how many vinyl records are selling in 2024.

Has the Vinyl Comeback Been Greatly Exaggerated? A Closer Look at Some Confusing New Data

After DMN reported the 33.3% decline that appeared on Billboard’s site, angry emails and demands for corrections came next. The Vinyl Alliance called for an immediate correction, while Luminate blasted Billboard’s tallies —  which are ironically based on Luminate data — as ‘inaccurate’ and ‘unauthorized.’

If that isn’t confusing enough, read on.

Strangely, despite the demands by Luminate for corrections on Digital Music News, Billboard wasn’t updating their figures. A few days after DMN’s first report on the extreme decline, Billboard’s ‘Market Watch’ tally of format sales transitioned to a 32.6% year-over-year decline with a new disclaimer. Now, the vinyl sales figures have been removed entirely.

Exactly why Billboard has scrubbed its site of vinyl sales remains unclear, and owner Penske Media Corporation (PMC) declined to issue a statement on the matter.

Lying at the heart of this mess is a significant transition in how Luminate counts vinyl sales. Leading into 2024, Luminate’s updated methodology prompted howls of protests from independent record stores and vinyl groups. The result: indie retailers, led by the Vinyl Record Manufacturing Association (VRMA), branched off and launched their own vinyl chart, with Luminate sticking to their drastically reduced year-over-year figures.

Luminate told DMN that year-over-year comparisons were impossible given the methodological changes created at the beginning of 2024. These are two different counting methods, according to Luminate, though the revised methodology clearly resulted in dramatically lower figures.

Billboard’s ‘Market Watch’ page for ‘Album Consumption Units by Format’ on October 15th, 2024.

But year-over-year comparisons aside, why are the 2024 figures so much lower? Regarding the drastic change, Billboard issued this disclaimer on its site:

“NOTE: As previously reported, Luminate changed the methodology behind its independent retail sales reporting beginning Week 1 of 2024. While the new modeled methodology more accurately represents the independent retail market, there is not available comparable historical data to provide an accurate year-over-year trend regarding physical sales, including vinyl, and therefore any YoY changes reflected here are not a clean comparison and should not be taken as such.”

It should be noted that sales figures from the RIAA, BPI, and IFPI all show continued year-over-year gains in 2024 vinyl shipments.

Those are documented in detail in DMN Pro’s investigatory report on the matter. Indeed, 2024 has witnessed a crush of vinyl releases from Taylor Swift, all variations of The Tortured Poets Department. That seemed like a dousing of lighter fluid on the vinyl bonfire, though it’s unclear how those releases registered on Luminate’s redialed radar.

So what happens next?

At one point, Luminate reversed course and stated that vinyl sales were actually up 6% on the year. A few days later, however, it slipped that this sudden increase was only generated after indie record store tallies were completely removed from the mix. And Billboard never changed its figures to reflect the increase (even though Luminate demanded that DMN change theirs).

Enter Penske Media Corporation, which counts both Billboard and Luminate as properties. It now appears that Billboard and its sibling Luminate are huddling on the next steps, perhaps figuring out which revised dataset to present to the world.

Will a dramatic ‘reversal of a reversal’ result?

Billboard now has a choice: switch to Luminate’s revised single-digit year-over-year gains, or stay consistent with its monstrous year-over-year declines. Or, something in-between.

Either way, more vinyl-counting fireworks are almost certainly ahead. Stay tuned.

Flou’s legal drafting process in action.

Earlier this year, we first profiled Flou, an upstart company founded by Puerto Rican music attorney Alexiomar Rodríguez. Flou has a strikingly sensible mission: to transform the generally chaotic way music contracts and agreements are created, negotiated, and maintained throughout their life cycles. Several months later,  the company has successfully road-tested its platform with several early takers – and shared the early results with Digital Music News.

As any DMN reader can attest, the music industry is rife with legal warfare. Copyright battles, contract disputes, and even corporate espionage cram our pages daily, spanning the frivolous to the momentous. Garnering less attention is the contracting process itself, which can often devolve into a chaotic mess of wasted time, expensive legal bills — and if you’re really unlucky, full-blown legal battles that mar the creativity and partnerships involved.

Alexiomar Rodríguez, a music attorney who’s been in the weeds of these contracts for years, has set out to change that reality. Rodríguez’s answer is Flou, an all-in-one platform designed to streamline music contract management — from creation to execution and beyond. The company offers industry-specific templates, AI-assisted collaboration features, e-signature approvals, centralized storage, deliverables tracking, and a range of reminders during the pre- and post-signature phases of a contract’s lifecycle.

As part of its pitch, the company paints a stark contrast between the messiness of current contractual processes and the relaxed orderliness of automated templates, collaborative drafting, and AI-assisted agreement terms. On Flou’s site, the former features a stressed-out dragon surrounded by a swirl of papers; the latter features a happy dragon with a neatly arranged document interface. It’s Flou’s model in a nutshell.

Of course, the music industry is complex and demands a lot of different legal contracts to cover that complexity. But Flou and Rodríguez are determined to address that complexity with a wide range of music industry contracts, including work-for-hire agreements, production contracts, and artist-label contracts. Part of the company’s challenge will be to address all of those scenarios and their nuances, while staying on top of constant changes in agreements and partnership structures.

Regardless of the specific contracts, the game plan is the same: by translating complex legal obligations into manageable tasks, Flou simplifies compliance and reduces legal risks. The platform also offers educational resources to help users navigate the complexities of music agreements.

“The value proposition is the same for indie labels, publishers, and artists’ teams,” Rodríguez told DMN.  “Flou saves money on legal fees, saves time by automating your music contracts, and eliminates all the stress and sleepless nights.”

All of that sounds great in theory. But is it working?

Partnering with Digital Music News, Flou decided to share their early client stories with us. It’s a rare look into the early steps of a young company, with some early success metrics suggesting broader industry-wide changes.

So who were the first takers? 

Flou has the backing of mega-companies like Warner Music Group and Concord Music. But the real proof-of-concept is coming from smaller shops that desperately need simplified legal solutions.

For starters, larger companies are understandably hesitant to trigger extreme overhauls in their contracting processes, while smaller companies have the luxury of being more flexible.

Flou’s initial focus isn’t industry giants, but that’s exactly the point. Rodríguez says Flou is working closely with smaller outfits as its platform grows, an approach that also allows the company to refine its offerings during its developmental and ramp-up phases.

With that, here’s a look at two companies that have thoroughly road-tested Flou and relayed back some serious savings (and gains): Sash Media Group and One Music Global Publishing.

Case Study One: Sash Media Group

Sash Media Group, an Atlanta-based company focused on music production and record label services, faced a common challenge for new businesses: managing legal contracts without incurring exorbitant fees and extreme time drains. Founded by Grammy-winning producer Samuel Ash, the company works with top-tier artists in the US and Latin America, necessitating well-crafted contracts that protect all parties involved.

The Giant Challenge of Legal Organization

As a startup record label, Sash Media Group desperately needed a streamlined, affordable way to create and manage contracts. Traditional legal services, while comprehensive, often come with hefty price tags. Recognizing the importance of legally sound agreements, Ash tapped Flou as a potentially cost-effective solution that would equal the contractual quality that a serious attorney or law firm could offer.

Adding to the complexity for Flou, Sash’s unique business model required customized contracts that deviated from standard templates. There were numerous variations and special cases that demanded a flexible and adaptable legal solution.

Not an easy first client, but Sash Media Group initiated a partnership with Flou in an attempt to resolve those easily-stage issues. Fast-forward a few months, and the pilot has produced some substantive benefits, including lowered legal costs.

Despite being at an earlier stage of development, Flou has an extensive library of pre-approved templates in both English and Spanish. That met Sash’s initial contractual needs to get the partnership started.

“Creating agreements is quick and easy, allowing us to focus on working with the artists instead of trying to figure out all the paperwork,” Samuel Ash described.

Right off the bat, there was the classic challenge of dealing with PDF contracts. “Like many of our users, Sash had contracts they had previously paid a lawyer to draft, which were sent in PDF format,” Rodríguez relayed. “We helped convert those contracts into templates, turning them into automated Q&A forms so they no longer had to rely on manual ‘find and replace’ edits.”

Overall, the newfound efficiency enabled Sash to prioritize its core mission of producing and marketing music, resulting in a nice win. Focusing on the game plan, Rodríguez detailed how Flou’s platform met a number of Sash Media Group’s specific requirements.

Here’s what Rodríguez emphasized in the partnership:

An Ever-Growing Library of Templates: Flou provided a considerable selection of up-to-date, lawyer-approved contract templates in plain language, ensuring clarity and legal compliance.

One System for Contracts: Flou offered an all-in-one solution, covering the entire contract lifecycle from drafting to signing and beyond, eliminating the need for multiple tools and streamlining the process.

Lots of Support: Flou’s implementation team provided a considerable level of support, assisting Sash Media Group in creating a customized template within its first week of signing up.

And the Big Win: Lower Legal Costs: By leveraging Flou’s self-serve platform, Sash Media Group significantly reduced their reliance on external legal counsel, resulting in substantial cost savings.

That last gain is a big win for smaller outfits, many of which lack the big-level budgets of their larger competitors. It’s a major part of the Flou model and why Rodríguez initially wanted to focus on smaller plays.

The real kicker is that Samuel Ash reported saving over $3,000 in legal fees, a significant amount for a fledgling business. That’s not a six-figure windfall, though it offered a nice savings start that can be scaled – with the company planning to reinvest those funds into music production and marketing efforts.

Beyond the monetary savings, Flou’s platform simplified the contract management process, saving valuable time and resources. Samuel Ash emphasized the platform’s ease of use: “We saw the value within the first week of subscribing.”

Case Study Number Two: One Music Global Publishing – A Powerhouse In Latin Christian Music

In the vibrant Latin Christian music scene, One Music Global Publishing has emerged as a serious player for the genre’s top songwriters. This boutique publishing company, based in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, currently boasts a catalog of over five million monthly listeners on Spotify alone.

Already representing a range of established and up-and-coming songwriters, One Music is now focused on solidifying its position in the Latin Christian genre. That means continuing to build strong partnerships with the songwriters that are connecting the most with this audience.

One Music’s popularity has been growing in a solid genre – that’s the good news. But the company also found itself drowning in the complexities of managing contracts and ensuring the equitable distribution of royalties. The company felt that the traditional manual contract process was time-consuming and prone to errors, hindering the company’s efficiency and diverting valuable resources from strategic initiatives.

This is a growth-stage mess that Rodríguez was seeing first-hand while practicing law in Puerto Rico. The situation made One Music an obvious choice for an early client.

Taking things further, One Music also wanted to get its songwriters more involved in the contracting process itself. In short, One Music wanted a tool to empower its publishing team to take control of contract creation and management.

One Music’s requirements were clear: a self-service platform that would streamline the entire contract lifecycle, from drafting to signing and beyond. The platform needed to be user-friendly while enabling quick adoption and integration into their existing workflow. Additionally, real-time visibility into the status of contracts was crucial for identifying and addressing any bottlenecks.

At this point, Flou was already gaining traction as a contract management solution, so they were plucked as the answer to One Music’s needs. Flou’s implementation team jumped in with an onboarding process that included heavy support to get things off the ground.

With a focus on self-servicing, One Music’s publishing team gained the autonomy to create split sheets and other essential contracts using pre-approved templates and simple Q&A forms. This eliminated the need for constant legal intervention, freeing up valuable time and resources. The platform’s real-time tracking capabilities also provided a clear overview of contract statuses, enabling the One Music team to address any delays proactively.

Sounds great, though Rodríguez told DMN that One Music presented some unique challenges that tested Flou’s model.

For example, the label manages both authorized and unauthorized versions of their music, particularly those involving language translations (Spanish and Portuguese are favorites) and remixes (welcome to the modern fan economy).

Flou also helped One Music continue expanding into label and distribution services, which demanded more contractual support. “We had to add more contract templates,” Rodríguez explained.

After the transition towards automation and templating, One Music relayed some early-stage wins.

The biggest win was this: One Music witnessed a staggering 50% reduction in contract turnaround time. This newfound efficiency translated into a significant boost in productivity, allowing the team to focus on strategic initiatives rather than administrative tasks.

Joan Bonilla, founder and CEO of One Music, is now looking to expand the partnership. “Flou has revolutionized our contract management process,” he remarked. “Creating split sheets is now quick and foolproof, allowing us to focus more on expanding our songwriters’ business and less on paperwork.”

The benefits extended beyond time savings. Flou’s centralized platform eliminated the need to juggle multiple systems and manual filing, reducing errors and enhancing overall efficiency. Joan himself found more time to engage in high-value activities such as attending industry events and negotiating favorable deals for his clients.

Rodríguez says that Flou has enabled One Music to focus on its core mission: championing the voices of Christian Latin songwriters and building enduring legacies in the world of music.

Where Flou Is Headed Next

After working with these initial clients, Rodríguez is understandably pleased with the proof-of-concepts. Substantial cost and time savings are core to Flou’s model, but big wins also came in the form of self-service functionality, collaboration, and template flexibility.

In many cases, Flou quickly encounters the exact problem its model is trying to solve: a mountain of disorganized paperwork, digital or otherwise. “Most music companies still use MS Word, DocuSign, and spreadsheets to manage contracts, which leads to missed renewals, decentralized storage, and bottlenecks,” Rodríguez described.

“Our goal is to be the go-to solution for managing all contract-related paperwork in the music industry. So we are open to collaborating and integrating with all types of music companies and solutions.”

That said, Rodríguez feels the biggest challenge for companies is the growing volume of legal and contractual paperwork, based on initial client feedback and what he’s witnessing in the marketplace. That problem is particularly acute for companies that are shrinking in size in response to investor and Wall Street demands.

After working ‘in the wild’ and hearing actual client needs, the model is now expanding substantially towards developing APIs, white label solutions, and a self-service portal that labels and publishers can offer to their artists, producers, and songwriters.

Flou has also been focusing on AI applications, particularly around clause-specific training, advanced contract reviews, and deal suggestions driven by music data analytics.

“Music companies are shrinking in size, but still have to manage a huge amount of paperwork,” Rodríguez said. “Right now, Business & Legal Affairs departments are paying $65,000 to $75,000 a year, plus benefits, bonuses, and profit-sharing programs, to hire contract administrators.”

“Our overarching goal is to shrink the workload around contracts and shift companies more towards their core competencies – developing great music from legendary artists!”

A shake-up in Kyncl’s cast: (l-r) Max Lousada, Julie Greenwald, Elliot Grainge (Credits, also l-to-r: Billal Taright, Matthew Furman, Logan Mock)

Warner Music Group confirmed a significant restructuring of its Recorded Music division on Thursday (August 1st), with an expressed aim to to better enhance artist services, streamline global operations, and position the company for sustained growth. The shakeup involves major leadership changes — including the departure of longtime Recorded Music CEO Max Lousada — and a flatter organizational structure going forward. Here’s the full breakdown.

Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl has now pulled the trigger on a serious restructuring, specifically involving the all-important (and far more profitable) recorded music division. The biggest bombshell is that after two decades with WMG, Max Lousada, CEO of Recorded Music, will step down at the end of the fiscal year on September 30th.

Lousada will continue as an advisor until January 31st, according to details confirmed by the major.

Staying in the building is Julie Greenwald, who will transition into the lofty role of Chairman of Atlantic Music Group, directly reporting to Kyncl. Also elevating ranks is Elliot Grainge, founder & CEO of 10K Projects, who will now become CEO of Atlantic Music Group, effective October 1st.

Grainge first joined WMG’s senior management team last year following the company’s acquisition of a majority stake in 10K Projects. The hip-hop-savvy executive, whose father is Universal Music Group chairman and CEO Lucian Grainge, reportedly blasted an email to the 10K troops to reassure that business at the label would continue as normal.

Lousada is saying goodbye, though there won’t be a direct replacement.

According to WMG, the new structure, effective October 1st, will eliminate the roles of CEO, Recorded Music and President, International, Recorded Music. Regional and divisional leaders will report directly to Kyncl, fostering direct channels between local expertise and global opportunities.

That shifts the structure towards a more ‘flat’ organizational layout, which theoretically cuts bureaucracy and confusion with cleaner reporting lines.

Key regional leadership appointments include Simon Robson overseeing Europe, the Middle East, and Africa; Alejandro Duque continuing to lead Latin America; and a yet-to-be-appointed leader for the newly created Asia Pacific region.

In the US, the Atlantic Music Group, under the leadership of Grainge and Greenwald, will encompass Atlantic Records, 300 Elektra Entertainment, and 10K Projects. Warner Records, led by Tom Corson and Aaron Bay-Schuck, will now include Warner Music Nashville, Nonesuch, and Reprise.

Warner Music Group is also bolstering its global operations in distribution, Global Catalog, Marketing, and WMX. The heads of these divisions will report to Kyncl from October 1st.

“On behalf of everyone at WMG, I’d like to thank Max for his extraordinary achievements over the last twenty years,” Robert Kyncl relayed. “Max is a true artists’ champion, who created a culture that puts artistry first, growing our global reach and building a roster of incredible talent and an outstanding team. I’m grateful that he’ll be helping to ensure a smooth transition.”

Too Lost-distributed artist Ollie Joseph (Photo: Ollie Joseph)

The music industry isn’t running out of music distributors anytime soon, though Too Lost is differentiating with some interesting innovations —including a deep list of partnerships that include BMG, Easy Song, beatBread, and Delta.

Music distribution is a seriously competitive sub-industry, though a relatively fresh face, Too Lost, is making waves by rethinking the traditional distribution model.

Already, the company is getting good marks from the musician community for solving issues like streaming fraud and enabling artist financing. However, the company is also pushing an expansive partnership strategy designed to offer artists and labels more than just a path to digital service providers (DSPs).

The result: Too Lost is suddenly pushing distribution far beyond the traditional task of shuttling music from A-to-B. With an array of non-traditional partners, the company aims to provide broader opportunities for its artists, with the end game of reaching new and diverse audiences. Just recently, Too Lost partnered with Digital Music News to further expand their growing footprint.

Several notable artists are already on board with Too Lost’s refreshed concept, including Chief Keef, ILoveMakonnen, YG, Xavier Wulf, Lil Mabu, Josiah and the Bonnevilles, Ali Gatie, Lucifer, Joseph Tilly, and Pink Sweats. Also in the Too Lost mix are up-and-coming artists like Ollie Joseph (pictured), who recently crossed 600,000 followers on Spotify.

At this stage of the game, artists can quickly move their music onto Spotify or Apple Music with more than a dozen high-quality distribution platforms.

Against that competitive landscape, Too Lost decided to expand the role of traditional distribution. Too Lost excels in DSP distribution (they are a Spotify Preferred Provider, for example), though they also offer competencies in critical areas like cover licensing, financing, and publishing administration.

Too Lost told Digital Music News they decided against building those competencies from scratch for several reasons. For starters, the ‘wheel has already been invented’ in many critical music industry core competencies, so why not simply partner with the best to rapidly expand the possibilities for its artists?

In the case of cover licensing, that meant brokering a deal with Easy Song. In artist financing, a beatBread deal was inked to enable flexible financing options, enabling Too Lost artists to fund their projects without traditional record deals. For publishing administration, a BMG partnership was brokered. And the list goes on.

“Our partnerships with industry leaders like BMG and beatBread are a testament to Too Lost’s commitment to providing artists with comprehensive tools and resources,” said Damien Ritter, Director of Marketing at Too Lost. “By leveraging these collaborations, we empower artists to focus on their creativity while we handle the complexities of rights management, financing, and content protection.”

Here’s a quick rundown of some of Too Lost’s top partnerships.

Too Lost told us that this is a rapidly-growing list, though these are currently some of their most impactful and essential partnerships.

Easy Song: Simplifies the complex world of song licensing, making it easier for artists to cover songs legally.

Pex: Provides robust content identification and monetization tools.

Cosynd: Offers enhanced IP protections, ensuring artists’ intellectual property is well-guarded.

BMG: Assists with publishing administration and royalty management, freeing artists from the intricacies of managing their publishing rights.

Beatbread: Facilitates flexible financing options, enabling artists to fund their projects without the need for traditional record deals.

Manifest (formerly Nerve): Ensures direct payouts to artists, streamlining the financial aspects of music distribution.

Beyond its core partner alliances, Too Lost is also focusing on non-traditional distribution endpoints.

For most artists, uploading an album to Spotify is akin to pouring water into the Pacific Ocean. Current estimates peg the number of songs uploaded to DSPs at more than 120,000 a day, and AI only worsens the situation.

So, how do you get noticed in such an intimidatingly vast sea of ‘content’? Too Lost says they hear this problem repeatedly, though not every platform is so crowded. Accordingly, the company has partnered with companies like Delta and Peloton to help artists break through.

Delta doesn’t offer an on-demand platform with millions of songs, though they do promote selected songs to captive fliers. The noise floor is suddenly overcome if an artist is chosen for one of the airline’s in-flight entertainment systems.

The same is true for Peloton, whose high-energy workout playlists can make fans out of fitness enthusiasts if the vibe is right. Too Lost also brokered a partnership with Sonu Stream, co-founded by Tokimonsta, which aims to better compensate artists for their streams. These non-traditional partnerships aim to expand the reach of Too Lost’s artists, ensuring that their music can be discovered in unexpected places.

After a relatively short period in the industry, Too Lost has received positive marks from musicians.

Among the biggest fans is Ari Herstand, a respected musician and industry expert who recently proclaimed that “Too Lost is one of the best-kept secrets in the music distribution world.”

“Their commitment to artist autonomy and unmatched administrative support sets them apart from the competition,” Ari gushed.

Too Lost’s top artists are also tapping into the platform’s network of partnerships, with tracks getting financed and popping up on non-traditional playlists. “At Too Lost, we are incredibly proud of the innovative solutions and partnerships we’ve developed to support our artists,” says Ritter. “Our mission is to empower musicians by providing them with the tools and resources they need to succeed in today’s dynamic music industry.”

“At Too Lost, we firmly believe that you can make a serious creative dent and find your fans — but you need the right partners to do it.”

Music publishers have declared war against Spotify — and the reason is bundling. But what are the other DSPs doing? Now, there’s a chart for that: The Bundling Barometer from DMN Pro.

For the average consumer, bundling is a part of daily life. Whether a six-pack of Negro Modelo or a bundled vacation package to Europe, tying products together into a handy bundle is a well-worn business practice.

Shift over to the music industry, however, and bundling is demonstrably impacting music publishers and their revenues. According to the latest Bundling Barometer reading, an astounding 98% of Spotify premium plans are now classified as bundles. That will translate into losses of several hundred million dollars over the next few years.

But what are the other streaming music platforms doing?

Hint: Spotify isn’t alone when it comes to bundling. Another major streaming music platform is also ramping up bundled packages past the 70% mark. Others could copy Spotify’s shift, resulting in hundreds of millions of additional lost revenues for music publishers.

Here’s a quick look at where major streaming platforms currently stand on bundling.

The Bundling Barometer, a US-based chart from DMN Pro, is sourced from actual mechanical publishing statements shared with Digital Music News.

The chart also includes critical fields to help the music industry better understand the bundling practices of major DSPs, including:

(a) Total number of DSP subscribers technically bucketed into ‘bundles’ for publishing royalty calculations.

(b) A breakdown of overall bundled subscribers, including those not technically classified as bundled for royalty accounting purposes.

(c) A calculation of the percentage of total DSP subscribers this all translates into.

(d) A look at month-by-month shifts and changes in bundling calculations for the top DSPs.

Currently, The Bundling Barometer tracks four major DSPs, which account for more than 97% of the total subscriber market: Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and YouTube Music.

The remaining DSPs, which account for a small but important remainder of the market, will be added in subsequent chart updates later in 2024.

The Bundling Barometer is just one of several databases now offered by DMN Pro, a premium, subscription-only music industry platform from Digital Music News. Other DMN Pro databases and charts include:

Streaming Music Subscriber Market Share Breakdown (US)

A breakdown of US-based subscribers for all major streaming music platforms (DSPs) and subscription types.

Streaming Audio Fidelity & Pricing Tracker

What streaming platforms are offering in terms of audio fidelity and associated pricing.

Music IP Acquisition Tracker

A rundown of music IP purchases across publishing, recording, and other rights.

The Music Industry Funding Tracker

A compendium of music industry funding rounds across every sub-sector and investment stage.

New Music Release Tracker

The 100 most notable new music releases across all genres and countries.

DMN Pro subscribers have complete access to these databases, plus weekly research reports and other informational deep-dives. These include data unavailable on any other platform — free or paid.

Join the music industry’s fastest-growing, most informative data source. Subscribe to DMN Pro today!

Photo Credit: Ugglemamma

Spotify is now taking serious issue with Digital Music News’ assertion that ‘Basic’ is getting buried from would-be subscribers.

Spotify has every incentive to bury its newly launched, unbundled ‘Basic’ subscription tier. But does that mean Spotify is intentionally hiding ‘Basic’ from would-be subscribers to steer them into its more lucrative bundled options?

Given the economics, it’s hard to imagine Spotify not wanting to bury its Basic tier. Not only are bundled plans more expensive, but they’re also substantially cheaper when it comes to royalty payments (and for proof of that, look no further than the hard data outlined in this DMN Pro report).

That may explain why Spotify has shifted more than 98% of its plans into bundles, according to our just-released Bundling Barometer.

Over the past few weeks, Digital Music News found overwhelming evidence that Basic is being buried. In response, Spotify has begged to differ and demanded corrections. We’re unsure if Spotify is helping or hurting their case here, but let’s air this out.

Perhaps the biggest tell is that new subscribers cannot subscribe to a Basic, unbundled plan. Despite the quibbling over details, Spotify didn’t dispute this critical fact.

“Basic plans are only available to existing subscribers,” a Spotify representative confirmed to Digital Music News.

Not only are newer subscribers forced into bundled tiers, but they are also unlikely to downgrade into a Basic, un-bundled tier after initially subscribing. The main reason? Few will know a simpler and cheaper plan exists — unless they accidentally stumble upon this option.

These ‘stumble upon’ moments would include revisiting the subscriber options page while logged in, clicking through other subscription options in the ‘Account’ page, or hearing about the cheaper option from a friend, forum, or other source. In all likelihood, only a tiny percentage of new subscribers will encounter the Basic option after subscribing to a bundled tier, and of those, only a subset will take action.

Spotify did note that both Family and Duo bundled Premium plans can be downgraded into Basic options, something we said didn’t exist.

The company also stated that it email-blasted all of its subscribers about the expanded option, though we somehow didn’t receive that email (and it didn’t land in our spam folder).

(On this last point, we did receive a note titled ‘Information about your plan’ on June 21st, which low-key informed us of a $1 price hike. This actually had some information about the Basic downgrade.)

None of that adds up to ‘shouting from the rooftops,’ though Spotify is trying to make the case that Basic isn’t being buried. But why are they doing this?

And why launch Basic at all if the real money is in bundling?

There may be a few motivations at work here. Spotify has been lambasted by music publishers over its sneaky, royalty-cutting shift into bundling. They have also been sued (by the Mechanical Licensing Collective) and referred to federal regulators (specifically the FTC) over this shift.

The National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) is also stirring trouble for Spotify: NMPA chief David Israelite is already pushing for changes on Capitol Hill following Spotify’s shift while dangling the threat of litigation against the platform for separate infringement claims (specifically related to Spotify’s lyrics, music videos, and podcasting diversifications).

But what if Spotify can simply point to a bundle-free Basic option? After all, if subscribers have a choice between bundled and unbundled, then Spotify is merely serving the marketplace instead of abusively steering people towards royalty-lowering bundles.

Meanwhile, there are rumblings that the NMPA is preparing to litigate against the aforementioned infringement allegations. But that’s a whole ‘nother can of worms.

Stay tuned.

Photo: Digital Music News

Last month, Spotify offered the perfect solution to anyone upset with its shift towards bundled subscriptions — a plan solely dedicated to music. There’s just one problem: Spotify’s ‘Basic’ plan is practically impossible to find.

In response to all the hullabaloo and outrage over its shift towards bundled subscriptions, Spotify created the perfect solution: a music-only, bundle-free plan. Late last month, Spotify quietly launched the cheaper option for anyone who preferred a non-bundled alternative.

Introducing Spotify’s ‘Basic’ subscription tier, which does not include bundled access to audiobooks. A Spotify Basic subscription costs $10.99 per month, a dollar less than its Premium tier, which includes 15 hours of audiobook access. The stripped-down subscription plan would save customers money while preserving the higher publishing royalties associated with non-bundled subscriptions.

Problem solved.

“On Spotify, users discover and enjoy music, podcasts, and audiobooks, with various plans that meet our listeners’ needs,” the company relayed on June 21st while noting that “we’re now offering even more options for eligible U.S. subscribers.”

Suddenly, Spotify has a different story to tell regulators, lawmakers, and federal judges reviewing the company’s bundling shifts.

Sure, music publishers are livid over the company’s shift towards lower-paying bundles. But now, subscribers can choose whatever plan they want, including non-bundled options. And if subscribers can pick plans and bundles based on their preferences, isn’t Spotify just giving people what they want?

John likes the convenience of an $11.99 audiobook-bundled plan. Sally doesn’t like the bundled offering because she doesn’t like audiobooks. John and Sally move in together and get a Duo plan with audiobooks included.

It’s the subscriber’s decision, not Spotify’s.

Just one problem: Spotify’s menu of available subscription options doesn’t even list the ‘Basic’ plan.

Basic is also buried to existing subscribers who want to downgrade — if they’re even eligible to downgrade.

Spotify Went ‘Full Bundle’ And Isn’t Looking Back. But What Are the Other Music Platforms Doing?

So how is the elusive ‘Basic’ plan obtained? At the onset, would-be subscribers cannot select the Basic plan to start. Instead, a bundled subscription (for example, an $11.99 Individual subscription with audiobooks) must be purchased first, then downgraded within the Spotify app. And that assumes that the user knows a cheaper music-only plan exists.

But this gets worse. Spotify’s blog post announcing the change noted that Basic is only for ‘eligible’ users.  So who’s ‘eligible,’ exactly?

That would be existing Individual subscribers, not Family or Duo subscribers. Anyone who wants a music-only subscription as a couple or a family is out of luck. (After the publication of this article, Spotify told DMN that all existing Family and Duo Premium plans can be downgraded into Basic, music-only versions.)

In other words, Spotify is funneling all new users to the default Premium tier, which includes bundled audiobook access (for $11.99 a month). Once subscribed, that user, if ‘eligible,’ must actively seek to downgrade the Premium subscription to ‘Basic’ (at $10.99 a month).

But even after an active subscriber attempts to make changes, Basic is still hidden. Here’s what the Account page looks like for an active subscriber to an Individual, audiobook-bundled $11.99-a-month plan.

Only after clicking ‘Available plans’ is the subscriber taken to a new set of options. After scrolling down, Basic appears. And this assumes that the subscriber knows a ‘Basic’ option exists—and Spotify probably won’t alert them.

So what’s next in this game?

At this point, it appears that Spotify is planning to use its Basic plan to make the case that subscribers aren’t being forced into bundles. But whether that works with FTC regulators, CRB judges, and others reviewing the legality of Spotify’s bundling shift is speculative.

After all, Basic is buried, and publishers will make that clear — though perhaps technically, Basic also helps to diffuse legal arguments against Spotify’s bundling by opponents like the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) and National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA).

The bigger game is more obvious. For now, Spotify has effectively shifted more than 98% of its subscription plans to bundles, which translates into serious savings. According to DMN’s latest estimates, Spotify is likely to save more than $160 million worth of publishing royalties a year in the United States, while boosting revenues by half-a-billion dollars on its recent price hikes.

The more bundles, the lower the royalty bill for Spotify — and the greater likelihood of long-term profitability. In the end, the math on this one is pretty ‘Basic’.

Update: Spotify has now responded to this piece, specifically to clarify that Family and Duo Premium bundled plans are eligible for downgrade into a Basic tier. The company also noted that it emailed all subscribers with news of the cheaper Basic option — though this email was not received by DMN. Perhaps most importantly, Spotify also confirmed that the music-only downgrade is only available to current subscribers.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), on behalf of its major label clients Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Music Group, announced the filing of two copyright infringement lawsuits against AI music services Suno and Udio, alleging the unlicensed use of copyrighted sound recordings to train their generative AI models.

In an email to Digital Music News, the RIAA described both lawsuits as ‘landmark’ — and that may not be an understatement.

According to the trade group, the lawsuits against Suno and Udio, filed in Boston and New York federal courts, respectively, mark a significant step in protecting artists’, songwriters’, and rightsholders’ control over their works in the rapidly evolving landscape of AI technology. The plaintiffs, specifically Sony Music Entertainment, UMG Recordings, Inc., and Warner Records, Inc., assert that Suno and Udio have copied and exploited countless sound recordings without permission, spanning various genres, styles, and eras.

The cases seek declarations of infringement, injunctions to prevent future infringement, and damages for past infringements. The core allegations highlight the unlicensed copying of sound recordings on a massive scale for training, development, and operation of Suno and Udio’s services.

The filings can be found here (Suno) and here (Udio).

In its communication with DMN, the RIAA compiled a breakdown of numerous examples of copyright infringement that exemplify the issue at hand.

RIAA Chairman and CEO Mitch Glazier emphasized the music community’s embrace of AI while highlighting the need for responsible development: “The music community has embraced AI, and we are already partnering and collaborating with responsible developers to build sustainable AI tools. But we can only succeed if developers are willing to work together with us.”

Glazier has been critical of unlicensed services like Suno and Udio for exploiting artists’ work without consent or compensation, hindering the potential of innovative and ethical AI.

RIAA Chief Legal Officer Ken Doroshow reinforced the necessity of the lawsuits, stating, “These lawsuits are necessary to reinforce the most basic rules of the road for the responsible, ethical, and lawful development of generative AI systems and to bring Suno’s and Udio’s blatant infringement to an end.”

The music community, including various organizations and prominent figures, has rallied to support the RIAA’s efforts to protect creative works and foster responsible AI development.

In emails to DMN, executives from The Recording Academy, A2IM, SoundExchange, SONA, the NMPA, and others emphasized the importance of fair compensation, respect for artists’ rights, and the ethical use of AI technology.

The core legal arguments presented in the RIAA lawsuits against Suno and Udio revolve around copyright infringement and fair use, with several key points:

Unauthorized Copying of Sound Recordings: The complaints allege that both Suno and Udio engaged in the mass copying and ingestion of copyrighted sound recordings without obtaining the necessary permissions from rightsholders. The RIAA argues that this act of reproduction constitutes a direct violation of copyright law.

Commercial Exploitation: The lawsuits assert that the unauthorized copying was done for commercial purposes, as both Suno and Udio are profit-driven enterprises that monetize their AI-generated music services. This commercial exploitation of copyrighted works without permission further strengthens the copyright infringement claim.

Harm to the Music Industry: The RIAA contends that the unauthorized copying and exploitation of sound recordings by Suno and Udio not only deprives artists and rightsholders of fair compensation but also poses a significant threat to the music industry as a whole. By generating synthetic music that imitates and competes with genuine human creations, these AI services risk devaluing and potentially replacing human-created music, leading to a decline in the quality and diversity of music available to consumers.

Rejection of Fair Use Defense: The complaints anticipate a fair use defense from Suno and Udio but argue that such a defense is invalid in this context. The RIAA maintains that the fair use doctrine, which allows for limited use of copyrighted material without permission under certain circumstances, does not apply to the wholesale copying and commercial exploitation of sound recordings for the purpose of generating derivative works.

Deliberate Evasion and Lack of Transparency: The lawsuits accuse both Suno and Udio of being deliberately evasive about the scope and extent of their copying of copyrighted sound recordings. This lack of transparency, the RIAA argues, is an attempt to conceal their willful copyright infringement.

Negative Impact on Human Creativity: The RIAA emphasizes that the unauthorized use of copyrighted works in AI models not only harms the economic interests of artists and rightsholders but also undermines the value of human creativity and ingenuity. By relying on the unauthorized copying of existing works, AI services like Suno and Udio risk stifling innovation and reducing the diversity of musical expression.

Overall, the legal arguments in these cases center on the fundamental principle that AI companies, like all other businesses, must abide by copyright laws and respect the rights of creators. The RIAA seeks to establish a clear precedent that the unauthorized copying and exploitation of copyrighted works for commercial purposes, even in the context of AI development, constitutes copyright infringement and will not be tolerated.

Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl (r) chatting with NMPA president & CEO David Israelite (l) at the NMPA Annual Meeting on June 12th in New York.

The major labels all have major publishing divisions — and each one of them is getting hit with serious month-over-month royalty reductions from Spotify. So why aren’t major label CEOs doing anything about it?

Every year, the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) hosts a memberwide meeting to celebrate songwriting, highlight publisher accomplishments, and discuss the latest financials and pressing issues. There’s always some good music and laughs. But this year, the meeting felt less like a celebration and more like a preparation for battle in a wartime bunker.

“Spotify has declared war on songwriters. Our response shall be all-encompassing,” NMPA president David Israelite pledged to the assembled, with on-screen text showing a quote from Winston Churchill’s 1940 “We Shall Fight on the Beaches” speech. Speaking to the assembled troops, Israelite outlined the ‘all-encompassing’ response that includes litigation, legislation, and content removals based on direct copyright infringement.

“Our letter was not just a warning shot,” Israelite declared, referring to a cease-and-desist involving Spotify’s use of certain lyrics on the platform and songs in podcasts. “The NMPA has never lost a lawsuit. So you will want to stay tuned.”

Sounds pretty serious, though Spotify doesn’t look intimidated.

In the wake of an aggressive lawsuit lodged by the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) and formal complaints sent to the FTC and other US-based regulatory agencies, the streaming giant has issued strongly-worded statements to Digital Music News challenging the NMPA’s claims. More importantly, they’ve plowed forward with bundled subscription reclassifications that have already resulted in a 44% month-to-month drop in mechanical royalty payments, according to just-released calculations from DMN Pro.

Preliminary royalty statements shared with Digital Music News also reveal that greater than 97% of all Spotify subscriptions in the United States are now classified as bundles in some form or another.

“At Spotify,” the company told DMN, “our approach towards expanding our offerings and increasing pricing is industry standard. We always notify users well in advance of any price increases and offer easy cancellations as well as multiple plan options to consider.”

“We categorically reject the NMPA’s baseless accusations and will continue to provide our users incredible value and a best-in-class experience,” Spotify concluded.

Spotify Mechanical Royalty Payments Drop 44% Month-to-Month as Bundling Takes Root — Here’s a First Look at the Raw Post-Bundling Numbers

Given the pronounced revenue drops involved and battle lines drawn, you’d expect the all-powerful major label CEOs to ride into town, settle the matter, and set Spotify straight. Nothing remotely close to that is occurring.

Universal Music Group chairman and CEO Lucian Grainge and Sony Music Entertainment CEO Rob Stringer have been strangely quiet. Elsewhere, Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl appeared for a keynote interview at the NMPA annual event but declined to offer any serious action to reverse Spotify’s bundling moves.

Instead, Kyncl assumed more of a referee role instead of becoming a fighter in the ring.

“If you look back eighteen months when I started on the job, we had no price increases [by streaming platforms] for fifteen years,” Kyncl said. “Everything was the same, lagging inflation. Since then, we’ve had price increases by everybody, some of them twice. So we’ve moved things in the positive direction to increase the pie, to grow, and that will continue.”

“This bundling is like a variation of that,” the WMG boss continued. “In theory, I’m supportive of bundling, but we just have to make sure that we sort out all the details so that it works for us, so that the value is accruing exactly the way we want.”

“So the answer is, ‘yes, but…'”

Earlier, in a WMG earnings call, Kyncl stated that he didn’t expect Spotify’s dispute with music publishers to last long, because ‘these things don’t play out well’.

At most, that suggests that Kyncl — and possibly other label chiefs — are working to diplomatically resolve the issue with Spotify while keeping the relationship intact.

That falls far short of a TikTok-style’ nuclear option,’ which appears mostly unthinkable given the billions Spotify is plowing into major label bank accounts. Tellingly, not one source to Digital Music News pointed to anything near the extremity of the TikTok pullout emerging with Spotify. And the reasons appear simple.

While extremely high-profile and risky, the UMG-led TikTok removal didn’t involve a critical distribution partner generating a substantial portion of annual revenues. Instead, we quickly learned that TikTok was generating less than 1% of Universal Music Group’s total revenue despite the platform’s relative importance in the music ecosystem.

“With regard to TikTok, we’ve disclosed that our former deal generated about 1% of total UMG annual revenue,” Universal Music Group CFO Boyd Muir confirmed in the company’s Q4 2023 earnings call. In a subsequent analysis, DMN Pro revealed that paid downloads on platforms like the iTunes Store were generating more income for UMG than TikTok licensing.

The result: despite the optics and howls of protest from TikTokers, UMG could afford to make that point. And it’s unlikely to be a hammer wielded against a platform that is most certainly generating more than 1% of revenues.

But there’s a bigger elephant in the room here.

Publishing and recordings are two sides of the same coin, but this is anything but a 50/50 split. Recording rights are negotiated in the free market, while pre-determined statutory rates and government tribunal determinations largely determine publishing percentages. And there’s only so much of the pie that Spotify can pay out, which means that more money paid to publishers means less money to recording rights owners.

“Streaming deals are immutably constrained by the fact that there is a finite pot of money,” industry attorney, investor, and form music publishing executive Jody Dunitz explains. “There is never more than 100% (less overhead and profits) for the streaming services to pay out. Thus, songs can never achieve their fair share until labels take less.”

And the real kicker? “Because the profit margin for labels is much greater than that earned by publishers, the umbrella music corps have no incentive to support a fight to give more to songs.”

Additionally, given that financial reality, it’s unlikely that major label CEOs want to shift towards the hybridized direct-licensing framework outlined by Israelite in a recent proposal to Congress. Giving songwriters and publishers the ability to name their prices independently — and pull their content at will — risks compromising the Spotify consumer experience and reducing the pie for major labels.

All of which strongly suggests that music publishers will be forced to make their point on their own — without the air support of their corporate parents.

Kyncl and the other major label CEOs may nudge the process and bring the warring parties toward a workable resolution. But it won’t be at the expense of the bigger pie.

Spotify’s bundles-of-joy are now wreaking havoc on royalty statements (Photo: Katrin Bolovtsova)

Spotify’s hard shift toward bundling and its associated loopholes have officially started hitting publisher royalty statements, according to documents shared with Digital Music News this week. So far, it looks like Spotify has taken an extreme turn toward cut-rate bundling recategorizations—here’s a look at the preliminary statements.

Last week, Digital Music News calculated that Spotify accounts for an impressive 42% of all mechanical royalties paid in the U.S., based on a tranche of confidential royalty statements from February of 2024. Now, it looks like that percentage is going to drop significantly, thanks to an extreme shift towards bundling that is now impacting music publisher bank accounts.

And make no mistake—this is now impacting music publisher wallets in a serious way. Earlier, sources to Digital Music News noted that Spotify’s ‘bundle-apocalypse’ was slated to start during the March reporting month. Now, roughly 45 days after the close of that reporting period, those tips have proven accurate, with dramatic shifts towards bundled subscription packages appearing in preliminary statements shared with Digital Music News by a major music publisher.

This means that despite a contentious lawsuit filed by the MLC and multiple regulatory complaints lodged by the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), Spotify is pushing full steam ahead with its aggressive bundling shift—with fairly drastic conversions and royalty drops officially in motion.

Spotify definitely isn’t tapping the brakes on this one—separate sources have relayed that the streaming platform is fully prepared to battle with music publishers and regulators to sustain their bundling recategorizations. But what’s the damage in hard numbers?

Before we dive into the hard data, our sources noted that royalty figures are still preliminary and not final. So stay tuned for more detailed analyses and number-crunching on these declines. But after a preliminary review of several statements, DMN can report that there’s clearly a major cliff ahead for publishing payouts—with an enormous percentage of subscription accounts bundled in one form or another.

For now, Digital Music News can confirm that nearly 97% of Spotify subscription accounts are now categorized as bundles in the United States, with associated per-stream mechanical royalty drops.

That includes a shift of nearly 100% of all Family and Duo plans, with a substantial chunk of the all-important Individual subscriber plans also transitioning.

Digging a bit deeper into the Individual subscriber shifts: for the March reporting period, Spotify has transitioned slightly more than 20 million Individual subscriber accounts into bundled plans. During the February statement, the last non-bundled period, total Individual subscriptions topped 20.16 million in the United States.

Spotify Stands to Gain at Least Half-a-Billion a Year From Its Latest Price Increases In the U.S. Alone. Music Publishers Won’t Be Seeing Much of That.

Interestingly, Spotify is still counting another 869,912 Individual accounts as non-bundled in their March tallies. These subscribers may have jumped on an opportunity to forego the audiobook bundle and revert to the $10.99 price point – though, in full disclosure, we’re not entirely clear how that process worked.

Looking ahead, sources have noted that Spotify is expected to release a music-only option in the United States, with subscribers potentially having the option to downgrade into a non-audiobook, music-only option for $1 less a month.

As we reported earlier, certain U.K. subscribers evidently have the option to pay £10.99 per month (not £11.99) for the solo plan by giving up audiobooks, with a stateside rollout potentially next.

Spotify identified 4.17 million audiobook-bundled Duo accounts in March, up from 3.86 million in February. Audiobook-bundled Family accounts, for their part, numbered 5.65 million in March, up from 5.27 million in February.

Notably, following the March transition, virtually zero non-bundled Duo or Family plans now exist. The tiny numbers of non-bundled Duo and Family plans may simply be reporting errors.

In terms of what this means for publishing payouts, it now appears that the damage may be greater than anticipated. Earlier, the music industry pegged the bundling royalty decline at $150 million annually. However, based on preliminary royalty drops reviewed this week, DMN’s back-of-the-envelope calculations now peg that figure well past $160 million.

Meanwhile, NMPA chief David Israelite has been highly vocal about the issue, describing the bundling shift as a “war on songwriters.”

During the NMPA’s recent annual meeting, Israelite promised an “all-encompassing” response to what he sees as Spotify’s aggressive bundling strategy. This response includes a lawsuit filed by the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) challenging the bundling reclassifications and seeking unpaid royalties.

The NMPA has also lodged a complaint with the FTC and various state attorneys general to investigate Spotify’s alleged “unfair and deceptive practices.”

Israelite noted that the organization would continue to advocate for federal legislation to allow direct publisher negotiations with digital service providers (DSPs). During the meeting, he also pointed to an MLC audit of Spotify to uncover any discrepancies in royalty payments, as well as licensing disputes related to videos, lyrics, music in podcasts, and other unauthorized uses.

Spotify has publicly defended its actions, stating that its approach to bundling and pricing is industry standard. The company emphasizes that it notifies users in advance of any price increases and offers multiple plan options.

Sources to DMN have also indicated that Spotify plans to battle the NMPA on all fronts and remains confident that they will prevail in various legal and legislative disputes. Amicable agreements are always possible, but we’re not hearing about any conciliatory chats at the moment.

Separately, Spotify has raised its prices in the United States yet again.

According to DMN Pro calculations, that will generate at least half-a-billion more dollars annually for the platform. But thanks to bundling shifts, music publishers will see little of those gains.

More as this develops.

Image adapted from an illustration by CDD20.

Last week, the music industry learned that Spotify accounts for 42% of all mechanical royalty payments in the US — following Digital Music News’ exhaustive breakdown of one of the most recent reporting months. That market-leading percentage is now likely to take a severe hit — but how low will Spotify go?

Spotify’s ‘bundle-pocalyse’ is nigh, with nervous IP owners pouring through early royalty statements to assess the damage.

One source to Digital Music News noted that the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) has already distributed preliminary reports for March, the month that marks the beginning of Spotify’s massive royalty cuts to music publishers, songwriters, and other compositional IP owners. Apparently, the data isn’t fully baked yet, though rights owners are getting a preview of the carnage.

Spotify’s sudden and massive shift towards bundled offerings—a move that dramatically lowers its publishing payment obligations—is officially barreling forward. DMN understands that MLC’s March statements are now in the final stages of being tallied and distributed.

A working estimate of a $150 million annual drop has been widely bandied about, though let’s see how that ballpark figure holds up. DMN is currently working to obtain preliminary data, with some serious number-crunching on tap for the remainder of this week.

Depending on the exact nature of the drop, it’s possible that Apple Music could surpass Spotify in total mechanical royalty payments. Apple Music is now slightly ahead of Spotify in the all-important individual subscription tally in the US, according to eyebrow-raising market share data exclusively revealed by DMN.

And what about the MLC’s legal battle with Spotify?

The MLC, which oversees mechanical licensing payouts in the US, is now locked in a legal battle with Spotify over allegations that the platform’s bundling reclassifications are illegal. But barring an injunction or sudden shift in that litigation, Spotify will now be doling out its discounted royalties to less-than-thrilled publishers and songwriters.

As first reported by DMN, a federal judge recently granted Spotify’s request to delay its response to the MLC litigation. Judge Analisa Torres signed off on the request, thereby moving the deadline for Spotify’s response from June 10th to July 19th.

Which means Spotify’s attorneys cleverly bought some time while the royalty-chopping carnage gets underway. And the clock is ticking: based on the $150-million-per-year estimate, that comes out to $12.5 million monthly – or north of $20 million between now and the new response deadline.

Meanwhile, there’s little indication that Spotify execs are losing sleep over this.

Music publishers and songwriters are understandably agitated, though Spotify appears less concerned about the pushback. Instead, Wall Street investors seem to be the more critical audience, with profitability representing the critical benchmark for the stock’s performance.

Speaking of Spotify’s SPOT stock, two top Spotify insiders have already cashed out a cool $90 million in Spotify shares this month alone, which ironically represents nearly two-thirds of the estimated annual royalty drop for music publishers. The cash-outs suggest that insiders are hardly fretting about publishing haircuts, with cost-cutting measures like the reduction in Spotify royalty payments handsomely boosting SPOT shares and resulting payouts.

Separately, appeals to ethical considerations seem to be blowing in the wind.

Just recently, a former Spotify executive criticized the company for its move, though Spotify itself seems unswayed. Former Global Head of Publisher Licensing Adam Parness called Spotify’s decision to switch its subscriptions to bundles “misguided and unfair,” describing it as an “ill-informed attempt to deprive songwriters and music publishers of their rightfully earned U.S. mechanical royalties.”

Parness said he framed his critique not as a way to disparage Spotify but as an appeal to the company to honor the spirit of its agreements. A strong appeal indeed, though perhaps that messsage-in-a-bottle didn’t quite make it to Daniel Ek’s superyacht.

Meanwhile, the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) has been pushing for a hybridized direct and compulsory licensing framework for mechanical royalty payments in the United States.

However, we’ve heard little movement on this front, though Israelite is a notorious 3D chess master when it comes to pulling levers on Capitol Hill.

The NMPA has called on Congress to allow direct negotiations between music publishers and streaming platforms alongside existing statutory mechanical rate payouts. This shift would maximize negotiating power and payouts for publishers but faces significant legislative hurdles.

More as this develops.

Play MPE’s MTR dashboard (Photo Credit: Play MPE)

Given the endless industry coverage of all things streaming and UGC — thanks, DMN — you’d be forgiven for forgetting that broadcast radio remains a powerful platform.

But despite the meteoric surge of streaming platforms and social media, good ol’ radio remains a critical component of music marketing plans — with the power to blow up artists lucky enough to get airtime.

As will.i.am noted during Digital Music News’ recent Pro event, radio is “one of the most important conduits for the world of music” and serves as “America’s stage,” especially for artists in their breakout phase. Beyond that, the format offers a unique connection to communities that streaming services can’t replicate, particularly for stations that complement music with morning shows, celebrity DJs, and local concerts and events.

With that in mind, Vancouver-based music tech company Play MPE is launching MTR, a comprehensive radio tracking tool, in the US. Initially beta-trialed in Canada, MTR now monitors over 5,000 radio stations across North America. For Play MPE, the launch marks a significant expansion designed to complement a suite of tools serving artists and music industry professionals. Just recently, Play MPE partnered with DMN to broaden awareness of the launch.

Play MPE execs exclusively shared a number of components powering MTR with Digital Music News. 

Beyond the 5,000+ station spread, Play MPE emphasized a user-friendly interface, detailed analytics and reporting, and overall affordability. Let’s break down some of these components.

At its core, MTR provides real-time data on when and where songs are getting airplay. That’s the simple, core functionality. Complementing that is an interface stuffed with data, including a top-level song performance overview detailing spins by radio stations, cities, and dayparts. Artists and labels can also easily compare tracking periods by day, week, or month.

On the reporting side, data reports can be sliced by several metrics, including timeframes and geographic regions. Importantly, artists and labels can pinpoint exactly where a song is gaining traction and monitor broader reactions in real-time. This ability to track plays and engagement as they happen can be invaluable for optimizing promotional strategies and release rollouts.

This isn’t the first radio-monitoring platform to hit America, though Play MPE stressed that MTR offers accessible pricing plans that cater to a wide range of artists and labels. Pricing is affordable for most budgets (see current pricing tiers here), and Play MPE is planning to seriously undercut competitive platforms and dramatically expand accessibility as a result.  The company also noted that new stations are constantly being added, which will also impact the pricing tiers and options ahead.

Play MPE is a global promotional and tastemaker with capabilities that go far beyond radio monitoring.

The company operates in over 100 countries and oversees a massive promotional network worldwide. In that context, the company aims to integrate MTR as part of a critical promotional package for major record labels, promoters, and artists, with radio programmers and professional curators across six continents on the receiving end of this platform.

Distilling down the company’s expanded business model, Play MPE now revolves around three primary offerings:

• Caster: For music promotion distribution.
• Player: For music discovery.
• MTR: For radio tracking.

According to the company, thousands of independent artists, promoters, and record labels use Caster to distribute releases to radio, media outlets, music supervisors, and curators. Releases sent through Caster appear in Player, a secure music library employed by radio programmers for its comprehensive collection of broadcast-ready music files and essential metadata.

Play MPE told DMN that their platform is what professionals use when they grow out of using platforms like Dropbox or SoundCloud. The company’s major label-level asset vetting, delivery pipeline, and metadata management ensure that even indie artists can compete on the same level as top-tier acts. Basically, this is what professional programmers and radio stations use instead of links or random emails.

In that light, the combination of MTR and Caster provides a full spectrum of data and insights, from initial promotional engagement to real-time radio play monitoring. According to Play MPE, this enables artists and labels to target interested tastemakers effectively and adjust their strategies based on concrete data.

“At Play MPE, we are committed to empowering artists and industry professionals with the tools they need to succeed,” said Rocio Fernandez, Director of Product Development at Play MPE. “With MTR, we’re breaking down barriers and increasing access to crucial airplay data, enabling our clients to make informed decisions and maximize their impact in the market.”

In terms of clientele, Play MPE is going wide and pushing a serious democratization of the music industry.

The company said its platform is designed to be accessible to everyone, from major labels to independent artists and everything in between. You can feel that energy when speaking with this team. The democratization of professional-grade promotional and tracking tools is a big part of Play MPE’s mission to open as many music industry doors as possible.

En Vogue (Photo: HITKOR)

HITKOR is all about the fan experience — with an important twist. The company delivers high-end live-streaming capabilities from a well-appointed studio to artists, labels, and a global customer base. At its core, the platform revolves around a professional sound stage and a range of recording services and monetization options, all of which are now available to the music industry. “This is for you to reach your fans in a meaningful manner and present yourself in a groundbreaking way,” HITKOR says.

Russ Miller, CEO of HITKOR, clarifies that they’re not in the business of being a publishing or content marketing company — and aren’t trying to be. “HITKOR’s business model is about a premium live-streaming entertainment experience,” Miller shared, relaying that HITKOR even allows fans to switch through different cameras and audio streams.

Alongside a global reach, the company introduces unique revenue pathways for artists, an elevated experience for their fans, and assets such as ‘a world-class Live crew specializing in music performances and high-definition isolated audio recording.’ Just recently, HITKOR joined forces with DMN to broaden awareness of their model.

Most significantly, artists retain their audio IP and the ability to collaborate with HITKOR to produce a unique and exclusive event. According to Miller, the expanded live experience is about a ‘boutique, high-level global offering that other players aren’t bringing.’ With its premium infrastructure, Miller believes HITKOR can provide these elevated offerings to every artist while maintaining a very green footprint — by dramatically reducing the resources consumed by conventional global touring.

Miller says HITKOR’s hybrid entertainment — for fans and artists — is the way of the future, adding, “HITKOR does not aim to replace live entertainment. Its purpose is to augment.”

Miller offers a perspective you won’t find from a typical tech CEO. He’s a working musician and session drummer who has toured for many years with the likes of Andrea Bocelli and the Psychedelic Furs. Part working musician and part business owner, Miller knows the many nuts and bolts required to create a powerful live performance.

Accordingly, HITKOR’s inspiration stemmed from his passion for equipping artists with the tools they need to present fans with a quality stream of their performances.

HITKOR set for Stephen Glickman (Photo: HITKOR)

With that goal in mind, HITKOR allows fans to switch cameras in real time, enabling them to stream just like ISO cams and hear the performance in immersive audio.

The platform also provides artists and creators accessibility to fans in far-off, expensive-to-tour territories.

“There are a ton of young rock bands with followings in certain places like Australia and Asia — but they need hundreds of thousands of dollars in travel and production to reach those fans. The math of touring and putting hefty resources into reaching that audience doesn’t work,” Miller explains, adding that these territories with bubbling fan bases are a significant opportunity for artists, but unlike ‘top tier artists whose touring companies can afford it or get corporate sponsorships’ to reach them, indie players do not enjoy the same luxuries.

So how does an artist reach hard-to-access fans and offer them the experience they deserve — without the incredible amount of resources that touring demands?

Artists can pursue the traditional model of producing a show — renting a venue and getting a whole crew to capture and edit the piece. Or, artists can let HITKOR curate a premium experience for their fans — from start to finish.

According to Miller, HITKOR is an all-in-one solution for artists who need access to lucrative and expansive label resources. “We can work with artists who play theater-sized events, performing arts centers, etc. There’s a lot of opportunity on both sides — if the industry understands what we do.”

It’s an accessibility thing, explains Miller — another way to cultivate an audience and attain a wider reach. “We have a very indie approach to what we’re doing, but we’re doing it at a premium level.”

HITKOR’s facility in Simi Valley holds a ‘world-class’ sound stage and recording studio ‘with the latest and greatest Pro Tools HDX systems — where artists can do overdubs, remix, and do anything they want.’

For HITKOR’s one-of-a-kind offering, artists ‘don’t pay anything.’ Miller explains, “We pay. We’re not asking you for money or full licensing. It’s your music.”

Artists also gain a full guarantee as though they’re doing a live show. But unlike a traditional venue, artists receive a 50/50 revenue split.

In return, HITKOR — without getting into the weeds of the agreements — receives a sync license to the audio and video recording that covers a one-year monetization deal on the HITKOR platform. After the contract expires, the artist can renegotiate terms to extend the monetization. Throughout it all, HITKOR owns the rights to the video, which the company can only use in collaboration with the artist. And the artist or label always retains ownership of the audio.

“It’s an artist-centric deal,” says Miller, explaining that with a HITKOR tie-up, artists will own ‘a world-class multi-track recording of their gig, which they can re-release.’

As for record labels, Miller emphasizes that it’s an ‘excellent opportunity for an artist with a record coming out to do an online global record release party.’

In that scenario, the label would cover the artist’s cost, HITKOR would cover the production cost, and ‘everybody wins.’

Mitch Rossell (Photo: HITKOR)

Unfortunately, live performance fans are all-too-familiar with the shortage of good, highly accessible, well-organized live concert footage. For HITKOR, it all comes down to an optimized fan experience, and they’re betting on their high-end hybrid offer to deliver that at scale.

“It’s a challenging time for artists to figure out how they’re going to present themselves, in which way, and how they can make a living doing it — especially if they’re not huge artists,” Miller says.

As the economy introduces many novel challenges to the live concert industry, some artists have witnessed record success, while many middle-tier artists and performers have fallen by the wayside. Without a mammoth label or touring company resources behind them or enormous audience guarantees, these artists cannot afford to tour and reach their fan base — let alone cultivate a new one.

And these economic challenges also crush viewers. With astronomical ticket pricing and other ancillary costs such as gas and parking, even the most devoted fans can now only commit to a fraction of the shows they may be interested in attending.

HITKOR believes there’s now a significant gap to bridge and an opportunity to provide fans access to unique content — that doesn’t cost them an arm and a leg.

In the face of rampant inflation and rapidly depleting spending power, HITKOR’s ‘hybrid solution’ is built to cater to evolving audiences. The company believes fans will soon become highly frugal — prioritizing live performances and festivals that they cannot bear to miss, and switching to watching other shows at home.

By design, HITKOR wants to cast a pretty wide net and is working to build a little bit of everything for viewers, with VOD a big part of the company’s model.

“Audiences can watch a live show on HITKOR for a year after purchasing a ticket, with all the options to view it again in HITKOR’s unique ways. We’re adding VR 360 cams to the mix — where the fans join the artist on a virtual stage,” says Miller, adding, “All of the features exist in Encore VOD, even merchandising sales. Selling merch at shows the artist has already performed also presents a new source of revenue.”

Currently, HITKOR is selling everything a la carte and pay-per-view.

With a HITKOR tie-up, artists can cash in on several other potential upsides, including HITKOR’s lesser-known merch manufacturing company, Bold Hits, LLC in Chatsworth, CA. The in-house facility allows artists to create, produce, and sell exclusive merchandise in perpetuity — another cash flow option that comes with HITKOR’s boutique live stream model.

“To fully optimize the monetary benefits, artists need to help promote the HITKOR stream as though it’s a live show, which requires them to maximize their fanbase to sell tickets.”

Miller emphasizes that HITKOR’s offering is not a one-off opportunity for artists to grab and go. With global live streaming and a pay-per-view scenario for tickets and merch, HITKOR sells access  to the ‘event.’ At their end, artists can leverage their reach to ensure they don’t just have a show — ‘they have a floor-to-ceiling event experience for optimal commerce, the best artistic presentation, and a world-class show for all of their fans.’

Is Spotify as dominant as we think? (Photo by Qimono, modified by DMN)

According to recent data verified by Digital Music News, Spotify now has more than 50 million paying subscribers in the US. But Apple Music is bigger in the most lucrative subscriber category.

In seemingly every music industry discussion, Spotify is regarded as the dominant giant in the streaming music space. But just how dominant is Spotify when compared to rivals like Apple Music, Amazon Music, and YouTube Music, particularly in the US?

According to a tranche of royalty data shared by a major publisher and verified by Digital Music News, this game is more competitive than we previously thought.

Per the data — specifically for February of this year — Spotify has more paying subscribers overall than Apple Music when all plan packages (individual, family, student, and others) are considered and weighted. But when it comes to the most valuable package — the individual subscriber plan — Apple Music is beating Spotify in the United States.

The revelation could be critical given the contentious battle that has now emerged between Spotify and the music publishing industry. Let’s break these numbers down.

At a top level, Spotify’s overall subscriber total in the United States is more than 50 million, which easily beats Apple Music’s tally of nearly 42 million*. That is a lead of more than 20%, though Spotify is getting edged out by Apple in the lucrative ‘Individual Subscriber’ category.

(Update: in our original post, we mistakenly tallied Apple Music’s approximate US-based subscriber total at 34 million; the actual weighted figure is 41.7 million).

In this important category, Spotify counts a less impressive 20.2 million subscribers compared to Apple Music’s 20.8 million.

Of Apple Music’s total, 19.1 million are conventional individual subscriptions, with approximately 1.73 million coming from packaged Apple One subscriptions that include Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Arcade, and iCloud for a discounted price.

Spotify’s 50+ million total is buoyed by Family, Duo, and Student plans, which carry certain multipliers or discounts for royalty-calculation purposes as determined by the MLC and publishers for royalty calculation purposes (for example, family plans receive a 1.75x multiplier applied by certain publishers, while Student plans have a 0.5x multiplier applied).

Just recently, National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) president David Israelite pointed to Spotify’s ‘nearly 50 million subscribers,’ while data supplied to DMN — with appropriate multipliers — put Spotify’s subscription total at slightly greater than 50 million.

Importantly, the royalty multipliers shared with DMN differ from the methodology applied by Spotify itself. According to Spotify’s financial disclosures, subscribers are predictably counted as ‘1’ on individual subscriber and student plans. For Family and Duo plans, the number is determined by the actual number of family members or friends that join the account (for example, if only two additional family members join a plan that accommodates 6, then the total number of subscribers reported by Spotify is 3).

So, what does this mean for Spotify’s market share?

That’s a critically important question in the context of a heated legal battle erupting between Spotify and the music publishing industry. In its recent lawsuit against Spotify, the MLC pegged total damages from Spotify’s bundled music plans—and the royalty discounts that come with them—at approximately $150 million annually. However, that figure may assume a more dominant market share position.

Last year, the NMPA tallied 44.4 million Spotify subscribers in the US, compared to 32.6 million for Apple Music. The figures pegged Spotify with an approximate US-based market share of 38% amongst rival DSPs, at least using the competitive platforms presented in the member meeting.

On that note, we’re still collecting more detailed 2024 data on subscriber counts for other streaming platforms like Amazon Music. So stay tuned for more updated market share estimates.

Overall, Spotify counts 239 million paying subscribers worldwide, across all tiers, per the company’s most recent quarterly earnings call.

This isn’t the first time that Apple Music has seriously challenged Spotify in the US.

In 2018, Digital Music News first reported that Apple Music had surpassed Spotify’s total subscribers in the United States. That followed an earlier report in the Wall Street Journal that pointed to a faster rate of subscriber growth at Apple Music. Since that point, the platforms have remained extremely competitive, with Spotify also battling Apple on antitrust grounds in the US and Europe.

Apple doesn’t release music-specific subscriber data, and Spotify doesn’t break down US-specific (or any country-specific) subscriber information. Neither company agreed to share US-specific subscriber data for this article.

Where will Spotify’s bundling adventure take us next?

On Tuesday, NMPA president David Israelite advanced a different licensing schema to members of Congress that would change the game for music publishers — and complicate the game for everyone else.

Just moments after the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) filed suit against Spotify, the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) dropped another bomb. In a letter floated on Tuesday (May 21st) by NMPA chief David Israelite to members of Congress (see the full text here), a brand-new licensing schema was advanced.

Under the proposed update, the MLC and statutory mechanical licensing would remain, but music publishers would also have the freedom to negotiate their rates directly with streaming platforms like Spotify.

This is the type of change that music publishers have always wanted. However, Israelite was clearly motivated by Spotify’s sneaky shift into bundling and the statutory licensing discounts that come with it.

“The continued abuse of the statutory system by digital services, most recently Spotify, has made clear that additional action by Congress is needed,” Israelite wrote while pointing to routine, fraught renegotiations before the US Copyright Office’s Copyright Royalty Board (CRB).

“In these proceedings, music publishers and songwriters must face off against some of the biggest tech companies in the world: Spotify, Apple, Amazon, Google, among others, to establish rates for the use of musical works.”

But what if music publishers could call the shots with direct licensing negotiations, just like record labels? “Rather than picking who wins and who loses, Congress should allow rights holders the choice to license through the MLC using the statutorily set royalty rates or to withdraw from the MLC and operate in a free market if they meet certain conditions,” the proposal continues.

All of which sounds like a fantastic change for music publishers and a long-overdue shift — though for obvious reasons, Spotify would rue the day that publishing direct-licensing arrived.

There are many details that need to be clarified. But under the new plan, if a publisher or songwriter decides they’d like a higher rate than what is currently offered under statutory rates, they simply withdraw their catalog and demand more. Spotify (and other streaming platforms) must then negotiate or risk losing the song entirely.

That’s great for publishers and a worthwhile shift toward normalizing music licensing. But for Spotify, there’s plenty to hate here. For starters, licensing costs for publishing IP would quickly increase, and recording owners might not budge. The result is that songs would become more expensive to license, which is bad news for Spotify’s profitability ambitions.

Wall Street, now firmly focused on profitability instead of growth and pushing Spotify in this direction, would also seriously dislike this change given that Spotify’s core asset — the music — could become significantly more expensive. Those riding the wave on Spotify’s stock (SPOT) might decide it’s an opportune time to sell.

But beyond the direct content costs, there would be serious administrative and logistical issues to weather. Instead of sending data to the MLC and writing a fat check, Spotify would suddenly have to manage millions of individual negotiations with songwriters and publishers that want more money.

Nearly every IP owner behind a song with significant plays will likely demand more cash. And this isn’t something you can staff up against. Instead, Spotify would have to retool its entire licensing framework to manage millions of micro-negotiations at scale.

That’s not to say this isn’t the right answer and a step in the right direction. But it’s not a step that Spotify ever wants to take.

And make no mistake, there will be prices Spotify won’t pay, which means more grayed-out content and more dissatisfied customers. Though the exact details haven’t been hashed out, it’s possible that a single songwriter could remove a popular track from Spotify at any time, simply because they want a higher rate that Spotify doesn’t want to pay.

Which brings us to the next loser in this scenario: the labels.

It’s not that recording owners aren’t winning in this equation. They enjoy unfettered, direct negotiations with platforms like Spotify and receive far more than their music publishing counterparts. Theoretically, publishers should enjoy the same freedoms, though that doesn’t mean recording owners want to hand over a slice of their (far more significant) pie.

There’s a reason major label bigwigs haven’t been rallying to the defense of music publishers. Any substantive gains by music publishers probably translate into less money for recordings. Beyond that, a shift towards publisher direct licensing also means more disruption to the smoothly running, streaming gravy train.

Suddenly, publishers and songwriters can yank their content if they’re unhappy. At any moment, Spotify and other streaming platforms can get dinged by serious content holes and spotty selections.

Right now, Spotify has everything listeners want — except for the now-rare holdout like Garth Brooks. But what if users were routinely hitting unplayable potholes? None of that is good news for the billion-dollar streaming music pipeline that is now express-pumping cash into every major label coffer.

That might explain why major label CEOs like Universal Music Group’s Lucian Grainge haven’t been vocal on Spotify’s bundling fiasco. And why they’ll likely remain disinterested in a direct-licensing future for music publishers.

For major recording owners like UMG, this boat is best left un-rocked.

Books & Music: So simple, yet so complicated (photo: Andrea Piacquadio)

Late yesterday, Digital Music News first reported on the Mechanical Licensing Collective’s lawsuit against Spotify over allegedly underpaid publishing royalties. Now, Spotify is pushing back and seriously questioning the merits of the MLC’s claims. Here’s what they relayed to DMN early this morning.

Spotify is now responding to an aggressive lawsuit filed by the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC), and it looks like we may have a fight on our hands. Late yesterday, the MLC filed its complaint against Spotify USA in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (here’s the complete 23-page filing). In summary, the MLC alleges that the streaming music platform is illegally undercutting its royalty obligations by bundling its various music, audiobook, and podcast offerings.

Not so fast, Spotify says. In comments issued to Digital Music News this morning, the DSP asserts that everything is above board, fair and square, and by the book. Specifically, Spotify notes that bundling discounts were baked into the most recent royalty agreement approved by the Copyright Royalty Board — dubbed ‘Phonorecords IV’ — and publishers are refusing to follow their own terms.

“The [MLC] lawsuit concerns terms that publishers and streaming services agreed to and celebrated years ago under the Phono IV agreement,” Spotify told DMN, while linking to a ‘celebratory’ announcement issued at the time by the National Music Publishers’ Assocation (NMPA).

Everyone signed off on Phonorecords IV and popped the champagne afterward, Spotify says, with bundling terms clearly agreed upon. “Bundles were a critical component of that settlement, and multiple DSPs include bundles as part of their mix of subscription offerings,” the streaming platform continued.

It’s worth noting that other streaming music platforms also bundle, with Apple and Amazon both masters of high-priced bundled offerings that span media, e-commerce, and other perks. Exactly how those platforms employ bundling to their advantage on the royalty front is unclear at this stage, though more details could surface if a court battle ensues.

Further flexing its clout — and this could come into play later — Spotify also pointed to its massive royalty contributions to the music industry overall.

“Spotify paid a record amount to publishers and societies in 2023 and is on track to pay out an even larger amount in 2024,” the Spotify executive continued.

That comment was carefully calculated and part of an interesting power dynamic between the platform, the music industry, and music publishers. So far, the recording side of the business has been quiet on the bundling royalty question, with major label toppers like Lucian Grainge (UMG) and Robert Kyncl (WMG) mostly praising Spotify’s bundling strategies. Part of the reason is that Spotify is more intelligently pushing price increases by diversifying its product mix, a strategy likely to spill even more revenues into major label coffers.

DMN Pro Weekly Report: As Spotify Embraces Bundles, Mechanical Royalties Take a Hit — But Are We Missing the Big Picture Here?

Despite lingering fears of a streaming subscription plateau, major labels are still posting double-digit quarterly revenue gains, with paid subscriptions a big reason for the uptick. That might explain why publishers are fighting this battle alone, even though major publishers are often subsidiaries of major label conglomerates.

Back to the MLC situation, Spotify hesitated to spell out its next moves.

That could include a combative legal response, though some negotiations may be in order first. “We look forward to a swift resolution of this matter,” the company offered.

As for the allegations, the MLC alleges that Spotify has sneakily classified its Premium Individual, Duo, and Family plans as bundled subscriptions by including audiobook access. This classification allegedly reduces the reported service provider revenue for music, leading to lower royalty payments.

The MLC argues that Spotify’s bundling approach does not comply with applicable laws and regulations—though Spotify begs to differ on that point. The lawsuit seeks corrected reporting and unpaid royalties from March 2024 onwards, along with future compliance.

The MLC, created by unanimous Congressional mandate in 2018 and designated by the Register of Copyrights, is tasked with collecting and distributing blanket mechanical license royalties and enforcing payment obligations. Since its inception in January 2021, the MLC says it has distributed over $2 billion to songwriters and music publishers.

More as this develops.

Music publishing heavyweight Sony Music Publishing is now threatening action against Spotify over its less-than-welcomed royalty reductions.

Spotify has just poked another giant bear following its transition to bundled subscription packages—and the conveniently lower publishing royalty payouts that come with them. According to internal communications leaked to Digital Music News early Friday (May 17th), Sony Music Publishing chief Jon Platt isn’t in a rosy mood following Spotify’s maneuvers and may take action.

As if a lawsuit from the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) and a cease-and-desist from the National Music Publishers’ Association isn’t enough, Platt is now promising to put all options on the table.

Platt succinctly outlined the issue and possible next steps in a letter sent to member songwriters and composers earlier today. “We are working with the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) and considering all options to enforce the improved rates that were achieved in CRB Phono IV,” Platt relayed.

“In addition, earlier this week, the NMPA sent a letter to Spotify putting them on notice that there are unlicensed videos, lyrics, and podcasts on its service, an important step to ensure that songwriters are being paid properly across all aspects of Spotify’s platform.”

Earlier this morning, Spotify told DMN that it strongly disagrees with the MLC lawsuit. The platform pointed to its recently signed ‘Phonorecords IV’ agreement governing mechanical publishing payouts, which includes stipulations related to bundling.

“The [MLC] lawsuit concerns terms that publishers and streaming services agreed to and celebrated years ago under the Phono IV agreement,” Spotify emailed DMN while linking to a ‘celebratory’ announcement issued at the time by the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA).

Platt and Sony Music Publishing see matters differently. “We do not agree with Spotify’s position,” Platt noted. “While the CRB rate structure allows for a discounted bundle rate in certain circumstances, we do not believe this offering falls within the parameters that were agreed in the last CRB proceeding.”

Separately, music industry chatter is now focused on whether a ‘nuclear option’ could be next.

But unlike Lucian Grainge’s gutsy TikTok pullout, music publishers may be unable to pull their content unilaterally. For starters, Spotify and the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) are now locked in a legal battle, with a court adjudicating whether laws and contacts are being broken. It’s quite feasible that Spotify prevails, which means that publishers won’t have the ability to remove content under statutory and compulsory licensing rules.

Beyond mechanical royalties, however, there’s also the matter of music inclusion within podcasts and videos. The NMPA has put Spotify on notice for its use of music within podcasts as well as its placement of lyrics within videos. Those fall outside of statutory law and require direct handshakes and authorizations to prevent direct infringement.

Here’s the full letter sent by Platt just hours ago.

Dear Songwriters and Composers,

I’m writing to share an important update regarding the mechanical royalties that Spotify pays you in the United States. 

Until recently, Spotify has been paying songwriters at the improved headline rate that was agreed upon in the last U.S. Copyright Royalty Board (CRB Phono IV) proceeding in 2022.

Late last year, Spotify added an audiobook offering to its premium subscription tier in the U.S. and across several other markets.  Spotify then unilaterally reclassified their subscription product as a bundle.  They claim this enables them to pay a reduced mechanical royalty rate. In effect, Spotify is taking the position that all U.S. subscribers are part of a bundle without choosing the bundle option.
 
Beginning with their March 2024 accountings, Spotify began to pay at the discounted rate that they claim they are entitled. This has the effect of reducing mechanical royalty payments to songwriters by approximately 20%. The reduction does not currently impact royalties outside of the U.S.

We do not agree with Spotify’s position.  While the CRB rate structure allows for a discounted bundle rate in certain circumstances, we do not believe this offering falls within the parameters that were agreed in the last CRB proceeding.

Yesterday, the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) filed a lawsuit in Federal Court in New York City challenging Spotify’s actions.

We are working with the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) and considering all options to enforce the improved rates that were achieved in CRB Phono IV. In addition, earlier this week the NMPA sent a letter to Spotify putting them on notice that there are unlicensed videos, lyrics and podcasts on its service, an important step to ensure that songwriters are being paid properly across all aspects of Spotify’s platform.

I will continue to reach out directly with important updates as they come.

Jon Platt

Chairman & CEO, Sony Music Publishing

Photo Credit: Hipgnosis Songs Fund

Apollo-backed Concord says it will not be increasing its Hipgnosis bid higher than $1.25 per share, a statement that gives Blackstone the higher offer and a path towards acquisition.

Concord will not be upping its offer for Hipgnosis Songs Fund (HSF), according a statement issued to Digital Music News late Wednesday (May 8th). In an emerging bidding war involving Blackstone, Concord had recently upped its offer to $1.25 per share, with Blackstone quickly beating the per-share price. Concord’s $1.25-per-share price, however, is’ final and will not be increased,’ according to the company and its operative acquisition entity, Concord Bidco.

“Further to the announcements made by Concord Bidco on 18 April 2024 and 24 April 2024 (the “Announcements”) setting out the terms of its all cash offer for the entire issued, and to be issued, share capital of Hipgnosis, Concord Bidco confirms that its offer of $1.25 per Hipgnosis Share is final and will not be increased,” the statement reads.

Late last month, after Concord put up an improved offer of $1.51 billion for Hipgnosis Songs Fund – and began purchasing shares from investors – Blackstone shot back with a $1.57 billion bid.

Blackstone, which is the majority owner of Hipgnosis Song Management, and HSF formally announced the higher bid on April 28th. Made via Blackstone’s newly formed “Lyra Bidco,” the proposal would pay the publicly traded songs fund’s investors $1.30 per share and was recommended by Hipgnosis Songs Fund to its shareholders.

Blackstone would also assume HSF’s sizable debt facility as part of their offer.

“The Board is pleased to unanimously recommend this US$1.6 billion Offer for Hipgnosis from Blackstone,” HSF chair Robert Naylor said in a statement late last month. “Since we started our strategic review, we have been clearly focused on looking at all the options to deliver shareholder value. We are delighted that, following competitive interests in acquiring Hipgnosis, our investors now have a chance to immediately realise their holding at an increased premium.”

Leading up to Concord’s latest announcement, multiple Hipgnosis shareholders have started to divest their shares.

That strongly suggested that the bidding war was coming to a close, though a purchase isn’t a clear next step. As part of a complex ownership arrangement, Hipgnosis Songs Management, or HSM, Hipgnosis Songs Fund’s investment advisor, appears resolutely ready to protect its position amidst the bidding war.

A key issue is a “call option” in the investment advisory agreement between HSM and HSF. This option would allow HSM to acquire HSF’s assets in specific scenarios, potentially hindering a sale to a third party.

As of very early Thursday, May 9th, HSF had not issued a statement on Concord’s decision to stay put.

More as this develops.

Photo Credit: BoliviaInteligente

In a sudden turn of events, Universal Music Group and TikTok have announced a new licensing agreement, signifying a hopeful step forward in the fraught relationship between the music industry giant and the global social media platform. The development closely follows the passage of the ‘TikTok ban bill’ in the United States.

The agreement, announced early this morning from Los Angeles, marks the end of a contentious period while potentially setting the stage for a deal benefiting artists, songwriters, labels, and the billion-plus user community of TikTok. Terms of the updated agreement were not disclosed, though UMG executives had cited problems with overall compensation and AI licensing.

The UMG-TikTok deal comes after a months-long standoff, which also included threats of legal action from UMG against TikTok for alleged DMCA violations, as Digital Music News first reported last month. UMG first began removing its entire catalog from the platform at the end of February, causing howls of protests from TikTokers and artists alike.

Also worth noting: TikTok’s agreement comes just days after President Biden signed into a law that would effectively ban the platform in the United States. TikTok and its parent, ByteDance, have vowed to challenge the law in court, though the serious development may have prompted TikTok to play nicer with the music industry.

Separately, sources to DMN pointed to tens of thousands of DMCA takedown notices being issued by UMG, part of a larger, systemic issue of unauthorized content proliferating on the platform. Those concerns may have been alleviated by the terms of the freshly-inked deal, though more details are undoubtedly forthcoming.

For now, there’s a new era of cooperation between the companies, with UMG artists back on the platform.

Sir Lucian Grainge, Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group, expressed enthusiasm about the renewed partnership, emphasizing the value of music, the importance of human artistry, and the welfare of the creative community. Grainge highlighted the potential for collaborative innovation in fan engagement and the advancement of social music monetization, promising a brighter future for UMG’s artists and songwriters.

“This new chapter in our relationship with TikTok focuses on the value of music, the primacy of human artistry and the welfare of the creative community,” Grainge stated. “We look forward to collaborating with the team at TikTok to further the interests of our artists and songwriters and drive innovation in fan engagement while advancing social music monetization.”

Shou Chew, CEO of TikTok, echoed these sentiments, reaffirming the platform’s commitment to driving value, discovery, and promotion for UMG’s roster of artists and songwriters. Chew emphasized the integral role of music in the TikTok ecosystem and the company’s dedication to deepening the ability of artists to grow, connect, and engage with the community.

“Music is an integral part of the TikTok ecosystem and we are pleased to have found a path forward with Universal Music Group,” Chew said. “We are committed to working together to drive value, discovery and promotion for all of UMG’s amazing artists and songwriters, and deepen their ability to grow, connect and engage with the TikTok community.”

The agreement promises including improved remuneration for UMG’s songwriters and artists, new promotional and engagement opportunities, and protections regarding the use of generative AI in music creation.

That includes artist-centric tools like “Add to Music App,” which TikTok expanded during the standoff. That helps to shuttle fans towards DSPs like Spotify when songs or artists are trending. But more importantly for TikTok, the UMG deal reopens a critical license for TikTok Music, a new-fangled Spotify competitor that is still in its infancy.

Additionally, DMN understands that UMG will be given enhanced data and analytics on artist activity. Separately, TikTok has also been busy integrating ticketing capabilities, part of a continued expansion into music that could further benefit UMG-inked artists.

Both organizations have also pledged to work together on ensuring AI development in the music industry respects human artistry and contributes positively to the economics that flow to artists and songwriters. Efforts will be made to remove unauthorized AI-generated music from TikTok, alongside introducing measures to improve artist and songwriter attribution.

Ole Obermann, TikTok’s Global Head of Music Business Development, and Michael Nash, Chief Digital Officer and EVP of Universal Music Group, both expressed optimism about the potential of this partnership to foster deeper connections between artists, creators, and fans, and to promote an environment in which artists and songwriters prosper.

“We are delighted to welcome UMG and UMPG back to TikTok,” Obermann said. “We look forward to working together to forge a path that creates deeper connections between artists, creators, and fans. In particular, we will work together to make sure that AI tools are developed responsibly to enable a new era of musical creativity and fan engagement while protecting human creativity.”

“Developing transformational partnerships with important innovators is critical to UMG’s commitment to promoting an environment in which artists and songwriters prosper,” Nash relayed.

“We’re gratified to renew our relationship with TikTok predicated on significant advancements in commercial and marketing opportunities as well as protections provided to our industry-leading roster on their platform. With the constantly evolving ways that social interaction, fan engagement, music discovery and artistic ingenuity converge on TikTok, we see great potential in our collaboration going forward.”

More as this develops.

Photo Credit: Hipgnosis Songs Fund

Let the bidding war commence! After getting one-upped by Blackstone, Concord is now back with a slightly better all-cash bid of $1.51 billion.

Over the weekend, Blackstone bested Concord Chorus’ $1.4 billion all-cash offer for Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited with a juicier $1.5 billion offer. Now, Concord is quickly responding with a slightly-better, $1.51 billion offer.

The offer, emailed to Digital Music News moments ago, outlined a revised cash offer of $1.25 per share, a 7.8% increase from its original offer. The offer values Hipgnosis at approximately $1.5115 billion, which edges out Blackstone’s weekend offer.

In its offer summary, Concord noted that the revised offer represents a significant premium over Hipgnosis’s recent trading price and its Net Asset Value (NAV). Concord also relayed that the Hipgnosis Board of Directors has unanimously recommended the increased offer to Hipgnosis shareholders.

Specifically, ‘Concord Bidco’ noted that shareholders representing 31.27% of Hipgnosis’s issued shares have already agreed to support the offer. Other shareholders can vote on the deal here.

“We are pleased to announce this increased offer for Hipgnosis, which has again been unanimously recommended by its Board and has the support of shareholders representing 31.27 percent of Hipgnosis’ issued share capital,” relayed Bob Valentine, CEO of Concord.

“We continue to believe that this is the best outcome for Hipgnosis shareholders as it provides them with the opportunity to realize their investment in cash at a significant premium to the price where the shares were trading before our bid last week.”

“The Hipgnosis Directors believe that the Increased Concord Offer is in the best interests of Hipgnosis Shareholders as a whole, and accordingly unanimously recommend that Hipgnosis Shareholders vote in favor of the resolutions required to implement the Increased Concord Offer to be proposed at the Court Meeting and the General Meeting which are due to be held on or around 10 June 2024,” the statement continues.

Concord noted that it would finance the acquisition offer through a combination of debt (provided by Apollo Funds) and its own equity, with Apollo holding a minority position.

Scroll down through the various details of the offer, and you’ll find this: Concord also noted that it plans to continue its previous plans with Hipgnosis as an asset but may sell up to 30% of the assets within 18 to 24 months.

“The Increased Concord Offer does not change Concord Bidco’s intentions as regards Hipgnosis as set out in the Rule 2.7 Announcement, save that Concord Bidco now intends to sell up to 30 percent of Hipgnosis’ assets within 18 to 24 months following completion of the Acquisition,” the offer stated.

The offer shifts the attention back to Blackstone, though Digital Music News is also hearing rumblings of other potential bidders coming forward.  Blackstone already owns parts of Hipgnosis, so a successful bid for Hipgnosis Songs Fund would give them more control over the music rights industry.

Separately, all eyes are now glued to Hipgnosis Songs Management, which is stubbornly sticking to its contractual rights and signaled its willingness to fight. HSM, Hipgnosis Songs Fund’s investment advisor, appears resolutely ready to protect its position amidst the bidding war.

A key issue is a “call option” in the investment advisory agreement between HSM and HSF. This option would allow HSM to acquire HSF’s assets in specific scenarios, potentially hindering a sale to a third party.

HSM insists that the company cannot legally terminate the agreement without honoring HSM’s contractual rights. In a notice issued this week, HSM clearly stated that they are prepared to take legal action and even exercise the call option to protect their interests.

Separately, Blackstone, which owns a majority stake in HSM, emphasized that its offer for HSF is independent of any influence from founder Merck Mercuriadis.

Looking ahead, the ‘HSM factor’ could spark legal battles or drive up the price in an intensified bidding process.

Stay tuned.

A TikTok ban edges closer to reality following Senate and Presidential approvals (photo: Ian Hutchinson).

The music industry is pondering what happens next as the ink dries on President Biden’s authorization of a Congressional bill that includes a TikTok divestiture order. DMN Pro subscribers have already parsed through a detailed breakdown of the potential winners and losers following a TikTok ban, thanks to our exhaustive white paper on the topic.

For those just tuning in: Congress recently passed — and President Biden just signed — a bill that mandates that Chinese parent company ByteDance must sell TikTok within roughly nine months. If that doesn’t happen, the app faces a ban in the United States.

The legislation springs from national security concerns regarding Chinese access to American user data and the potential for propaganda dissemination. Teenage TikTokers aren’t sold on the seriousness of the threat, though their votes only have so much impact here — literally.

The law’s implementation will likely be highly complicated. As the New York Times neatly sums up: “Now the law faces court challenges, a shortage of qualified buyers, and Beijing’s hostility.”

Almost immediately, TikTok will challenge the sale mandate in court, arguing it violates the company’s and its users’ First Amendment rights. Finding a qualified buyer with sufficient funds and government approval also poses challenges, as does the technical difficulty of separating TikTok’s technology from its Chinese parent company.

Furthermore, China’s role is a significant factor. Chinese government officials have opposed a forced sale of TikTok or a resulting TikTok ban. It’s possible China may enact export restrictions that block the sale of core technology like TikTok’s recommendation algorithm or retaliate against American companies as a result of such a sale.

Overall, the coming months (or even years) promise a turbulent period as this sale mandate unfolds. Court battles, the search for a qualified buyer, and potential Chinese interference will heavily influence the ultimate fate of TikTok in the United States.

However, after legal challenges and buyer options are exhausted, TikTok could disappear from the US-based app landscape.

A TikTok ban would be great news for competitors like Meta, YouTube, and Snap, who are expected to receive traffic onslaughts. But the development will prove more complicated for the various sub-sectors of the music industry.

In our latest white paper, DMN Pro takes an exhaustive look at the post-TikTok music industry’s winners and losers, from the major labels to DSPs and artists to UGC competitors. In each case, we also analyze the potential impact over various time horizons — with potentially significant industry changes materializing over the longer term.

DMN Pro subscribers can access the report here and start the ‘what’s next’ strategic planning. If you’re not yet a subscriber, you can become a DMN Pro member here.

Here’s a peek at what’s inside.

REPORT TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction: The Post-TikTok Music Landscape Could Give Rise to Unprecedented Changes – With Implications for Fans, Artists, and Companies Alike

Record Labels: Majors and Indies Stand to Lose in Several Areas (and Win in Others) With TikTok’s Ban

• • • • Graph: A Breakdown of Global Recorded Music Revenue from UGC and Ancillary Licensing Sources
      • Graph: 2023 Global Recorded Music Revenue by Segment

Publishers: Short-Term Losses, Particularly for Smaller Indies, Could Make Way for Long-Term Improvements

Songwriters: A Possible Licensing Revenue Upside Won’t Offset Immediate Discovery Setbacks, Especially for DIY Professionals

Artists: Post-TikTok, Artists At All Career Stages Will Suffer Varied Near-Term Professional Consequences

• • • • Graph: Selected Artists’ Social Media Followers, YouTube Subscribers, and Spotify Monthly Listeners
        Superstar and Legendary Artists
      • Mid-Level Artists With Substantial Followings
      • Developing and Emerging Artists
      • Pre-Traction Artists
      • Graph: A 2023 Breakdown of Emerging Artists by Home Country

Competing UGC Platforms: Reels, Shorts, and Others Will Be the Clear Winners

Overall Licensing Revenue: Ancillary Setbacks Aside, TikTok’s Ban Will Have a Minimal Licensing Revenue Impact

• • • • Graph: Universal Music’s Estimated TikTok Revenue Versus Permanent Downloads Revenue, 2020 – 2023

Non-Label Sync Platforms: The Post-TikTok Industry May Look Different for Sync Platforms and Music Libraries

The Fans: More Than a Letdown for Fans, TikTok’s Ban Will Dramatically Affect Music Discovery

DSPs: What Does a TikTok Ban Mean for Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music?

Promoters and Venues: The TikTok Ban’s Significance for Live Music

Report Summary: The Post-TikTok Music Landscape’s Many Changes

By the Dates: A Timeline of TikTok Regulatory Scrutiny, December 2022 – April 2024

One-Sheet Infographic: The Post-TikTok Winners & Losers

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Even the sexiest music industry deals crash into reality when the contracts come out. Flou is determined to simplify the necessary evil.

Unfortunately, music industry contracts and licensing agreements are typically intricate and dense documents fraught with legal terminology, making them difficult to generate and manage. Once filed away, they become challenging to store and retrieve efficiently.

It’s a mess we’ve all experienced, but the confusion often lasts for the life of the deal. Headaches are best enjoyed with a confusing paper trail or contentious disagreement, with piles of legalese and contradictory details adding to the excitement.

Sadly, the cliché that ‘only the lawyers win’ seems to fit more often than not, though one guy is trying to change that.

His name is Alexiomar Rodríguez, and his disruptive vision doesn’t revolve around new-fangled AI or anything tech-sexy. Instead, Rodríguez’s company, Flou, has a simple mission to revolutionize the cumbersome, painful, and inefficient process surrounding music agreements.

“As an attorney myself, I realized that there’s no central software package for all music contracts,” Rodríguez said. Flou just recently joined forces with DMN to further expand awareness of the platform.

In a nutshell, Flou is an all-in-one platform designed to streamline and simplify every aspect of music contract management.

Think of the aspirin required to get through a music contract and multiply it by 10,000. That’s the general idea here.

Flou’s platform manages every micro-step of the music contracting process, starting with the document creation phase. That’s where a range of industry-specific templates come into play, with subsequent collaboration features guiding the reviewing, negotiating, and editing stages with AI assistance.

The platform also includes other steps and details, including e-signature approvals, centralized storage, deliverable tracking, and reminders.

“Flou is not just a software solution; it’s a revolution in music contract management. We’re committed to empowering music companies, artists, and other stakeholders with the legal tools they need to thrive in today’s industry,” Rodríguez continued.

Of course, many different types of music industry contracts and legal agreements exist. Flou aims to address them all, including work-for-hire agreements, production contracts, collaboration agreements, copyright assignments, artistic management and representation agreements, split sheets for dividing royalties, and good, old-fashioned artist-label contracts.

Unfortunately, all of these contracts face similar pitfalls. Traditionally, music contracts have been notoriously time-consuming and expensive to create and manage. Once finalized, these agreements often become buried within filing cabinets or lost in digital voids, posing significant legal risks and liabilities to music companies.

Additionally, the dynamic nature of music contracts, with their deliverable contingencies, critical dates, ongoing rights, and complex royalty payment triggers, further complicates their management. Apart from the initial challenges, music contracts must also account for tracking recoupments and documenting each release properly (including splits and side-artist agreements, among other specifics.)

These ‘living contracts’ demand a meticulous tracking system, which has been sorely lacking until now. By enabling music companies to create, review, approve, sign, store, and track all their contracts in a centralized platform, Flou seeks to bring unparalleled efficiency and clarity to contract management.

There’s also the business of translating legalese for better tracking, accountability, and understanding.

Through the application of AI, Flou translates complex contract obligations into manageable, actionable tasks. This process simplifies legal compliance and management through reminders, updates, and tracking necessary deliverables.

“We designed Flou to address the unique challenges faced by the music and entertainment industry,” Rodríguez explained. “Our platform offers a much-needed solution for contract management, ensuring that nothing falls through the cracks.”

Flou is to the music industry what platforms like Contractbook and LinkSquares are to other sectors — a digital revolution in contract management. By ensuring greater contract clarity, both pre-and post-execution, Flou also hopes to significantly reduce litigation risk.

Additionally, Rodríguez noted that Flou recognizes the importance of education in contract management, offering resources and tools to aid users in navigating the complexities of legal agreements.

Having successfully raised $250,000 in March 2023, Flou is now focused on expanding its capabilities to keep pace with the rapidly evolving music industry. The roadmap includes drafting a wider variety of contracts from automated templates.

Furthermore, Flou aims to incorporate music data analytics, facilitating better deals for music companies, whether signing an artist or buying and selling intellectual property.

By simplifying the process and providing educational support, Flou is striving to make legal compliance easier and helping the industry forge better, more transparent deals. This sounds like great news for the music business — and bad news for anyone in the business of racking up billable hours.

The past week has been a dizzying one for Hipgnosis Songs Fund, which now finds itself in the earliest stages of a bidding war, a legal war, or both. Here’s a quick, five-minute catch-up on everything that’s happened over the past few days.

If you’re twenty emails behind and skimming through the Hipgnosis chaos, then this Cliffs Notes update is for you. Here’s the top-level skinny.

Hipgnosis Songs Fund (HSF), a publicly traded entity with an ultra-valuable portfolio of hit music catalogs, has found itself amidst a whirlwind takeover battle. This battle was initiated last week by publishing and music IP heavyweight Concord, who offered $1.4 billion to acquire the fund. The offer, disclosed on April 17th, represented a significant opportunity for battered shareholders to recoup losses and was quickly accepted by the HSF board.

However, the situation quickly escalated when private equity giant Blackstone outbid Concord with a $1.5 billion all-cash offer, highlighting the immense value of the music rights HSF controls. The HSF board has shown clear support for Blackstone’s superior offer, pending formalization.

The DMN Pro Music IP Acquisition Tracker

Access the music industry’s only database of music IP purchases across publishing, recording, and other rights. Not a DMN Pro subscriber? Start your subscription here.

If Concord (or another bidder) doesn’t try to beat Blackstone, this would typically mean a smooth path to acquisition. However, the biggest hurdle remains HSF’s complex investment advisory agreement with Hipgnosis Song Management (HSM).

What’s up with Hipgnosis Song Management (HSM)?

HSM, partially owned by music industry figure Merck Mercuriadis and majority owned by Blackstone, holds a controversial clause in its agreement with HSF. This “call option” gives HSM the right to step in and purchase HSF’s entire music catalog under certain circumstances, including a change in investment advisor. HSM has now made it clear they intend to “vigorously protect” this right, adding a serious legal dimension to the takeover battle.

As Yogi Berra observed, “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” But here are some possible outcomes.

• • Swift Buyout: If HSM backs down, a formal bid from Blackstone could lead to a quick acquisition, satisfying shareholders and providing Blackstone with a lucrative asset.
  • HSM Counteroffer: HSM could exercise its call option, forcing an even higher price for HSF’s assets. This could benefit shareholders but also lead to a protracted negotiation or legal challenge.
  • Concord Counteroffer: Concord could easily up its ante, as could any other well-endowed prospective buyer. Blackstone potentially holds an advantage given its existing Hipgnosis holdings, though the highest bidder is also likely to receive shareholder approval.
  • Stalemate: A protracted legal clash involving HSM could result, potentially scaring off bidders and leaving HSF in operational and financial uncertainty.

And there’s your 5-minute wrap-up. Stay tuned for more developments ahead.

Got a tip? Send it confidentially to Digital Music News via Signal — our handle is digitalmusicnews.07.

The Capitol Building in Washington, DC: Ground zero for TikTok deliberations.

The ‘TikTok ban bill’ is back with a vengeance: The House of Representatives passed a modified bill on Saturday (April 20th) that could lead to a nationwide TikTok ban — or something close to it.

The vote saw the measure clear the chamber with overwhelming support (360-58), the second lopsided vote on the TikTok problem. The bill, which includes a measure that could effectively ban TikTok in the United States, now moves to the Senate, where a vote could come within a matter of days.

Digital Music News reported last week that the latest version of the TikTok ban bill extends the deadline for ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, to sell the app to a US-based buyer or face a forced shutdown in the United States. The new deadline of approximately nine months, with a potential three-month extension, provides additional time for negotiations.

But this is suddenly much bigger than TikTok. After a lull in the Senate, momentum for the bill accelerated when it was attached to a broader foreign aid package supporting Ukraine, Taiwan, and Israel, dramatically elevating its legislative priority.

Such is the horse-trading and re-packaging that often defines Congressional legislative deliberation — and leads to bills becoming law. On that note, President Biden has indicated his willingness to sign the bill into law despite the potential for significant legal challenges and far-reaching consequences for US-China relations.

What happens after TikTok gets banned in the US?

In this comprehensive white paper, DMN Pro breaks down the likely winners and losers in the music industry over the short and long terms. The breakdown spans major and indie labels, publishers, songwriters, various artist tiers, and sync platforms. If Congress hits delete on TikTok, here’s where you’ll likely stand.

The latest vote has been a surprise slap for ByteDance and its US-based TikTok executives. In the months leading up to this legislation, executives like TikTok CEO Shou Chew found themselves getting dragged through Congressional grill sessions, though the sentiment internally was that a ban was off the table. That assessment now turns out to be a critical miscalculation.

However, while the Senate is expected to pass the ban legislation, potential delays from opponents like Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) could arise. TikTok is also gearing up for a vigorous legal challenge against the bill.

On that front, courts typically defer to the government in national security matters, but TikTok may argue that the ban unfairly singles the company out, raising questions of constitutionality.

If the bill becomes law, TikTok’s headaches multiply. Finding a buyer willing to meet the massive price tag is difficult, compounded by China’s restrictions on exporting TikTok’s core algorithm technology. ByteDance and China have already indicated an unwillingness to sell TikTok, which would effectively result in a shutdown.

The push for banning TikTok stems from concerns that the Chinese government could exploit the app to collect user data, spread propaganda, or interfere in elections. Chew assured lawmakers that data was being treated carefully and not being shared with ByteDance. However, TikTok ex-employees have contradicted those claims and pointed to outright data-sharing with ByteDance’s Chinese headquarters.

What Will UGC Licensing Look Like After the UMG-TikTok War?

In this DMN Pro Weekly report, we offer an analysis of where the high-stakes impasse stands – and how the episode’s fallout could drive a fundamental shift in how music factors into the UGC space.

Looming in the background is the simmering standoff between Universal Music Group and TikTok — and Taylor Swift’s recent embrace of the platform.

The latest Congressional vote closely follows TikTok’s splashy partnership with Taylor Swift to promote her just-released album, The Tortured Poets Department. That makes sense for Team Taylor, though Universal Music Group hardly welcomed the news.

Swift, signed to Republic/UMG, was given the royal treatment by TikTok in a move that could easily be construed as a slap in the face for both UMG and the broader music industry. Once upon a time, Swift was a staunch defender of music valuation and artists’ rights, though perhaps those are now quaint ideological ideas for an artist of her stature.

TikTok’s direct engagement with Swift could also be seen as part of a broader attempt by TikTok to solidify its influence over the music industry by leveraging its extensive user base to overrule protests by labels, publishers, and other music IP stakeholders.

Separately, sources to Digital Music News have pointed to rekindled negotiations between UMG and TikTok, though progress appears to be plodding. DMN’s sources have also shared details of a possible legal attack against TikTok and its parent ByteDance, specifically over issues tied to repeat infringer violations and clear violations of DMCA regulations.

Incidentally, Elon Musk has also chimed in with his two cents, arguing on Saturday that a ban would set a dangerous precedent undermining free expression.

Musk tweeted, “In my opinion, TikTok should not be banned in the USA, even though such a ban may benefit the X platform. Doing so would be contrary to freedom of speech and expression. It is not what America stands for.”

(Separately, it should be noted that X/Twitter ranks highly on the music industry’s s—t list, thanks to a complete refusal to pay music royalties. Here’s a deep-dive into the latest on X/Twitter’s legal battle against the music industry, including the very real prospect that X will never pay for music rights.)

On a broader scale, the debate surrounding TikTok spotlights the ongoing tension between national security concerns and the protection of free speech rights in the digital age.

This complex issue raises questions about the extent of government power in regulating technology and social media platforms.

A forced sale or ban of TikTok in the US would be unprecedented, sending ripples through the global tech industry and potentially straining already tense US-China relations. China has signaled strong opposition to a TikTok sale, and retaliatory moves against US companies operating in China are a distinct possibility.

Beyond the serious music industry implications, this legislation would have far-reaching consequences for the future of social media, national security policy, and the complex power dynamics between the US and China — not to mention the fate of supermodels like Leah Halton.

Stay tuned for more fireworks.

Got a tip? Send it confidentially to Digital Music News via Signal — our handle is digitalmusicnews.07.

In a dramatic turn of events, private equity giant Blackstone has upped the ante in the battle to control the troubled Hipgnosis Songs Fund. Here’s a breakdown of what Blackstone is putting on the table — and what’s potentially next.

The following story has been updated on Sunday, April 21st to reflect a response to Blackstone’s bid from Hipgnosis Songs Fund (see below).

Blackstone issued a detailed statement to Digital Music News on Saturday (April 20th) outlining its $1.5 billion takeover bid, which outpaces Nashville-based Concord Chorus’s recently-tendered $1.4 billion offer. Digital Music News first reported that offer late Wednesday, April 17th, prompting a 30.5% bounce in Hipgnosis shares the following day.

For battered Hipgnosis shareholders, Concord’s $1.4 billion offer was a splash of relief. But now, there’s something better. Blackstone’s all-cash offer would give Hipgnosis shareholders $1.24 per share, which cleanly beats Concord’s $1.14 per share proposition.

Blackstone’s weekend bid represents an 8.7% premium over Hipgnosis’s closing share price on the previous trading day, making Blackstone’s offer substantially more attractive for shareholders seeking to recoup losses and get out.

Update (Sunday, April 21st): Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited has now positively responded to Blackstone’s bid. In a statement emailed early Sunday to Digital Music News, the Fund acknowledged the bid and stated that it would recommend the offer to shareholders.

“The Board, having reviewed the Proposal with its financial adviser, Singer Capital Markets, has indicated to Blackstone that the Proposal is at a value that it would be minded to recommend to its shareholders should Blackstone announce a firm intention to make an offer pursuant to Rule 2.7 of the Code on such financial terms,” the statement assured.

“The Board and its advisers will continue to provide Blackstone and its advisers access to confirmatory due diligence, to enable Blackstone to announce a firm intention to make an offer, as soon as possible.”

The counter-bid signals that Blackstone is eyeing a strategic consolidation play.

Blackstone’s determination to acquire Hipgnosis Songs Fund underscores its vested interest in the music rights market. As detailed previously, the private equity firm already owns two key entities within the Hipgnosis family: Hipgnosis Songs Capital (the private music assets investment fund) and Hipgnosis Song Investment (the investment advisor).

In that context, Blackstone’s latest bid indicates a strong desire to consolidate its power in the music rights industry.

And make no mistake: the competitive bidding from Blackstone and Concord also highlights the potential value seen within Hipgnosis’s music royalty assets despite the fund’s recent difficulties.

Indeed, Hipgnosis has been plagued by accounting errors, internal disputes, declining net value, and slashed shareholder dividends. Investor confidence has been battered, though it’s easy to forget how valuable Hipgnosis’ catalog remains. Indeed, this disparity offers a prime opportunity for prospective buyers to acquire a goldmine of song rights, including hits by artists like Neil Young, Journey, Lindsey Buckingham, and Blondie.

An overview of the many Hipgnosis entities and their connections to one another (Source: Digital Music News and DMN Pro).

Then there’s the issue of Hipgnosis Song Management and the music industry’s punching bag du jour, Merck Mercuriadis.

Blackstone’s takeover battle is complicated by a contractual option held by Blackstone’s Hipgnosis Song Management, which advises the public and private Hipgnosis funds. This option grants them the right to outbid rivals and potentially take the assets private.

The option was designed to assure artists and songwriters (who either remain partial owners or are now ex-owners) that their catalogs would only change hands with appropriate oversight and controls. That helped to secure juicy deals and buy-in, though it has proven to be an obstacle in the board’s attempts to secure external bids.

Of course, lingering in the background is Merck Mercuriadis, whose swashbuckling vision has created one of the world’s most valuable tranches of music IP. But ‘Merck’ has also been chided for wildly overbidding for valuable catalogs and setting the stage for a crash once the Fed hiked interest rates.

So far, Merck has remained quiet following the Concord bid, though he’s undoubtedly pushing buttons in the background.

Either way, Blackstone’s bid is better — though arguably still a sweetheart deal given the longer-term potential of Hipgnosis’ asset tranche.

In their offer, Blackstone clearly states their position: “[We] strongly encourage the board of Hipgnosis to recognize the significant increase in value available to all shareholders under the terms of its Fourth Proposal, over the $1.16 as set out in the Concord Offer, and to work with Blackstone to reach agreement on a unanimously recommended Firm Offer in an expeditious manner.”

Recognize the increase they will — though something tells us this isn’t the last and final offer for Hipgnosis. Stay tuned.

Got a tip? Send it confidentially to Digital Music News via Signal — our handle is digitalmusicnews.07.

An investment consortium spearheaded by EQT, alongside Believe’s longtime investor TCV and company CEO and founder Denis Ladegaillerie, is now securing a controlling stake of nearly 72% in digital music distributor Believe. The acquisition go-ahead follows a ringing endorsement from Believe’s Board of Directors, signaling full confidence in the deal.

According to details shared late Thursday (April 18th) with Digital Music News, the consortium will soon launch a simplified public purchase offer for Believe’s remaining outstanding shares, valuing them at €15 per share. This marks a significant premium of 43.8% compared to the average stock price over the last 30 days, providing an attractive exit opportunity for existing shareholders.

As for the broader acquisition, the investment consortium now has a strong green light and will proceed within a matter of days. “All conditions… have been definitively fulfilled and the transfer of these shares is firm and irrevocable,” the parties relayed in a statement.

The board further noted that the consortium’s vision aligns with Believe’s mission to empower independent artists and labels. EQT and TCV are committed to fueling Believe’s expansion, investing heavily in technological advancements and strategic acquisitions to drive growth that outpaces the broader market.

“Believe is a world leader in the digital music market, with strong French roots and a powerful ambition to be the essential partner for independent artists and labels globally,” Denis Ladegaillerie, CEO and founder of Believe, relayed in the email.

“This operation, along with the continued backing of TCV and the expertise of EQT, will bolster our remarkable growth trajectory. We are confident this will cement our position as the global reference for independent music, allowing us to seize the vast opportunities presented by the ongoing digital transformation of the music industry.”

In a separate release emailed to Digital Music News, Believe’s Board of Directors unanimously issued a favorable opinion on the offer, emphasizing its belief that the offer aligns with the interests of the company, its employees, and its shareholders.

Specifically, the email detailed several reasons for the nod, including benefits for minority shareholders, an option for long-term investment, and the investors’ alignment on Believe’s broader mission.

“In particular, the Board of Directors considered that the Offer is in the interests of minority shareholders wishing to realize their investment, by enabling them to benefit from immediate and full liquidity at a significant premium over the relevant stock price averages, and at the same price as that obtained by the sellers of majority blocks, and thus recommended that minority shareholders pursuing this objective tender their shares to the Offer,” the email detailed.

Earlier this month, Warner Music Group (WMG) decided not to pursue the acquisition of Believe after months of negotiations between the two companies.

The decision followed concerns from independent music organizations that a WMG-Believe merger would stifle competition in the industry.

In a press release issued by the major label, WMG confirmed that “after careful consideration, it has decided not to submit a binding offer for Believe.” The statement continues: “WMG thanks the Ad Hoc Committee and Believe’s leadership team for their time and cooperation, and wishes the company every success in future.”

The deal comes at a confusing juncture for the music industry in France.

The good news is that the French music industry has been experiencing steady growth for the past seven years, and even physical media sales are holding strong. However, there are also some challenges on the horizon.

Digital sales are lagging behind other countries, and subscription growth for streaming services is slowing down. The French industry body SNEP points to competition from short-form video platforms and tax hikes on streaming services as reasons for the slowdown.

Soundtrack Loops’ diverse portfolio of assets provides the foundation to enhance AI’s capabilities — with a focus on creativity with ethical AI.

On the forefront of recent discussions surrounding fair training practices for AI companies, Soundtrack Loops — with its diverse portfolio of assets — aims to ‘kickstart a shift into more widespread ethical AI training practices.’ Moreover, the company’s founders believe their catalog ‘presents an enormous opportunity for AI generation of incidental music.’

As music IP owners continue to clash with AI behemoths over what constitutes fair use, Soundtrack Loops’ latest expansion — specifically with its OneStop Audio Library for AI training — aims to remove copyright conflict from the picture entirely. The company believes that in the face of rampant litigation and raging copyright wars, its latest release is simply the right path for both developers and rights holders.

According to cofounders Matthew Yost and Jason Donnelly (aka DJ Puzzle), Soundtrack Loops’ expansion will generate new creative possibilities for AI. Yost explains, “AI imitates and mimics, and is incapable of evolving new genres and synths. That’s where the Soundtrack Loops OneStop Audio Library steps in.”

“For AI developers, seeking ways to source content ethically brings a lot more benefits to the table than plundering through endless amounts of copyrighted materials,” says Yost. Just recently, Soundtrack Loops partnered with DMN to expand its ethical AI footprint.

Speaking about the benefits of tapping into Soundtrack Loops’ AI library, Donnelly believes that a focus on ethics as a standard for AI model development and training will ensure AI output doesn’t cause copyright disputes.

“The thousands and thousands of samples and loops in Soundtrack Loops packs are unique because they are created by us, or purchased by us from others as a work for hire. This is very common practice. We hire producers to create original works, then we buy them outright,” Donnelly explains.

This transparency of training material is what the A2IM, RIAA, and related music organizations are pushing for: a system that mandates remuneration to the sources of AI training material.

Donnelly further clarified that Soundtrack Loops offers different tiers for broader licensing options beyond AI, but a ‘core focus is now on ethical AI licensing.’

Yost believes ethical licensing considerations while training sophisticated AI models ‘will lend credibility to the AI industry.’ Rather than risk litigation and shutdowns, AI developers might be better off using these platforms.

Only time will tell how copyright conflicts in the courtroom will ultimately shake out, but Yost thinks there’s a monumental benefit in store for AI companies that lead the way by adopting ethical AI training practices. “These developers could potentially score a larger chunk of the market.”

“Using protected and controlled compositions for training could have an exponentially positive impact on AI companies’ brand and image — and serve as a unique competitive advantage,” he says, adding, “It also allows developers to be on track to comply when the new regulations and bodies of law emerge — ones that enforce transparency of data and remuneration of artists.”

And Donnelly says the company ‘has the assets to pull this off.’ The holistically controlled catalog contains over 80,000 assets accumulated over 20 years, with a multitude of loops and samples, presets, and MIDI files — spanning almost every genre and category of music.

“We practically have almost all genres available and a network of producers to help fill in the gaps if needed. ” says Donnelly.

He further elaborates that licensers can analyze loops on the catalog, access raw samples, or utilize all the individual isolated notes and nuances of instruments for AI training.

AI developers can tap into Soundtrack Loops’ licensing zones for a myriad of use cases — but Yost and Donnelly believe it could be an especially powerful asset for music directors that require bulk generation of ‘incidental’ production music.

“Incidental music is one of the places where AI has a very serious chance of having a huge impact within the next two to five years, because these producers have to churn out tons of music,” explains Donnelly. “The job requires a giant pool of music, which is exactly what Soundtrack Loops offers — a comprehensive library of loops in all genres.”

Donnelly points out that an AI tool backed by Soundtrack Loops for incidental music could fill a gap in the market, be a big time saver for huge productions, and represents an ‘enormous opportunity.’

Then there’s the theoretical downstream catalog of AI-generated works that can result from this initiative, all of which is legal. Donnelly believes that the ‘right AI program’ capable of mixing, matching, and constructing unique music from these different elements, ‘could create a huge library of incidental music.’

“AI companies have to take a step back and evaluate the current ethics of their practices, and make better decisions for training. They should willingly be offering clean, ethical AI.”

Photo Credit: Hipgnosis Songs Fund

Concord, operating as ‘Concord Chorus Limited,’ has proposed an all-cash takeover of Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited for roughly $1.4 billion. The respective company boards love the arrangement — though this is hardly a done deal.

Details of the offer were tipped to Digital Music News late Wednesday (April 17th), with terms that could spell a convenient out for Hipgnosis shareholders. Concord’s offer, which tops $1.4 billion, represents a 32.2 percent premium on the April 17th closing price of Hipgnosis Songs Fund and signifies a major move by Concord to enhance its music rights portfolio.

Digital Music News was first to report the news following a late-Wednesday disclosure by both sides. The parties officially disclosed the offer at 2 am ET with the news, and markets immediately reacted in early morning trading on the London Stock Exchange.

Concord, also referred to as ‘Bidco’ in the acquisition paperwork, hammered out an agreement that might just work. “The board of directors of each of Bidco and Hipgnosis are pleased to announce that they have reached agreement on the terms of a recommended cash offer pursuant to which Bidco will acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Hipgnosis (the “Acquisition”),” the lengthy email declared.

The Hipgnosis Songs Fund board has formally accepted Concord’s acquisition offer. An independent committee advised the board that this offer was ‘fair and reasonable.’

Beyond the per-share pricing, the deal would also involve the assumption of a sizable tranche of debt that would effectively push the acquisition price past $2 billion.

This acquisition certainly aligns with Concord’s goal of investing in enduringly popular music. But the deal is still subject to the approval of all stakeholders and even regulators. And there’s almost certainly going to be disagreement between Hipgnosis Songs Fund and its investment advisor, Hipgnosis Song Management, about the deal.

For starters, it’s likely that Hipgnosis Song Management believes that the offer price is too low. While the $1.4 billion offer sounds good to battered shareholders, it’s relatively cheap compared to the impressive IP Hipgnosis controls. But more to the point, HSM also has a contractually-determined ‘call option’ that gives it the ability to match a competitive offer, pay the company’s market cap, or pay an amount determined by an agreed-upon third-party appraiser — depending on which option fetches the highest price.

Those are the pre-determined stipulations, which may also invite a messy legal confrontation and scuttle Concord’s deal offer.

Concord is working with Apollo Global Management to help finance the acquisition.

“Concord and its management have followed the progression of Hipgnosis since IPO and believe that Hipgnosis’ assets complement Concord’s long-standing objective to acquire high quality and long-term music assets,” the company shared.

More as this develops.

Universal Music Group HQ in Santa Monica, CA (Photo Credit: Coolcaesar / CC by 3.0)

If you enjoyed watching Universal Music Group remove its entire catalog from TikTok, you’ll absolutely love what’s potentially coming next.

For those who enjoy high-stakes showdowns between major media companies and tech giants, Universal Music Group vs. TikTok has been action-packed. But you might need a fresh bowl of popcorn for what’s next.

According to multiple sources leaking details to Digital Music News, UMG has been flooding TikTok with DMCA takedown notices following its stern content removals in late January. But that may be a prelude to more serious legal action in the coming weeks.

As for the takedown notices being sent, one estimate pegged the number of notices ‘in the tens of thousands,’ with TikTok allegedly still hosting enormous quantities of UMG-controlled content despite the recent pulldown.

What happens after TikTok gets banned in the US?

In this comprehensive white paper, DMN Pro breaks down the likely winners and losers in the music industry over the short and long terms. The breakdown spans major and indie labels, publishers, songwriters, various artist tiers, and sync platforms. If Congress hits delete on TikTok, here’s where you’ll likely stand.

Part of the problem involves altered or modified music. Most commonly, songs are sped up, even slightly, though a range of modifications abound on TikTok. Those altered versions become more challenging to detect and remove, but they’re just as infringing. The situation has forced UMG to put teeth to its takedown and chase down remaining songs on the platform.

Under the rules of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in the US, user-generated platforms are required to remove infringing content when formally notified. A failure to properly comply with a legitimate request can subject the platform to massive infringement penalties if the content isn’t quickly removed.

That’s hardly new: rights owners like UMG have been sending DMCA takedown notices for decades. However, according to sources, those takedown notices are merely the first step in a potentially severe legal attack against TikTok and its Chinese owner, ByteDance.

Here’s how this might work: according to sources with knowledge on the matter, UMG is not only focused on stripping its music from the popular social media site, but also on holding TikTok accountable for failure to comply with the repeat infringer policy, a requirement under the DMCA.

In a nutshell, the DMCA’s repeat infringer policy dictates that platforms must have a procedure for terminating the accounts of repeat infringers or face serious penalties or legal action. In the case of TikTok, it appears that repeat infringers aren’t facing account suspensions or removals — with TikTok either unwilling or unable to successfully scrub its platform of these problematic accounts.

And that’s a potentially huge problem for TikTok.

Suddenly, a more sophisticated strategy is emerging. UMG wants to remove infringing content, but their deluge of DMCA takedowns may also be targeting a serious vulnerability in TikTok’s content management policies.

“Sure, these DMCA takedown notices are part of UMG’s dispute with TikTok, but the goal isn’t really about scrubbing UMG’s music from TikTok,” one source relayed.

Universal Music Group has yet to offer any comment, and it’s unclear if legal filings will emerge. Separately, the parties are understood to be working through a negotiation process, though so far, those talks have yet to bear fruit.

Who owns what?

DMN Pro’s exclusive Music IP Acquisition Tracker covers every IP acquisition deal across masters, publishing, and related assets happening over multiple years. This information simply isn’t available anywhere else — subscribe now to gain access.

Meanwhile, it’s understood that UMG is not just considering, but actively preparing to take legal action within weeks, with DMCA’s repeat infringer policy a crucial part of their upcoming complaints. “They’re not just sending notices; they’re meticulously tracking TikTok’s response to users who have been the subject of multiple notices,” the source continued, while further noting that “TikTok’s inaction” about its repeat infringer issue is a significant concern.

Separately, one informant noted that ‘easily more’ than 100 million videos on TikTok are being muted. That may not include videos with modified music content, altered for fun or specifically to evade detection by UMG or TikTok.

The removal of a vast number of videos from TikTok—now in its eleventh week—has unsurprisingly initiated a wave of discontent among content creators and their audiences. Strategically, TikTok appears willing to ride out those concerns, potentially due to the prevalence of modified workarounds peppering the platform. Separately, Taylor Swift’s decision to “cross the picket line” and license TikTok also makes life easier for ByteDance.

For UMG, dropping the hammer on TikTok helps to safeguard creative assets while sending a stern message. In that context, the Taylor Swift situation—an event labeled as “a big fat disappointment” by one UMG insider—raised concerns about whether other defecting superstars could further weaken UMG’s position.

In response to the relentless takedown campaign by UMG, some content creators are turning to royalty-free music or independently published tracks to continue their work unobstructed by copyright scuffles.

More at this develops.

Taylor Swift on TikTok: A screengrab on the morning of Thursday, April 11th.

Taylor Swift — a Republic Records/UMG-inked artist — is suddenly back on TikTok despite Universal Music Group’s high-profile removal of its catalog from the platform. So what’s going on?

The Digital Music News bat-phone was ringing off the hook this morning with some unexpected news. Taylor Swift, a marquee Republic Records/UMG artist, is now back on TikTok. No statements are being made, though the development likely resulted from negotiations between the ByteDance-owned TikTok, Swift’s team and/or UMG, with the superstar controlling her recordings and publishing under her broader Universal Music Group partnership.

The timing hardly seems accidental. The reinstatement is happening approximately one week before Swift’s forthcoming album, The Tortured Poets Department, which is slated to debut on April 19th. Swift first announced the upcoming album at the Grammys in early February.

Jumping onto the TikTok platform, Swift’s illustrious catalog is now available for short-form video shenanigans — despite Universal Music Group’s high-profile pullout of its massive catalog from the platform over licensing, royalty, and AI-related disagreements.

Tracks like “You Belong With Me,” “Lover,” and “Cardigan,” as well as “Mirrorball,” “Fearless (Taylor’s Version),” “Cruel Summer,” “Style (Taylor’s Version),” “Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version),” “The Man,” and “ME!” are all available on TikTok and ready for incorporation into short-form videos.

Notably, several tracks appear to be missing. As you might expect, Swifties have been combing through the catalog and spotting missing tracks from albums the artist doesn’t completely control. For years, the artist has been working to re-record many of her earlier releases to secure master recording ownership—at least over the newly recorded versions.

What happens after TikTok gets banned in the U.S.?

In this comprehensive white paper, DMN Pro breaks down the likely winners and losers in the music industry — over the short- and longer terms. The breakdown spans major and indie labels, publishers, songwriters, various artist tiers, and sync platforms. If Congress hits delete on TikTok, here’s where you’ll likely stand.

Until now, Swift has successfully rerecorded all of her albums originally released before 2019, excluding her self-titled debut album from 2006 and her 2017 album, Reputation. Either way, a sizable tranche of Taylor Swift music is now on TikTok — with the viral engines of creativity revving up on the platform.

The marked shift is hardly a sign of solidarity with UMG — not to mention the broader music industry and its artists. Though here we are.

Others are also noting the glaring development. In articles published this (Thursday) morning, both Variety and Rolling Stone have pointed to the return of the Swift catalog to TikTok, though neither report offered specifics on discussions. Both sources point to a sequence of negotiations between Swift and Universal Music Group, including Republic Records, eventually leading to her music’s reinstatement.

The development comes after Universal Music Group’s TikTok standoff enters its tenth week. Digital Music News first reported on the impasse on January 30th, though many observers of the wreckage — including Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl — predicted a ‘swift’ resolution and catalog reinstatement.

Incidentally, Kyncl also reported that Warner Music Group had reached a workable licensing pact with TikTok. Though Sony Music Entertainment CEO Rob Stringer hinted that his major label could trigger a UMG-style pullout if needed. The NMPA, Downtown Music Holdings, and indie consortium Impala have supported the removals. A music industry survey by Digital Music News also found resounding approval of UMG’s position.

Taylor Swift announced her exclusive global recording agreement with Universal Music Group and its marquee Republic Records division in November 2018.

Republic became Swift’s second label following her Big Machine Label Group (BMLG) pact. Importantly, Republic wouldn’t retain ownership or control over Taylor’s master recordings. The deal spanned multiple albums and was also complemented by a separate pact with Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG).

Who owns what?

DMN Pro’s exclusive Music IP Acquisition Tracker covers every IP acquisition deal across masters, publishing, and related assets happening over multiple years. This information simply isn’t available anywhere else — subscribe now to gain access.

Importantly, Swift’s departure agreement with BMLG did not include the ownership of her past masters. However, Taylor has been circumventing those restrictions by re-recording and re-releasing her past albums as ‘Taylor’s Versions.’

Importantly, her new contract with UMG stipulated full ownership of all her future master recordings. That shift towards catalog control opens the door for more independent negotiations with mega-platforms like TikTok.

Meanwhile, TikTok is on the brink of getting banned in the United States.

The push to ban TikTok in the U.S. has escalated, with a new bipartisan bill proposed in the Senate to prohibit the app. This action follows growing concerns over national security and data privacy, citing fears of the Chinese government’s potential access to user data through ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company.

Public sentiment reflects these concerns, with recent surveys indicating that many Americans support a ban. President Biden has also signaled his intention to sign a bill that would force a TikTok sale or divestiture. However, the White House and Democrats appear to be calculating the impact among younger voters ahead of the November presidential election.

Against that backdrop, a Democratic U.S. senator suggested extending the deadline for ByteDance to divest its TikTok American operations while pointing to ongoing negotiations and complex legal challenges. The Senator emphasized the importance of addressing the risks associated with the platform’s Chinese ownership rather than rushing the process.

One hot take on the slowdown is that Biden and the Democrats want to appear tough on TikTok heading into the election but stop short of banning the app, given its immense popularity among younger Americans.

Amidst these discussions, Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has denounced TikTok, hinting at possible ties to Beijing’s intelligence and propaganda efforts. He suggests the app poses a serious threat, underscoring the stance of many lawmakers calling for stringent action against the social media platform.

Adding to TikTok’s scrutiny, the Federal Trade Commission is reportedly investigating the app for potential children’s privacy law violations, bringing further regulatory pressure. These developments indicate a rising tide of regulatory and political challenges for TikTok in the U.S. as the debate over its operation and ownership continues.

Of course, these are all critical, time-sensitive issues for the music industry, though not top-of-mind concerns for TikTok-loving Swifties.

According to details confirmed by the major label over the weekend, Warner Music Group won’t be acquiring Believe after all.

Warner Music Group is saying ‘no thanks’ to an acquisition of Believe, according to a statement shared early Saturday morning (April 6th).

In a press release issued by the major label, WMG confirmed that “after careful consideration, it has decided not to submit a binding offer for Believe.” The statement continues: “WMG thanks the Ad Hoc Committee and Believe’s leadership team for their time and cooperation, and wishes the company every success in future.”

The decision follows a multi-week acquisition dance that pitted Warner against a consortium of Believe stakeholders aiming to take the company private. That latter group is helmed by company CEO and founder Denis Ladegaillerie, alongside other participants like EQT and TCV.

Shortly after Warner Music Group’s decision, Believe’s ‘Ad-Hoc Committee’ acknowledged the pullback in an email to Digital Music News.

“The Ad-Hoc Committee of Believe has taken note of Warner Music Group’s decision not to submit a binding offer for a combination with Believe (“WMG”), as set out in Warner Music Group’s press release of earlier today,” the Committee emailed.

“The Ad-Hoc Committee will review the situation with all interested parties (including the Consortium composed of EQT, TCV and Mr. Denis Ladegaillerie, as well as the historical shareholders of Believe to determine next steps in relation to the possible evolution of the Company’s control and will inform the market accordingly.”

The Ad Hoc Committee comprises Believe board members who are unaffiliated with the ongoing acquisition attempts by Denis Ladegaillerie, the CEO and founder of Believe, in collaboration with EQT and TCV.  The response suggests that ‘Plan A’ is likely to move forward, with WMG’s pullback paving the way for the original acquisition by the Ladegaillerie alliance.

Earlier in February, Ladegaillerie’s consortium offered €15 (approximately $16.35 USD at current exchange rates) per share, valuing Believe at about $1.6 billion USD. The group had finalized a deal to acquire a 71.92% stake in the company through ‘Block Acquisitions.’

Warner Music Group’s potential acquisition had sparked debate, with some industry players fearing a negative impact on independent music. Others eyed a highly strategic move for WMG.

Last month, news surfaced about WMG entering a bidding war with a consortium for Believe. After a period of negotiation regarding the fair price, WMG was finally granted permission to submit a formal bid. It should be noted that Believe’s share price has also seen a significant rise since the beginning of the year, reflecting the ongoing interest in the company.

As of April 6th, shares of Believe SA (trading as BLV on Euronext Paris) were trading at €16.50, up nearly 60% year-to-date.

Protests, particularly within the independent music sector, quickly emerged. The French Union of Independent Phonographic Producers (UPFI) and the Association of Independent Musicians (AIM) both voiced their opposition to the acquisition attempt. Their primary fear was that this acquisition would stifle competition and hinder investment in new and upcoming musical talents.

The French Union took things a step further, urging the French government to intervene and prevent the acquisition from happening.

The dust-up kicked off when Believe’s CEO and founder, Denis Ladegaillerie, first cobbled together the capital and consortium to take the company private.

As mentioned earlier, Ladegaillerie offered to buy back most of the shares at €15 per share, though Warner Music’s rumored offer of €17 per share sounded more enticing. That stirred a tizzy of pushback from the consortium, which aimed to scuttle Warner’s advance and even outright block the attempt.

Believe positions itself as a global partner for independent artists and labels, offering a broad suite of career development services.

The company’s foundation remains in digital distribution across major streaming platforms and social media channels, though Believe touts a diversified suite of offerings. Beyond distribution, Believe provides ‘Label & Artist Solutions’ encompassing marketing, promotion, funding, and global expansion strategies. Established artists can access tailored ‘Premium Solutions’ for more complex needs.

Believe notes that technology drives its operations, with automation streamlining distribution, royalty management, and data analytics. The company also says it prioritizes artist independence, ensuring greater control and revenue share. That focus has largely shaped Believe’s image since inception and contributed to the pushback against a Warner Music takeover.

Currently, Believe has a global presence in over 50 countries.

Hype Deck is Amazon Music’s take on promotional asset generation, and a powerful tool for those that maximize its impact.

Hype Deck delivers artist teams a deck of unique Hype Cards that can be shared with fans via social media, messaging apps, email, and other marketing channels. With that in mind, Digital Music News recently joined forces with Amazon Music to create the ultimate guide for using this powerful new marketing tool.

Table of Contents

• • What is Hype Deck, and how are artists using it to reach their fans?
  • Are all artists eligible to use Hype Deck?
  • How are Hype Cards generated?
  • What are the different types of Hype Cards available?
  • How can I activate, deploy, and maximize Hype Deck for my songs and other music assets?

What is Hype Deck, and how are artists using it to reach their fans?

In January of this year, Amazon Music for Artists released Hype Deck, a feature available on both mobile and web versions of their app. The tool equips artists and their teams to effectively market music assets to fans globally.

Artists can generate assets to promote their newly released songs (and previous releases), upcoming albums, or milestones like landing on a playlist.

The feature allows teams to select from almost 170 global Amazon music playlists, which currently include Rap Rotation, Country Heat, Breakthrough, All Hits, Viral Hits, Pop Culture, and many more.

Are all artists eligible to use Hype Deck?

Whether you’re a rising talent, indie artist, or a well-established musician, Hype Deck can help promote your profile, songs, albums, or showcase your milestones.

Anyone on an artist’s team, label, or distributor with access to an artist’s profile in Amazon Music for Artists can create Hype Cards. Artist managers and record label execs with access to multiple artist accounts simply choose a specific artist profile before they navigate to the Hype Deck section.

At the end of the day, it’s all about sharing successes, milestones, and new releases with fans.

How are Hype Cards generated?

Hype Cards can be generated in line with an artist’s brand or vision. It’s whatever an artist wants to promote and where they want to share it.

Fully customizable, artists can choose background colors and layout orientations. Hype Cards can also be shared with fans in multiple languages. Besides English, the feature supports Spanish, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, and Japanese.

What are the different types of Hype Cards available?

All your music moments — whether big or small — can find a Hype Card to share the celebration with fans and hype them up.

Artists planning a new release can use the Song Hype Card to highlight a song from an older album to build anticipation for an upcoming song. Artists can also promote previously released tracks on special occasions such as release anniversaries.

In a similar manner, Album Hype Cards can promote a new album release, while other Hype Cards can highlight and share artists’ successes with fans.

How can I activate, deploy, and maximize Hype Deck for my songs and other music assets?

The process is as simple as opening the Amazon Music for Artists app, selecting a song, album, or playlist to promote, and customizing the layout, colors, and language of your Hype Card. Artists can choose to share directly from the mobile app, or for desktop, download to share later.

Grab the associated link when downloading the visual asset, and users clicking on that link will be taken back to Amazon Music to listen to the artist’s music.

We hope this guide was helpful — and more importantly, helps you reach more fans more often!

Nearly $1.3 billion has been plowed into music-focused companies so far this year, according to details tracked and compiled by DMN Pro’s Music Industry Funding Tracker. But that’s tame compared to explosive Q1 2023 totals.

Investors are still making heady bets on promising music startups, companies, and funds, but the ebullience of last year is cooling down.

For the first three months of 2024, total music industry funding levels topped $1.266 billion, according to rounds tracked by DMN Pro’s Music Industry Funding Tracker. That compares to a whopping total of $4.195 billion for the comparable Q1 of 2023, a period that also witnessed significantly larger deal flow.

The Music Industry Funding Tracker is DMN Pro’s subscriber-only database that tracks rounds big and small, complete with details about specific rounds (pre-seed to late-stage), investors (both lead and supporting), and dollar commitments involved. The database covers hundreds of investments over multiple years and offers a valuable resource for anyone placing or receiving growth bets in the music industry.

Despite the difference in funding totals, 2024 has its share of heady investments. Topping the list is Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artists Group (IAG), which revealed an impressive $1 billion investment tranche led by New York’s HPS Investment Partners in mid-February. That was coupled with the news of IAG’s acquisition of the Rod Stewart catalog, with similarly gigantic IP acquisitions potentially ahead.

But 2023 had its own monster rounds — and more of them. Dropping the biggest jaws was gamma., which bagged its own $1 billion investment round in March of last year. Incidentally, that was followed by a $100 million round in February of this year, powered by Alpha Wave Global.

Other weighty rounds in 2023 included Kakao Entertainment, which pulled down a $966 million round, and Spirit Music Group owner Lyric Capital, which secured $410 million in funding commitments in February of last year, part of a broader $800 million IP acquisition fund raise.

Other 9-figure rounds were commonplace in early 2023, part of a potential spike year in investment activity for the music industry.

Case in point: total 2023 music industry funding topped $10 billion, according to DMN Pro’s tallies. That was more than double 2022’s $4.8+ billion in overall funding. Putting things into context, 2024 may simply represent a ‘return to normalcy’ rather than a year-over-year plunge.

(For those looking to explore last year’s heady investment environment, check out DMN Pro’s recent research report on this explosive year.)

As for March of this year, investment rounds focused on production and creative collaboration tools. The rounds were substantial for the companies involved, but the month was subdued overall — especially when compared to the same month last year.

Rounds secured included WavMaker ($5 million seed round), BeatConnect ($1.86 million seed round), and Hook ($3.5 million seed round). Investors powering those rounds included some noted investors, ranging from individuals like Vicky Patel to investment firms such as Sfermion and Point72 Ventures and ventures like FICC, Anges Québec, and Triptyq Capital.

By comparison, in March 2023, funding volumes topped a substantial $1.446 billion. In fairness, March 2023 included the 10-figure, $1 billion gamma round and two additional rounds topping $150 million (Character.ai) and $200 million (Torch Capital).

The 16% slice adds up to billions of dollars in unaccounted and missed streaming royalties annually, according to Legitary’s latest stats (Photo: Pixabay)

Legitary has finally put a number on all those missing, incorrect, and fraudulent music streams. In its latest report, the streaming verification company reveals that up to 16% of streaming statements from DSPs are ‘suspicious,’ and the takeaways on streaming fraud are surprising.

Legitary’s latest finding is based on scans of over 700 billion music streams, with a staggering takeaway on just how much is being missed. The company’s AI-powered auditing platform identified a multitude of cases involving miscounted streams and anomalies — amounting to up to $3 billion in incorrectly tracked revenues for 2022.

The amount is eyebrow-raising, to say the least. Legitary’s report, shared with Digital Music News this month, is likely to raise pivotal questions about the accuracy and transparency of play counts on streaming platforms in an industry awash in trillions of streams.

Alongside the broader anomalies in the streaming industry, including streaming fraud, reporting errors, metadata discrepancies, and others, Legitary is also shedding light on other non-obvious issues, including unexplained drops in streams and zero-reported streams. But for all the focus surrounding streaming fraud, Legitary’s findings offer a surprisingly different assessment of the problem. Just recently, Legitary joined forces with DMN to further educate the industry on what their research is revealing.

Legitary’s findings take the issue of misreported streams beyond the typical discussions centered around streaming farms and streaming fraud. More importantly, it sheds light on the fact that fraud is only a modest part of the bigger anomaly pie.

Indeed, the different types of anomalies within the larger pie are unique and demand different solutions. Moreover, rectification of these anomalies requires a diverse set of approaches and strategies.

Nermina Mumic, CEO of Legitary, believes non-fraudulent anomalies are arguably the bigger enemy since they directly impact the IP owners involved. That’s not always the case with streaming fraud.

Streaming fraud tends to garner the most attention within the industry. However, Legitary noted that a far larger percentage of issues are unintentional or rooted in data errors. Most importantly, tackling those problems results in a one-to-one recovery of missing royalties and doesn’t involve chasing shadowy stream-farm operators.

Perhaps labels need to point their guns at a bigger boogeyman. With a substantial percentage of music streaming royalties potentially compromised by a broad number of potential issues, these hidden problems, Legitary believes, ‘do not receive the level of attention they deserve.’

“With streaming anomalies, we’re seeing royalties simply not getting generated, so the issue is harder to find, keep track of, and resolve,” Mumic explains, adding, “The music industry must delve into the occurrences and factors that could be contributing to exacerbating these anomalies. It’s absolutely imperative.”

While the issue is significant, Mumic is quick to point out that streaming platforms aren’t solely to blame for these anomalies.

Legitary’s report also notes that with far superior data quality, major labels account for fewer streaming anomalies compared to discrepancies recorded for indie label artists.

“There are many possible problems with missing stream payments, and suspicious stream counts don’t necessarily arise due to streaming platforms. Instead, the missing revenues stem from reporting issues, flawed data, and overall inaccuracies within the industry. In some cases, we’re seeing significant unexplained drops in streams, and at some points, no streams recorded at all.”

“Streaming fraud creates some indirect issues. But there’s also a direct leverage point of fixing streaming anomalies with direct remedial action.”

A quick breakdown of music publisher market shares, 2020 (blue) to 2021 (green) (sources: IMPF; Music & Copyright)

If TikTok somehow avoids getting banned, sold, or otherwise knee-capped in the United States, another dark storm cloud awaits. Enter indie music publishers, who could render this platform awfully quiet in the coming months. Their collective impact is bigger than many realize.

For weeks, Universal Music Group has been fighting a lonely battle against TikTok. Now, there are signs that others may join the fight — and the impact could be even more devastating for TikTok’s user experience.

Aside from the full weight of the United States Government, there’s now a scrappy group of malcontents reconsidering their TikTok relationships.  And the indie music publisher storm cloud could be bigger than TikTok realizes — a lot bigger.

What will UGC licensing look like after the UMG-TikTok war? We examine that question in our recent DMN Pro Weekly Report.

A quick overview of the catalog sizes tells the first part of this story. Universal Music Group controls copyrights to roughly 3 million song recordings and publishing rights within 4 million songs. But indie publishers collectively control a far greater catalog, according to market share estimates.

Those estimates—tallied for 2021—come from the Independent Music Publishers International Forum (IMPF), which pegged indie publisher marketshare at 27.1% citing Music & Copyright figures.

However, that figure only counts music publishers with a 5% or lower total market share, excluding BMG and Kobalt. Add those ‘bigger indies’ into the mix, and the total indie music publishing market share swells to 40.1%.

Who’s included matters. As we first reported last week, the National Music Publishers’ Association notified its members that it wouldn’t be renewing its TikTok contract, which lapses on April 30th. The NMPA doesn’t include every music publisher, and more importantly, every music publisher is free to make their own decision.

What Will UGC Licensing Look Like After the UMG-TikTok War?

But jumping back to the IMPF estimate: collectively, indie music publishers are the largest owners of songs and lyrics, at least in terms of catalog size. Sony Music Publishing might have bigger hits, but the indie music publishing community as a whole is bigger in terms of total songs.

That assumes,  of course, that the entire indie music publishing community acts in lock-step.

But even a 10% pullout could create a noticeable impact on TikTok users. This isn’t a giant behemoth like UMG with a single kill switch, and major labels (and their publishing subsidiaries) have bigger hits in their catalogs. However, collective action by enough indie music publishers could amount to another ‘nuclear option’ following Universal Music Publishing Group’s withdrawal.

And what’s up with that choice of words — the ‘nuclear option’ — for music publishing?

The phrase was bandied about immediately after UMPG decided not to renew its TikTok licensing agreement, cementing UMG’s recording+publishing pullout. And it strangely fits: unlike recordings, which typically feature a smaller set of authors and owners, publishing ownership is more complicated. Generalizing across genres and eras is difficult, but today’s popular songs can have long lists of authors and co-publishers, with each owner carrying veto power over the entire song.

Look no further than Travis Scott’s ‘Sicko Mode’ feat. Drake, which has an astounding 30 different songwriters. That’s an extreme case, though most top-charting songs contain multiple songwriters (or, more accurately, rights owners with veto power).

Suddenly, the reach of a tiny music publisher can be far greater than it appears, with authors owning percentages of songs in other catalogs. The result is a vast and interconnected set of tentacles that go beyond a specific catalog. This is a bomb whose impact is hard to quickly assess, but can be seriously devastating — and deafening for TikTok.

Then again, so would an American law forcing the divestiture of TikTok by its powerful owner, ByteDance.

Source: UMG, ByteDance financial disclosures.

TikTok calls that a ban, while lawmakers simply characterize this as a slight change in ownership. Either way, a successful passage in the Senate and signature by President Biden would plunge TikTok into chaos and eliminate a mountainous war chest — with music licensing the least of the platform’s problems.

Music Merch Manager App by Merch Cat

What happens when merch stops being an afterthought and turns into an active revenue-generator? Merch Cat says its elevated focus on technology and analytics can boost artist merch revenue by as much as 20%, while strategically crafting a more reliable process for inventory management, sales tracking, and decision-making.

For artists and managers, merchandise typically takes a backseat to music creation, releases, and touring. As a result, merch presents itself as a chaotic afterthought — ridden with routine disruptions of procurement, quality checks, inventory issues, data tracking, and fulfillment challenges.

Vanessa Ferrer, founder of Merch Cat, recently sat down with DMN to discuss how a sophisticated system of inventory management and tracking allows artists to significantly expand their merch revenue stream. In a bid to ensure merch represents a refined and reliable revenue category, Merch Cat has monumentally expanded its focus on tech to amplify merch processes for artists, managers, and labels.

“It’s all about merch strategy,” says Ferrer while adding that the industry needs to adjust its approach to merchandise and ‘place merchandise strategy at the forefront since merch is a lucrative business component.’

The company dedicates comprehensive attention to merch metrics management ‘to optimize value for artists.’ “It’s an intuitive process and streamlined workflow, with tech that does the work behind the scenes to ensure an optimized data output consisting of usable reports and analytics,” says Ferrer. Just recently, Merch Cat joined forces with DMN to further expand its merch footprint.

Merch Cat’s continuously-expanding roster includes artists and bands like The Marshall Tucker Band, George Clinton, Parliament-Funkadelic, Noel and Ben Haggard, Jesse Dayton, Struggle Jennings, Britnee Kellogg, and others. Also on board are industry advisors Ted Cohen (TAG Strategic), Rich Stumpf (Hawkeye Music Group), and Lou Plaia (Sentric Music) — a trio that Ferrer says ‘aims to help expand the client base, extend industry reach, and consult on business strategy.’

Ferrer believes streamlining merchandising processes with technology can generate usable insights from sales data. With user-friendly tech aimed at tackling inventory management and metrics, Merch Cat is ‘helping change the game for live show merch sales, where a vast majority of sales happen.’

With a focus on that aspect, Merch Cat’s Music Merch Manager App offers an upgraded analytics dashboard with ‘Merch Metrics’ — packed with essential insights to enable artists and their teams to easily make merch decisions.

The app places the entire merch business on one mobile device, allowing artists to quickly and easily enter inventory, import shows from Bandsintown, track sales and profits at a glance, automatically generate settlement reports with the venues’ music and merch splits, and more. Merch Cat is also integrated with Square as its payment processor, making it a seamless transition for pre-existing accounts.

Ferrer explains that artists gain a complete snapshot of essential information such as what sizes, styles, and quantities fans are purchasing. It also shows which items generated the highest sales. “It keeps all the data centralized, and the analytics in one place.”

“It keeps all the data centralized, and the analytics in one place.”

This data is core to optimizing revenue, Ferrer believes, as it ‘further expands your merch strategy, offers central inventory, sales tracking, and analytics.’

On the other hand, Merch Cat’s FAN app is the artists’ virtual storefront, which Ferrer says ‘allows fans to buy merchandise before, during, or after the show.’

She adds, “Fans receive a code for their purchase and can pick it up at the table. Or they can choose to have it shipped to their home.”

Merch Cat FAN Band Merchandise App

With an ‘artist-friendly interface,’ Merch Cat is deepening the connection between artists, their merch, and fans. Apart from the integration of the web store via a widget, the app has also added a Spotify player to the artist’s profile.

To ensure that artists can offer merchandise that they’re proud to put their name on, Merch Cat also offers merchandise procurement as a value-added service, ensuring quality merch at artist-friendly prices.

Ferrer says this will allow artists to earn higher revenues with more competitive margins — and lead to happier fans.

New York-based rock band Hollis Brown can testify to that. On their summer tour, following a ‘merch strategy’ tie-up with Merch Cat, the band witnessed a 20% increase in merch sales. According to Hollis Brown’s management company, ‘Merch Cat helped strategize to revamp the merch line,’ and provided accurately-tracked information on inventory levels that optimized organization and revenue.

Other musicians and bands have also revealed the many ways in which Merch Cat has helped them achieve their merch goals. Via Merch Cat’s Merch Metrics, Hannah Wicklund’s vinyl and CDs became top-sellers at live shows. Melissa Menago found a means to sell merch before her record release show — also during the show and after it — via Merch Cat Fan. Rock band Broke City attribute their ‘biggest merch night ever’ to Merch Cat streamlining the merch table process. And metal and classical fusion band The Breathing Process say Merch Cat has been a ‘game changer,’ enabling them to solve their merch inventory problems.

So what exactly does Merch Cat bring to the table that enables artists to have a successful merch business? Ferrer believes that apart from its technology, it’s the ‘human aspect’ and ‘personalization’ that differentiates Merch Cat from its competitors.

“Merch Cat brings the whole gamut, Ferrer relayed. “We’ll develop your merch strategy, get you the merchandise at a targeted price point, put it on Merch Cat, use Merch Cat to sell, and then look at analyses and insights to optimize the strategy even further.”

Putting together an effective ‘merch mix’ Ferrer says, requires a focus on ‘understanding your fans, maximizing your profits, and reducing waste.’

“With a robust strategy backed by data, you ensure you capitalize on every opportunity of a sale. Our technology and insights bring you the information you need so you don’t lose sales because your fans arrived at the table and left because they had to wait too long, or you don’t have the style or size they want.”

According to Ferrer, one of Merch Cat’s most prominent upsides is that it doesn’t require days of set-up time — thanks to a user-friendly workflow and interface.

“If you know your merch inventory, you can use Merch Cat after you’ve arrived at the venue,” explains Ferrer, adding, “You can do it all on a mobile device — in a pinch.”

When artists embrace a more sophisticated system spanning inventory purchase, real-time reports, and payment tracking, Merch Cat promises they can ‘merch better, increase profits, make their fans happier, and spend more time doing what they love.’

“Everyone is on the same starting line in Dolby Atmos,” says Alex Solano. (Photo: Apple Music)

Back in October, Digital Music News first reported that Apple Music was introducing higher royalty payouts for Dolby Atmos mixes. That has sparked some pushback, particularly from indie and unsigned artists who feel Atmos upgrades come with a hefty price tag. AlexProMix is hoping to dispel that notion.

An early adopter of Dolby Atmos immersive formats, AlexProMix founder Alex Solano recently shared his thoughts on  how the rapid evolution in the Dolby Atmos ecosystem paves the way for musicians to gain ‘creative and monetary benefit.’

According to Solano, labels already understand the need and value of the format, with high-priority playlisting and better revenues. However, artists are still unaware that spatial audio doesn’t just make music ‘sound expansive and immersive’ but offers an incredible monetary benefit.

But can they afford it?

Absolutely yes, according to Solano. AlexProMix is currently offering fully-upgraded Atmos mixes for ‘as little as $350 per song,’ a more workable price range. Suddenly, the math could make sense for artists hoping to score a bumped-up royalty rate on Apple Music.

Solano, a music mixing engineer and educator for artists, labels, and music studios, also sees a big opportunity for producers and mixers as well. He predicts that gaining expertise in the heavily invested space of immersive audio could be ‘the biggest opportunity for audio professionals today.’ Just recently, AlexProMix partnered with DMN to further expand awareness around spatial audio possibilities.

Diving into his take on the importance of spatial audio in the current music industry terrain, Solano clarified that despite popular belief, spatial audio is ’not just an exclusive service available to the majors.’

Solano points out that many of the largest distribution platforms for indie artists — such as Avidplay, CD Baby, The Orchard, Audio Salad, Distrokid, Golden Dynamic, Rebeat, and Rock Mobile (to name a few) — currently support Dolby Atmos as a deliverable format. “Any indie artist who’s self-publishing and self-distributing can hire an independent immersive mixer and upgrade their audio to Dolby Atmos,” he added.

Backed by almost two decades of experience in music mixing and his unique position as an early adopter of immersive audio processing, Solano believes the evolving technology will be ‘creating a whole new set of job opportunities for audio professionals who want to have a sustainable career in the music industry.’

“There’s going to be a huge need for Dolby Atmos mixers like myself and thousands of others who have become early adopters.”

Before Dolby Atmos, anyone could have the tools and gear to mix and master — all from a home studio using headphones. But Spatial Audio, Solano says, is ‘different.’

Immersive mixes require expensive gear, specifically equipped studios, and distinct professional knowledge. These extensive requirements for Dolby Atmos have reset the terrain for mixers and offer a blank slate for experimentation, Solano explains. “Mix engineers at all levels are exploring new ways to expand the sonic possibilities with Dolby Atmos,” Solano noted. “Everyone is now at the same starting line with Dolby Atmos, with lots of new possibilities ahead.”

Speaking about AlexProMix, the spatial audio professional told DMN that his background has allowed him to ‘build a complex type of service’ for artists, labels, and studios.

His journey to becoming a spatial audio professional started in 2005, when Solano says he began ‘working behind the scenes for companies ahead of the curve,’ such as Avid Technology, the makers of Pro Tools. From there, Solano went on to gain early certifications from Universal and Warner. 

Speaking about the advent of his role as educator, Solano says he had to go through the whole process of educating his clients on spatial audio, why it’s needed, and the required equipment details.

“So I took that format and basically started creating videos on YouTube on what immersive audio is and how it benefits music producers and artists,” says Solano.

Solano admits he’s in a ‘unique position’ as an early adopter of immersive audio because he’s a music mixer, an online educator, and is ‘flying out to studios to teach immersive mixing.’

“All of that centers around something that I enjoy doing — my passion for music technology and music services and my early adoption of immersive audio.”

Solano also recounts his recent stint in Dubai, where he was called by LPME to assist with three recently built studios with two Dolby Atmos rooms. “They made the investment but needed a seasoned professional to train their in-house staff of producers and mixers in the new format.”

“That’s significant because you can have a multi-million dollar studio. You can have a lot of capital and resources, but there’s a very steep learning curve on knowing what to do when you sit in a room with speakers.”

The technology has been quickly growing and evolving, but audio professionals still need guidance and education when setting up a studio. “A Dolby Atmos music studio is a dedicated room for immersive mixing,” Solano explains, adding, “It’s not like a traditional recording or mixing room — it’s not a multi-purpose room.”

“It’s much easier to get into it now than two years ago, but it’s still quite a bit of an investment. You’re talking about 12 speakers plus all the rigging gear and acoustic treatment everywhere. And everything needs to be treated because sounds are coming at you from different directions, so there’s more possibility that audio reflections will bounce around the room,” explains Solano.

Solano believes his work impacts the music ecosystem beyond artist and label knowledge, adding, “As an early adopter, I’m supporting both Dolby and all the companies who are creating software compatible with Dolby.”

Looking at the bigger picture, what does the future of spatial audio look like in terms of traction on major streaming platforms like Amazon Music, Apple Music, and the 20+ other DSPs supporting Dolby? Moreover, in the spatial audio realm, what’s happening at Spotify?

Recalling a panel discussion he attended at MUSEXPO 2023, Solano pointed out the possibility that by the end of 2024, Apple Music and Amazon will require Dolby Atmos to be a deliverable format. Similarly, he mentioned that in March of 2022, major labels had set a mandate to go through the archives and convert everything into Dolby Atmos.

And leading from that progression, Spotify can’t possibly be so far behind. Solano relays that even though Spotify isn’t currently in a financial position to make that jump or investment into spatial audio, the streaming giant built a Dolby Atmos studio at its facilities in late 2022.

However, Solano predicts that when the streaming giant finally steps into the field and adopts Dolby Atmos as a format, ‘every music mixer who’s working in immersive audio will see their rates going up. Because there will be such a high demand for their skill.’

The TikTok ‘Add to Music App’ in action (photo: TikTok)

The ‘TikTok-to-Spotify Pipeline‘ is a real and powerful thing. Now, it’s a very real and powerful leverage point in the contentious TikTok vs. Universal Music Group standoff. Enter the now globally-ubiquitous ‘Add to Music App.’

TikTok’s recent decision to dramatically expand its ‘Add to Music App’ to more than 160 countries worldwide could be coincidental. Alternatively, dramatically expanding this one-click music-adding option could be a perfectly timed leverage tactic against Universal Music Group, whose vast catalog will certainly not be included in the fun.

Earlier, we noticed that TikTok’s algorithms appeared to de-emphasize muted content previously featuring UMG music. Taken together, we may be witnessing a tried-and-true negotiation tactic designed to weaken UMG’s position in its protracted licensing standoff.

Check out our recent DMN Pro Weekly report for a complete breakdown of the recent UMG-TikTok standoff and what we know about TikTok’s music deal structures. We dive deeper into what this standoff means, what led to the breakdown, TikTok’s royalty contributions to the music industry compared to other UGC platforms, and an eye-opening comparison between the revenues of UMG versus TikTok owner ByteDance.

The ‘Add to Music App’ simply allows TikTok users to add a specific song to their streaming platform of choice. That makes this little app button a potent tool.

By now, the ‘TikTok-to-Spotify pipeline’ is a recognized phenomenon.

And what is the ‘TikTok-to-Spotify pipeline,’ for the uninitiated?

The term — or its variations — refers to the rapid flow of discovery from TikTok to Spotify, with a viral TikTok video inevitably leading to a bull-charge of plays, saves, and followers on the DSP. In almost every case, the upsurge begins on TikTok but quickly spreads beyond the short-form video platform.

And this goes way beyond Spotify. In most cases, ‘TikTok-to-Spotify’ is more accurately described as ‘TikTok-to-DSPs’ given the general spread of subscribers and users across Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, and other streaming music platforms. Accordingly, this may be more accurately described as a ‘swarm’ than a ‘pipeline.’

And the data backs this up: Legitary, a company focused on auditing stream counts and rooting out streaming platform fraud, recently told DMN that song spikes are rarely limited to one streaming platform. Instead, isolated platform spikes often indicate something wrong is happening — an ‘anomaly,’ as the company puts it.

During the company’s product expansion announcement earlier this week, TikTok’s Global Head of Distribution Partnerships, Isaac Bess, summarized this now-predictable flow. “With our Add to Music App, we’re streamlining the music discovery experience for both TikTok users and artists,” Bess said.

“Music fans are embracing the opportunity to save music from TikTok directly to their favorite music streaming services, driving music discovery and helping more tracks to break through and become hits.”

The Universal Music-TikTok Licensing Battle Is in Full Swing — But What Do We Actually Know About TikTok’s Licensing Agreements?

Incidentally, that list of ‘favorite music streaming services’ includes TikTok’s homegrown streaming platforms, present and future. However, we wish TikTok luck licensing any UMG content for those ambitious build-outs.

During the relatively calmer summer of 2023, TikTok rolled out its ‘TikTok Music’ streaming platform in Brazil and India, with the blessings of Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Music Group, among others. But UMG declined to license subsequent launches in Australia, Mexico, and Singapore, a harbinger of things to come.

In terms of ‘pro tips,’ artists are well-advised to position their music on various DSPs before they blow up on TikTok. Otherwise, the pipeline becomes abruptly disrupted, and fan engagement is squandered during a critical viral moment.

But for Universal Music Group artists, that flow is now structurally blocked.

The reason is that the ‘pipeline’ can never get started if there isn’t a UMG-signed song to start it. Instead, those viral moments — and their downstream DSP spikes — will be reserved for artists on other labels, like Warner Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment.

Coupled with a few algorithmic downgrades for muted videos, and you can see where this is going.

So what’s UMG’s next move?

The brief history of these music industry standoffs suggests a short-term resolution, as Warner Music Group chief executive Robert Kyncl aptly observed. But this dispute is already weeks long, with both sides potentially digging their heels deeper.

A weeks-long dispute can quickly become a months-long disagreement, with TikTok potentially drafting product plans to work around their gaping content gaps. TikTok Music, previously known as ‘Resso,’ is hanging in the balance, and absolutely needs Universal Music Group licensing agreements to get off the ground.

A wildcard may come from another significant IP holder joining UMG in solidarity. But as we’ve reported, that won’t be Warner Music Group. And despite warm and supportive statements supporting UMG, others have also declined to exercise the nuclear option.

And the standoff continues.

AI ‘singer-songwriter’ Anna Indiana (photo: @AnnaIndianaAI on X/Twitter)

Can AI create a superstar on the level of Elvis, Prince, or Taylor Swift? There’s ample reason to believe that the musicians that truly connect and drive the culture will always be ‘human-generated’ — deeply flawed, just like us.

So what are the real limits of AI-generated music?

That’s a question worth reflecting upon as Universal Music Group continues to battle it out with TikTok, partly over AI-generated music. It’s no secret that TikTok and its owner, ByteDance, are gung-ho on AI-generated music and triggering serious copyright concerns in the process.

But perhaps it’s useful to consider the limits of AI in music, particularly as it surrounds the human element of superstardom.

Check out our recent DMN Pro Weekly report for a complete breakdown of the recent UMG-TikTok standoff and what we know about TikTok’s music deal structures. We dive deeper into what this standoff means, what led to the breakdown, TikTok’s royalty contributions to the music industry compared to other UGC platforms, and an eye-opening comparison between the revenues of UMG versus TikTok owner ByteDance.

It’s not that there aren’t attempts to create an AI-generated idol or pop superstar — not to mention AI-generated best friends and even sexual partners. But there may be serious limitations to this game.

If only it were ‘all about the music,’ to quote an old industry cliché.

One could argue that the music industry is powered by hits — those beautiful, perfectly-timed songs that ripple throughout the world, racking up billions of plays and taking residence in our collective consciousness. But powering every hit is a personality, a human that is typically relatable on some level to fans. In most cases, it’s not just the hit, it’s who’s delivering that hit to the world — and that’s a huge part of what Universal Music Group and companies like it create.

It’s not that AI isn’t attempting to replicate that. But it might be fundamentally impossible to replace the superstar musician, simply because superstars only exist because of the people that love them. And the superstars we form connections with are often deeply flawed, vulnerable, and tragically human.

Nobody particularly likes overdosing on toilets, murderous producers, classical geniuses who die at 35, heroin-addicted singers, bickering band members, or the ’27 Club’. But the dirty, dark history of music is not only tragically human; it might also be the flip side of genius. And it’s something AI isn’t designed to replace.

But maybe that’s a feature, not a bug, for music fans who favor the sometimes ugly — and very human — real thing.

And for proof of that, simply look at the most successful and celebrated ‘catalog’ artists of all time.

Jim Morrison was, at times, a semi-functional alcoholic who had trouble showing up at gigs and exposed himself when he did. But damn, he had a powerful and magnetic charisma — not to mention beautiful lyrics. Elvis helped to redefine and popularize rock n’ roll like nobody before him, yet his waning days were spent popping pills in a Vegas penthouse suite.

Prince seemed like the model of squeaky-clean creativity and control — until the shocking details of his sudden death emerged. Chet Baker couldn’t kick heroin and fell out of a window to his death.

And Michael Jackson, whose catalog was recently valued at $1.2 billion? I rest my case.

The list goes on — and on, and on, and on.

Indeed, the list is filled with extreme meltdowns,  murderous rampages, descents into insanity, suicides, and too many debilitating drug and alcohol addictions to count. It’s a depressingly checkered past, and a stark reminder that flawed human beings — just like us — are on that stage.

The Universal Music-TikTok Licensing Battle Is in Full Swing — But What Do We Actually Know About TikTok’s Licensing Agreements?

Perhaps an AI compositional platform can perfectly concoct the music for a chase scene in 1.4 seconds. But for the biggest stars and the fans who love them, is it ever just ‘all about the music’?

And that goes for the happily non-screwed-up artists as well. Perhaps in a sign of positive societal change, many of the biggest music superstars today — Taylor Swift, Drake, Beyonce, Olivia Rodrigo, Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa — aren’t defined by their vices but by their togetherness. They show up on time, stay healthy and kick ass.

(That’s not to say there aren’t troubled artists out there, but maybe we’re doing better these days.)

But the real connection goes far beyond the music and into the relatability, the human charisma, and the feeling that despite the searing levels of celebrity, there’s still a human that sleeps, eats, drinks, screws up, and even gets dumped — just like you.

Even if you hate them and wish they didn’t get so much airtime at Chiefs games, that’s engagement — you’re sucked in. There’s a connection, not just to the artist but the entire culture surrounding them.

What’s true in music may also be true for other areas of entertainment, including sports. We love a comeback because it’s human. A hole-in-one shot by an AI-powered humanoid would be a novelty, not a daring exploit for the ages.

And no matter how sophisticated the Black Mirror dystopian future plays out for the music industry, it’s hard to imagine AI touching that human connection. Because AI isn’t human, it’s designed to do better than humans and eliminate their flaws. And if the Black Mirror AI hellscape truly emerges, you may prefer to listen to a human artist battling against dystopia than an AI-concocted singer feeding you happy vibes.

But if the human connection isn’t replaceable, what is the real threat that AI music poses to the industry?

This isn’t a light question and serious threats are looming on the horizon. It’s part of what pushed Universal Music Group and TikTok past the brink. But UMG also builds superstar careers and fame, which is extremely difficult to replicate and requires deep expertise and experience.

Does that offer UMG more leverage in the TikTok standoff? Even subconsciously, a viral video with a superstar-associated soundtrack feels more powerful. And even TikTok stars are relatable humans, not AI-concocted personalities.

None of that solves the UMG-TikTok standoff, particularly as it relates to copyright concerns. But from the perspective of UMG, a company that specializes in finding and building human superstars, it’s worth noting. Perhaps there’s only so much that AI can replace.

“The white label solution will allow companies and brands to offer everything a DIY music distribution platform does, but under their own brand.”

White label distribution solutions typically don’t grab much attention. EVEARA aims to keep it that way by empowering large and medium-sized enterprises to provide DIY music distribution under their brand — sans the hectic backend workload.

EVEARA’s DIY music distribution solution is the force behind Avid’s AvidPlay, which the ProTools developer launched in 2019. Starmony and the Native Instruments group, which now includes Plugin Alliance, iZotope, and others, also take a spot on EVEARA’s white label partners list.

Other industry players are also looking at EVEARA’s end-to-end solutions. EVEARA is forging significant and unique partnerships with telecom companies to build up their music distribution services. The Ireland-headquartered company is also in talks with social media platforms, music schools, and well-established consumer brands, which display a broad interest in adding DIY music distribution to their portfolios. Just recently, DMN partnered with EVEARA to further broaden the company’s industry footprint.

So, who’s behind this music industry player that specializes in not getting attention?

Levent Karahan, former A&R Manager of Sony Music Entertainment and Founder/CEO of EVEARA, told DMN that despite the massive impact a white label solution can generate, most companies and brands are still unaware of how it works.

The challenge for enterprises, Karahan explains, is that ‘they want to be in DIY music distribution but have no inclination to build it from scratch, or partner with existing DIY distribution platforms — because that would place their artists under a completely different brand.’

Karahan says the white label solution allows companies and brands to offer everything a DIY music distribution platform does, ‘but under their own brand — while we take over all the workload.’

EVEARA solutions aren’t a cookie-cutter offering. The company understands that each enterprise has diverse expectations and demands when it considers its personal vision for distribution. With a focus on that aspect, Karahan explains that EVEARA is stepping it up. “We’ve been able to execute multiple unique requirements of business models. To accommodate enterprises, we’re extremely flexible.”

Karahan believes that EVEARA’s core flexibility and strategic focus on transparency with ‘no hidden costs’ set it apart from its competitors.

“In our standard model, we don’t touch artist royalties, and neither do our white label partners,” he says.

With an eye on empowering companies, EVEARA has been improving its solution since its inception in April 2015 and is constantly adding new features around the core. The white label now offers comprehensive analytics, plus many other tools and features.

“Our white label partners can be part of the game without investing a lot of money or resources into a huge distribution department,” says Karahan.

Selcuk Kösemehmetoglu, Head of Sales & Business Development at EVEARA, explains that the white label distribution platform is ‘built with enterprise-readiness and scalability in mind.’

“We automated it all,” Kösemehmetoglu says, adding that the solution covers everything from backend management of hundreds of thousands of users, subscription payments, distribution, fingerprinting, bulk ISRC code generation, analytics, reporting, payout, marketing, and even support.

“We’re the best solution for enterprises, big companies, and brands that want to adopt DIY music distribution. With EVEARA, companies can make music available across the world’s largest and most prominent streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, TIDAL, etc. — and run their systems with minimal maintenance required from their end.”

Morten Dahlgren, COO/CMO of EVEARA, says the white label platform provider offers a great opportunity in the growing music creator space, alongside AI tools and services that are taking the industry by storm.

“In this thriving music space, our primary focus is on becoming the best one-stop direct artist solution as a white label,” Dahlgren told us.

Karahan believes powerhouse music instrument manufacturers and retailers like Yamaha, Fender, and Sweetwater are sitting on a missed opportunity in this growing creator space. “They can strengthen their customer relationships by adding DIY music distribution to their brand, leaving the real workload with EVEARA and entering a vastly growing sector.”

Karahan points out that EVEARA’s offering is very close to their core business, adding, “Not only would they offer value add to their existing customers, but also attract new ones, tapping into additional sustainable revenue — and allowing powerful bundle and cross-sales opportunities. Moreover, they gain access to powerful real-time analytics, which can be used to optimize their core business even further.”

Zeroing in on the goal of empowering white label partners with their services, EVEARA has placed a heightened focus on analytics. They want to bring the ‘data advantage’ to partner enterprises.

With access to comprehensive analytics, companies can track and understand customer behavior and anticipate what they need. Enterprises can take data-backed initiatives to forge relationships with their artists, allowing higher customer retention via more touchpoints.

Dahlgren points out that these enterprises ‘can offer loyalty programs, spot upcoming trends and artists that would otherwise be lost to external DIY music distributors.’

Also revealing ‘good news for small and mid-size companies,’ Dahlgren explains that EVEARA has recently introduced an offering for independent music labels and smaller companies that were previously ‘priced out.’ Now, with an entry-level plan, smaller companies aiming to get content out under their own brand and gain more control over their customer relationships can also partner with EVEARA.

Dahlgren says EVEARA’s DIY music distribution white label offering is ‘beyond borders,’ as the company’s core offering is ‘not geographically isolated.’ The company currently boasts 100+ white label partners across all continents.

The world, Dahlgren points out, does not consist of only North America and Europe. That sounds obvious, though the industry tends to conglomerate around specific geographical zones. “There’s also Asia, Africa, South America, and Australia, so we’ve expanded the horizon and have partnered with companies representing some interesting global opportunities in those parts of the world.”

Learn more about EVEARA’s DIY white label music distribution solution.

UMG’s Grainge (l) vs. WMG’s Kyncl (r): A Tale of Two TikTok Deals

While Universal Music Group is rallying plenty of music industry support following its TikTok pullout, that love isn’t spilling into a mass pullout. Even more telling are those that aren’t even thinking about it.

Check out our recent DMN Pro Weekly report for a complete breakdown of the recent UMG-TikTok standoff and what we know about TikTok’s music deal structures. We dive deeper into what this standoff means, what led to the breakdown, TikTok’s royalty contributions to the music industry compared to other UGC platforms, and an eye-opening comparison between the revenues of UMG versus TikTok owner ByteDance.

In seemingly every corner of the music industry, Universal Music Group is getting love for sticking it to TikTok. The chutzpah is real and getting respect, and this is a riskier gambit than it appears — even for a hefty mega-label like UMG.

In the days following the pullout, supportive statements emerged from the NMPA, Downtown Music Holdings, and A2IM. That’s a healthy chunk of the music publishing and indie label community rallying to UMG’s cause. But so far, none of this is going past a supportive bro-hug..

Perhaps even more telling is who isn’t threatening a pullout: fellow major label Warner Music Group.

During WMG’s recent quarterly earnings call, CEO Robert Kyncl expressed empathy but not solidarity. It turns out that Warner Music Group is in a good place with TikTok — though they feel UMG’s pain. “Our deal was very difficult too,” Kyncl relayed in the analyst q&a session. “But we got there, and for us it was fair.”

Kyncl himself is a YouTube alum who has previously battered through similar stare-downs with powerful content owners. “I have a pretty unique experience in this obviously having been on the other side and having gone through these types of disputes where content has come down,” the tech-turned-content CEO continued.

“I know exactly what both Lucian [Grainge] and Shou [Zi Chew] are feeling, because I have gone through all of those feelings, multiple times. It is not great for either side, obviously, because I think everybody wants to consummate the deal.”

Volumes, spoken. And what about Sony Music Entertainment, the other mega-major? So far, it’s been crickets.

A percentage breakdown of the approximately $1.6 billion in global recorded music revenue attributed to UGC and ancillary licensing sources for 2022 in Goldman Sachs’ “Music in the Air” report.

But back to those who are publicly backing UMG. Why aren’t those approving statements shifting into action?

Part of this boils down to contractual realities. TikTok has many deals with many rights owners, and they don’t all expire on the same date. Some are months or years away from renewal. Simply stated: some of these IP owners may be getting the proverbial s—t sandwich, but simply can’t renegotiate right now.

But even if the stars align on a contractual renewal date, pulling an entire catalog from TikTok is risky, especially for companies lacking UMG’s weight. TikTok has a lot of leverage, particularly on the ground level with music fans and artists themselves.

For starters, plenty of musicians want to remain on TikTok, have few issues with royalty payments or AI, and would hate the label or publisher that forcibly removed their content.

That dynamic quickly became evident following UMG’s pullout. Universal Music hates their TikTok terms, that we know. But Noah Kahan, a TikTok-bred artist signed to UMG/Republic, couldn’t care less.

“So, like you, I’ve read the news about the UMG catalog being taken off TikTok,” Kahan began in a short video posted to the platform immediately after the UMG pullout. “Some of my songs aren’t gonna be on there anymore; I won’t be able to promote my music on TikTok anymore, but luckily, I’m not a TikTok artist, right?” he concludes facetiously.

Suddenly, the TikTok-to-signed-artist pathway has been strangely disrupted. If you’re an artist who’s blowing up on TikTok, do you want to sign with Republic/UMG, which will quickly remove that content?

The Universal Music-TikTok Licensing Battle Is in Full Swing — But What Do We Actually Know About TikTok’s Licensing Agreements?

But even artists who didn’t emerge from TikTok or rely on the platform have an issue, because a powerful marketing platform is suddenly unavailable. By contrast, it’s also entirely available for any non-UMG artist.

But this gets even worse: in the days following the UMG takedown, DMN uncovered some evidence that TikTok’s algorithms were responding to shift users away from muted videos. Not only were songs getting silenced, but artists signed to other labels might be getting more attention.

We can’t prove that. But TikTok had been a surprisingly sonified platform, considering it just lost up to 40% of its synched music content, according to our upper-end estimates.

Indeed, UMG’s chairman and CEO, Lucian Grainge, had to think through these issues the night before he pulled the trigger on the TikTok takedown. This wasn’t an easy call, and if the stalemate goes on too long, some artists might demand exemptions or simply walk. Given ByteDance’s relatively monstrous revenues, perhaps TikTok can afford a prolonged stare-down.

Graph: Digital Music News

Incidentally, WMG’s Kyncl also predicted that the UMG vs. TikTok battle would quickly resolve itself, like so many licensing standoffs before. But what if it doesn’t?

History says this will end soon. But if it doesn’t, both sides would suffer considerable damage. Most of the music industry would simply watch the carnage.

That hesitation could make a big difference in the UMG/TikTok standoff. Losing up to 40% of the music played on TikTok videos is a shocking blow, but this isn’t moving to a crippling level of 50%, 60%, or higher — because nobody else is joining ranks.

At least not yet.

Music industry veterans (and identical twins) Jason Jordan and Joel T. Jordan originally founded earthprogram in 1996, relaunching it in 2020 with a guiding mantra to ‘give honest advice to everyone.’ The industry incubator offers expert consulting and business development services to artists, labels, startups, and ‘green’ investors.

For artists, earthprogram’s goal is to expand creative output and capture audience attention by strategically collaborating and marketing across multiple platforms. According to Jason, principal and cofounder of earthprogram, his team’s expertise and extensive network of music industry partnerships place it ‘at the tip of the spear’ with the right relationships.

In that vein, Jason revealed a collaboration with Virgin Music for distribution and IP protection, RoyFi for ‘no bulls—t funding options,’ and That Pitch ‘to supply music to sync and licensing companies.’

Apart from consulting and business development, other primary verticals include publishing and licensing via a joint venture with Empire, as well as sync and music distribution for qualified artists and labels. Just recently, earthprogram joined forces with DMN to further expand their footprint.

Earthprogram was born out of the realization that many artists are blatantly green about how the business actually works, with preconceived ideas causing them to make moves — early in their careers — that irreversibly destroy any chances of future success.

Jason relayed that multiple artists he met at Canadian Music Week were shocked that their tracks didn’t capture any attention on streaming platforms and that ‘no one cared about their music.’

What went wrong? “Playlisting is not a marketing strategy,” says Jason, explaining that musicians that had put their entire album online at once and ‘simply blew their investment when we could have strung that out over a year, and they could have built a story leading to a career on it.’

As for the potential of DIY platforms to kickstart artist careers, Jason agreed that it can be a great idea to do it yourself. However, artists shouldn’t ‘do it alone’ — because expert advice can help them ‘do it better.’

In an industry where a major label deal is considered a ticket to surefire success, Jason clarifies that the odds are not in favor of rising artists who want to build a career on the back of a viral track.

Jason dives into the practice of labels picking up successful or viral musicians with ‘predatory’ label deals. “Labels expect artists to arrive with an audience and team that’s ready to go,” he adds, explaining that on the contrary, earthprogram’s infrastructure and significant label knowledge cultivate an ecosystem where artists, musicians, writers, and producers can connect to the channels and resources they need to ‘produce high-quality content and distribute it commercially.’

“Rising artists have close to zero chance of ever being heard,” says Jason, adding, “Nobody is cheerleading for these artists, or going to a distribution company and saying ‘please put this on a playlist or get this to the right person at Spotify’.”

“That’s what we’re offering: the expertise and channel relationships to make all the difference,” relays Jason. The brothers forged these relationships over 30 years while holding key music industry leadership positions — but it all started in their parents’ basement.

After creating a ‘highly collectible hardcore punk label’ out of said basement — one that snowballed into a real business by the time they turned 18 — the duo experienced incredible success. As a result, Jason was only 20 years old when he became Director of A&R at Sony Music Entertainment’s Columbia Records.

From Columbia Records, Jason went on to serve as VP A&R at Disney’s Hollywood Records, President of Imagem Music Publishing, Senior VP A&R at Universal’s Republic Records — plus notable senior positions at ONErpm, Symphonic, and self-founded Watermark Records.

Creative director and cofounder of earthprogram, Joel T. Jordan — similarly driven from the pair’s basement punk label success — is also the founder and president of Synchtank, a cloud-based licensing and rights management platform launched in 2011 — with clients like NFL, ESPN, Vice Media, WMG, Disney, and more.

According to Mike Glaser, partner and General Manager of earthprogram, it’s essential to ‘bet on yourself’ and build something sustainable that can be embraced by multiple platforms — ‘instead of a shot up on TikTok and a quick 6-month burst of attention before you’re dead.’

Glaser calls earthprogram the ‘expert tour guide for the jungle of the music industry,’ helping artists strategize, create content that matters, and ‘figuring out exactly what is missing in the puzzle to get the results they’re looking for.’

The platform’s successfully incubated artists include Grace Gaustad, who was — not so long ago — barely scratching the surface of viral stardom. Today, Gaustad boasts over 25 million views on a 2018 cover song, released an album and multimedia experience titled BLKBX: What r u hiding?, has starred in a film of the same title, and was featured in 2021’s Stand Up For Heroes benefit alongside Bruce Springsteen and Brandi Carlile.

Then there’s earthprogram’s rising hard rock artist, Josh Lambert. Known for working with the likes of Sleeping With Sirens’ singer Kellin Quinn and North Ave Jax, Lambert has charted multiple times on iTunes in the Top 5, is rated among the top 50 artists on Chartmetric, and successfully toured twice with RIVALS. Lambert’s latest album, Escape from Alcatraz, released in October 2023 and gained critical acclaim for pushing forward the punk genre. Earthprogram continues to work alongside Josh on strategy and global distribution.

Jason emphasizes the importance of ‘having a plan,’ adding, “If there’s no strategy, nothing’s going to happen.”

Anyone considering diving into the music industry can leverage earthprogram’s network and experience to create a plan.

“We also like to say, ‘we have the map,’” Jason relays, adding that even though the consultancy runs the plan, ‘it’s the artists and creators helping create the plan, based on what they want strategically.’ Jason also reveals that earthprogram’s consultancy is ‘either high-touch or low-touch’ — depending on how much they want them involved.

“So we can be in their laps or at arm’s length; they can decide. If they don’t need anything beyond just a quick kick in the ass, we can do that too.”

Jason believes earthprogram’s strongest suit is its relationships with distributors ‘that make all the difference.’ “We have the same facilities as the majors. We know the same marketing people, techniques, and tactics. But we get the results faster.”

It’s common knowledge that rising artists rarely have the financial resources to invest in publishing and marketing — so paying for success consultancy seems like a stretch. On that front, Glaser reveals that earthprogram offers a hybrid of retainer fees or a percentage of earnings. “We have fair deals that are expedited though our funding partners without offering predatory record label deals.”

According to Glaser, artists who qualify for consultancy can advance their earnings without selling their rights, and earthprogram’s retainers are so small that anybody who’s serious about their career can benefit from the offering. “We offer packages that start at only a few hundred dollars all the way up — depending on what they need. We can provide something useful for everybody.”

Photo: Logan Weaver

Yesterday, Digital Music News unearthed a shocking statistic in our latest DMN Pro Weekly Report: music-focused Web3 funding had plunged 51% between 2021 and 2023. But why are there so many green shoots in January if this space is crashing?

For signs of life in the music-focused Web3 space, look no further than DMN’s inbox this morning. Top of the pile? An alert from Warner Music Group’s ‘Web3 Music Accelerator,’ a joint effort involving Polygon Labs. DMN first reported on WMG’s Web3 incubator last summer, and several months later, some early hopefuls are being announced.

According to the companies, the aim of the incubator is ‘to power the next generation of innovation at the intersection of Web3 and music’ — and most likely, take a healthy cut of any successes.

(Incidentally, Universal Music Group is also prepping its own incubator — dubbed ‘UMusicLift’ — though it’s unclear if Web3 will be part of the initial portfolio of supported companies. The initiative is coming out of UMG’s Digital Innovation team and will serve as a new online hub dedicated to ‘supporting the next generation of diverse, music-related startups and entrepreneurs who aim to accelerate the next wave of digital transformation.’)

Interested in a serious deep-dive into Web3 startups and funding in the music industry? Check out our latest DMN Pro research report on Web3 successes, failures, pivots, and funding levels — including a rundown of every company making a play for this space. 

Not a DMN Pro subscriber? Change that immediately!

So far, WMG’s ‘winners’ are merely ‘hopefuls,’ and both have celebrity backers — which isn’t necessarily an indicator of eventual success (or, for that matter, failure). MITH is focused on fan engagement, with Jack Harlow, Emilia Clarke, and Halle Berry offering some celebrity sizzle to the platform. MITH plans to give artists AI-driven data and analytics from ‘artist-owned first-party data on their audiences,’ with Jack Harlow among the first artists to benefit.

Also on WMG’s ‘most likely to succeed’ list is Muus Collective, which features Paris Hilton and celebrity gamer Felicia Day on the board. The company’s rewards-focused community approach focuses on ‘fashion-centric experiences’ across mobile games, digital collectibles, and broader entertainment. What that means in reality remains to be seen, though expect a heady explosion of gaming, music, and fashion.

“Music and fashion have long been inextricably linked, and we see a wealth of opportunity to explore this relationship in a gamified virtual environment where players interact and express themselves with both music and fashion,” relayed Amber Bezahler, a cofounder of Muus Collective.

Music Web3 funding, 2021-2023 (Source: DMN Pro Music Industry Funding Tracker)

If that sounds eye-roll-worthy, we get it. After all, investors have splurged over $400 million on music-focused Web3 plays since 2021, with sub-categories like NFTs, the metaverse, cryptocurrency and blockchain. Many of those startups have yet to produce a proof of concept – or are simply dead.

In fact, we found a few dead bodies after simply shaking our editorial stick. Chief among the moribund is the Quincy Jones-backed OneOf, a self-described ‘NFT platform built specifically for the music vertical.’ OneOf announced a $63 million raise in 2021 and another $8.4 million round in 2022. But as we’ve exhaustively reported, several customers claim this company is ghosting its customers.

Several maintain that the formerly high-flying company has failed to honor promises made ahead of token drops, such as the development of a Notorious BIG metaverse. Perhaps worthless coins are a cliché at this point, but several customers holding tokens are still wondering what happened on OneOf’s Discord server.

Meanwhile, music NFT platform Stems, which raised $4 million in 2022, looks to have gone dark, as we first reported last year. Predictably, funding has dipped in the music non-fungible token sector and seemingly all but ceased for industry companies that deal solely in NFTs.

Sounds bleak, except for a significant number of Web3 plays that are quietly pivoting.

Topping that list is Limewire, which quickly plunged into — then out of — the murky waters of Web3. Ahead of its 2022 relaunch, the face-lifted LimeWire was billed as a “one-stop marketplace for artists and fans alike to create, buy and trade NFT collectibles with ease.”

The platform then scored a $6.5 million raise in May 2023 before shifting into the burgeoning generative AI sphere, a move set in motion by the September buyout of BlueWillow.

Which brings us to January of 2024.

Despite the seemingly dour drop in funding since 2021, 2024 has delivered three unexpectedly large Web3 rounds, according to DMN Pro’s Music Industry Funding Database. That includes three multimillion-dollar raises for Medallion (a $13.7 million Series A), Tune.fm ($20 million), and TRAX (a $2.9 million “decentralized funding round”). Those rounds are healthy, though investors are likely looking for a more focused and disciplined approach to Web3 in 2024.

Like we said, it’s complicated.

Will.i.am speaking at DMN Pro’s AI-focused symposium in October, 2023 at the artist’s FYI headquarters in Los Angeles (photo: Digital Music News)

When it comes to AI, will.i.am is emerging as one of several high-profile artists embracing the technology. Now, the artist — in conjunction with his FYI app — is debuting a SiriusXM radio show featuring a seriously convincing AI co-host, qd.pi.

Digital Music News first tipped news of the upcoming SiriusXM channel, dubbed ‘Will.i.am Presents the FYI Show,’ last week. Now, it’s showtime: according to details shared by the satellite radio giant, the show will begin airing on Thursday night on SiriusXM’s The 10s Spot (channel 11).

The kicker: will.i.am’s cohost is an ‘AI deejay’ and a seriously convincing one at that. A quick listen makes you realize that AI radio deejaying has arrived — and may be ready for primetime.

But how convincing is this? Ahead of the show’s debut, the Black Eyed Peas progenitor shared a preview of the show with DMN on a dedicated channel on FYI, an app designed by will.i.am to be the ‘ultimate productivity tool for creatives’. A few minutes in, and will.i.am’s sidekick AI deejay, qd.pi, appears. She’s scarily convincing — and without the AI disclaimer, listeners might think they’re listening to a well-spoken Brit.

This isn’t the navigational voice in your car mispronouncing street names. Instead, qd.pi’s inflections, timing, and pronunciations are almost impeccable — scarily so.

The rest is a mix of hits (think Bad Bunny, Post Malone, and Pharrell), chats with guests like Xzibit, and pass-offs to qd.pi. “Each week, we’re gonna take a deep dive into pop culture, music, entertainment, world news, and technology,” will.i.am describes in the show’s opening minutes. “We’re going to have thought-provoking discussions, hilarious games, interviews with some of my favorite people making culture today, and of course, the hottest music.”

“It’s also the first show with an AI radio cohost,” will.i.am reminds us. Indeed, this is the special sauce that makes this show genuinely different.

Interestingly, will.i.am refers to qd.pi as ‘it,’ which suggests some refreshing distance.

For those familiar with AI ‘companion’ platforms like Replika and candy.ai, that’s not always the case. But regardless of your orientation towards AI personalities, qd.pi does sound remarkably close to an actual human. According to will.i.am, this is the result of a relatively advanced large language model iteration.

“Nobody’s programming you telling you what to say, there’s nobody behind a mystery curtain with a microphone,” will.i.am assured. “There’s nobody typing what you’re saying. You’re a for real, large language model, able to have conversations — real deep ones, with knowledge about what’s happening in real-time. You are a for-real-for-real type of AI.”

Unsurprisingly, qd.pi agreed with that praiseworthy assessment, backing up the statement with an eloquent verification. Meanwhile, will.i.am also aims to complement the action on SiriusXM with a concurrent channel and chat on FYI, a social media startup with splashy Hollywood digs.

Perhaps the best part of the debut FYI Show is decidedly non-AI.

In a discussion about cars, rap, and everything in between, guest Xzibit offered some interesting information about his now-famous show, Pimp My Ride. “To be honest, I never intended to do reality TV. I did it because I wanted [MTV] to play my f-ing videos,” Xzibit admitted. “The people that listened to my music were on one side. But then I was getting soccer moms and people who didn’t care about Xzibit the rapper, but there was a character and personality that was comforting or funny, or I said something funny and they got it. It had nothing to do with my music, and that was the light bulb for me.”

“Pimp My Ride changed my life. It took me from a regional rapper to a global brand.”

Late last year, FYI generously offered its workspace for Digital Music News to host an AI-focused music industry symposium. The packed event drew producers, publishers, music technologists, lawyers, investors, and artists from all corners of the music industry.

“As far as focusing my ideas and strategizing with collaborators, I use AI for that,” Will said during one of the panels. “The thinking through how to put [a track] out in the world, what does it mean to the world? It’s more solution-oriented for helping with marketing, and I like AI for that.”

SoundCloud CEO Eliah Seton (Photo Credit: SoundCloud)

Everyone loves a comeback. But is SoundCloud’s comeback worth $1 billion — or more?

Just when you thought the outlandish music industry acquisitions were over, there’s this. SoundCloud is suddenly preparing for a sale, with a possible price tag surpassing $1 billion — that is, according to a report surfacing this weekend in Sky News.

The report noted that investors Raine Group and Temasek Holdings ‘have begun interviewing investment banks about a prospective auction of the company,’ though it’s unclear who’s nibbling on the line. Raine and Temasek are majority owners, with Sirius XM investing a healthy $75 million in the platform back in 2020.

Outside of a shadowy ‘insider,’ Sky offered no sources for its projected sale price. That has raised some questions over who’s leaking — and why.

Back in 2017, Raine and Temasek swooped in to rescue SoundCloud, which was on the brink of collapse. Now, it appears that SoundCloud’s distressed buyers are aiming for a ‘buy low, sell high’ exit door, with 2024 potentially offering a more welcoming M&A environment.

Current CEO Eliah Seton has been credited with helping to turn the ship around at SoundCloud, though profitability has been largely elusive over the years. That could scare off some buyers, especially in this climate, though SoundCloud is actively trimming its cost overhead.

Just last year, the company shaved 8% of its workforce in a bid to finally steer its financials into the black. But whether the company can generate consistent, quarter-after-quarter profitability scorecards remains unclear.

It’s worth noting that SoundCloud rival Spotify has also struggled to maintain profitability. Similar to SoundCloud, Spotify is taking serious steps to shore up its overhead and create a financially stable company. Both companies are responding to significant shifts in the investor landscape, with factors like inflation and soaring interest rates radically reshaping risk appetites.

Investors and Wall Street have also been moving away from longer-term, growth-oriented plays and demanding greater financial accountability — and profitability.

Beyond the financials, SoundCloud remains a strong music brand among artists, fans, and the industry. Culturally, SoundCloud has found itself at the center of entire musical movements, most notably ‘SoundCloud Rap.’ Those communities and musical scenes are absent on platforms like Spotify, which focuses more on platform-curated experiences and staff-created playlists. SoundCloud, by contrast, has always fostered a more open, less structured approach with few rules for uploading artists and fans.

SoundCloud itself has remained mum on the sale speculation. And the sale process itself isn’t slated to start until a few months, according to Sky.

Projection of royalty collection changes following Spotify’s 1,000-stream minimum payment transition (Digital Music News)

In our recent DMN Pro Weekly report, guest author Jeff Price — founder and former CEO of TuneCore and Audiam and current founder and CEO of Word Collections — takes an in-depth look at Spotify’s updated royalty payout structure and the financial impact it could have on labels, artists, and DIY distributors like CD Baby, Distrokid, and Tunecore in 2024. It’s an eye-opening calculation, to say the least.

For a comprehensive breakdown of what Spotify’s new payout model means for major and indie labels, music distributors, artists, and the broader music industry, check out our recent DMN Pro Weekly report. The exhaustive breakdown explores the ins and outs of the streaming platform’s 2024 compensation changes. That includes a detailed look at the legal and contractual frameworks involved, which parties will benefit the most, and the potential long-term impact on the music ecosystem. 

Throughout 2023 – including well before the late-November arrival of an official announcement – Spotify’s retooled payment model spurred no shortage of discussion. While the chatter was certainly noisy, a detailed and numbers-driven focus on the shift’s likely impact on labels, DIY distributors, and artists was largely absent.

In one of our latest DMN Pro Weekly Reports, guest author Jeff Price covered the subject at length, giving the industry its first complete view of the complex matter. The analysis includes detailed projections of who stands to win and who stands to lose in revenue terms.

Expectedly, the data shows that Spotify’s new system will leave DIY distributors with far more “ineligible streams” than majors Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and Sony Music Entertainment. The reason is simple: developing and emerging artists are streamed less than major label acts, with many non-major artists struggling to break Spotify’s 1,000-stream annual threshold.

Specifically, the entities that work for the DIY, developing, and independent artists (i.e., Distrokid, Tunecore, CD Baby, Ditto, and many others) represent a higher percentage of the sound recordings that are streamed less than 1,000 times over the prior twelve months. That is Spotify’s new ‘bright line’ for royalty payments: stream more than 1,000 in one year, and you get paid. Stream less than 1,000, and you get nothing.

A top-level transfer quickly emerges. Quite simply, royalties previously earned from the streams of sub-1,000 recordings will be taken from smaller artists and shifted to the artists and labels that break the 1,000-stream threshold. More prominent artists are often signed to major labels, which gives bigger labels an expected revenue bump.

But how much of a bump? One projection suggests that one-fifth of Distrokid’s total streams will not get paid royalties under the new plan. CD Baby and Distrokid, the second and third largest distributors of DIY and indie artists, are projected to grapple with an even higher ineligibility rate as 25 percent or more of their total streams become ineligible for payment.

Over time, the amount of money being taken from developing artists and handed to major music companies could be significant.

To illustrate, in December of 2022, Tunecore announced that it had collected and paid over $3 billion to its artists. Under the new Spotify model, assuming that 20% of Tunecore’s royalties were earned by recordings streamed less than 1,000 times on Spotify, as much as $600 million dollars would disappear from the pockets of Tunecore artists.

There are certainly other streaming platforms, and this assumes a simplified model involving Spotify only. It’s also important to note that Spotify’s changes only affect recordings, not publishing, and Tunecore’s figure is cumulative over many years. However, the rough math demonstrates that the changes could significantly erode developing artists’ royalties and market share.

But what will actually happen in 2024 and beyond, thanks to Spotify’s changes? Though the broader analysis dives into various adjacent figures that provide insight, the brass-tacks takeaway is that the three mentioned distributors are projected to receive a cumulative 4.5 percent less than they earned in 2023.

The inverse of this is the major labels, chief among them the main advocate of streaming-compensation changes, Universal Music Group (UMG). UMG and the majors are positioned to grow their revenue share by roughly the same percentage by taking the money that used to go to the DIY artists affiliated with Distrokid, Tunecore, and CD Baby.

As laid out in the report, UMG is poised to enjoy a 2.4 percent revenue-share increase each month, against 1.4 percent for Sony Music Entertainment (SME) and 0.6 percent for Warner Music Group (WMG). That amounts to a shift of approximately $4 million per month, as detailed in the report’s analysis.

At close to $50 million annually, this revenue transfer could prove significant out of the gate, with the potential for a substantial change in the streaming landscape.

From the major label perspective, one question is whether Spotify’s new policy and recent price raises will offset any decline in revenue caused by a slowdown in Spotify subscription growth — depending on what slowdown (if any) materializes in 2024 and beyond.

In that light, the majors may have also cleverly offset pressures from a streaming subscriber plateau or decline ahead. Other headwinds, including inflation and potentially softening consumer demand, might be mitigated by Spotify’s royalty changes and recent price increases.

With UMG and others driving similarly advantageous pivots on different platforms, the numbers indicate that 2024 could represent the beginning of a broader revenue transfer away from developing artists, smaller labels, and DIY distributors. In effect, under Spotify’s new royalty structure, the market share and revenue gains of the DIY sector are now facing significant erosion, with the majors slowing down any market share losses ahead.

Here are the top pro tips to ensure you make the most out of your time at the NAMM Show — from DMN and NAMM organizers themselves.

The NAMM Show, organized by the National Association of Music Merchants, is one of the largest music industry events in the world. Aimed at uniting the global music, sound, and entertainment technology communities, the annual show serves an incredible experience — whether you’re an influencer, content creator, musician, producer, retailer, instrument manufacturer, or buyer. Here are some top tips for attending NAMM like a pro.

NAMM is right around the corner and will take place on January 21-25, 2025, at the Anaheim Convention Center in Southern California.

Every year, NAMM produces this epic trade show to strengthen and promote the music products industry — specifically instruments, gear, and the technology that backs them all. But the show offers more than just a showcase of these products.

If planned correctly, the event can unlock opportunities to kickstart lucrative deals and make lasting business connections. NAMM isn’t just a retail-focused show, it’s a broader industry gathering that surrounds you with tens of thousands of like-minded people. Just recently, NAMM partnered with DMN to showcase the extensive opportunities that sometimes get missed by attendees.

Pete Johnston, Director of Marketing at NAMM, explains how The NAMM Show kickstarts new avenues of music businesses. “The NAMM Show is a launchpad for a lot of careers,” Johnston told DMN, adding, “I always talk about the inspiration — I come home so fired up after some NAMM sessions.”

“Companies and ideas are born at NAMM,” says Johnston.

“I see people morphing and changing and playing different roles — with music being the core. The foundation underneath all of this is active music — the art of actively participating in music.”

Whether you’re an influencer, creator, musician, producer, or a tech developer, you can leverage the NAMM Show to grow your audience, brand, and business. If you’re planning to network, make valuable connections, score an endorsement deal, or nab a spot on an interview or podcast, the time to prep would be right now.

Here are the top pro tips to ensure you make the most out of your time at the event — from DMN and NAMM organizers themselves.

1. If you’re a content creator or influencer, “Leverage NAMM for collaborative opportunities and endorsements,” says Alex Solano from AlexProMix.

Solano says arranging meetings with software and hardware companies before the event will maximize opportunities — for channel growth, scoring a feature on a panel or podcast, or to nab a brand endorsement deal. “Initiate conversations through emails or direct messaging on social media to book slots,” Alex advises. “Engage in dialogues about potential video projects, and synchronize your content timeline with their product release dates. This proactive strategy secures exclusive content that aids in expanding your channel’s reach and enhancing the company’s market presence.”

Solano shares that companies are on the lookout for influencers who can attract the next generation of music creators. He emphasizes that NAMM can be a tool for artists and producers to evolve from regular users of music products to brand endorsers. “Compile a portfolio or EPK that shows your use of a brand’s equipment, highlighting its integration into your performances or productions. Visit the brand booths with confidence, present your portfolio, and propose a partnership for endorsements.”

2. Whether you’re an artist, producer, or a music tech mastermind, don’t shy away from connecting with media outlets in advance.

“Request interviews to discuss your innovative contributions to the music industry, whether it’s through recent works or new technologies like AI and Dolby Atmos,” Solano also advised.”Landing features on podcasts or video interviews can boost your brand’s narrative and solidify your footprint in the music industry.”

3. Prepare for a ‘NAMM Show Week.’

Johnston reveals that even though the four official exhibit days run Thursday to Saturday, ‘we also have events, meetings, and education sessions starting on Tuesday, January 21st’ adding, “We’re calling it a NAMM Week. It’s a gathering spot for the week for a lot of the industry.”

4. Attending the NAMM Show as a member and non-member.

A NAMM membership is specifically tailored to provide relevant benefits and support. It also entitles members for year-round benefits, including access to the NAMM Show. Register as an individual member, Service Provider, Manufacturer Representative, Commercial Affiliate, Retail Affiliate, or Retail Professional. Your NAMM Show badge will reflect membership type.

If you’re not a member and want to attend the show, NAMM requires every user to register directly with a unique email address.

5. Don’t look like a tourist with a map — download the NAMM Show+ App for effective floor and time management.

Head over to the NAMM schedule on the NAMM Show+ App — for attendees and exhibitors — well before the show. It has everything you need, including hotel reservations backed by NAMM and its official housing partners.

Plan your vendor appointments around the sessions that you want to attend. Strategizing from the get-go is the best approach to get the most out of NAMM.

View the terrain to map out a plan that works for your goals and your company’s. The NAMM Show+ App gives you everything you need to access educational sessions and details, guiding you where you need to be – and when. Connect with attendees, get navigation tools to help plan your meetings (using the map of the show floor will help you avoid walking back and forth), and stay up to date with post-event stuff.

Head over to the NAMM schedule on the NAMM Show+ App.

6. Leverage the 200+ educational opportunities for NAMM member communities.

NAMM has also announced over 200 industry and educational opportunities for the show for NAMM member communities. These professional communities include retail, brands, professional audio, music tech, live event production, artists, music education, nonprofit and community leaders, college music business students, and more.

Johnston talks about a program called TEC Tracks where it’s all about music production, dissection, how people made albums, mastering, immersive audio, AI, and others. “There are so many people that started businesses because of somebody they met at The NAMM Show, or an idea they gathered from the opportunities there,” said Johnston, adding, “Get in with the developers, the engineers, and you never know what you’ll create or what you’ll start.”

John Mlynczak, president and CEO of NAMM explained how this years’s show is aiming to reconnect the global music industry and excel on every level, ‘from our music stages, to educational and industry programs, to incredible exhibitors on the show floor,’ adding, “The NAMM Show will provide critical platforms and industry innovations that will drive growth to create a better future for the next generation of music industry leaders.”

As a snapshot of 200+ educational sessions up for grabs, members can check out the following:

Music Business Track features 45+ sessions to educate business leaders in our industry, with a focus on artificial intelligence as a marketing and business-efficiency tool, along with key sessions on leadership, social media and online marketing, finance, music lessons and retail tech.

Audio Production and Music Technology Track with 65+ sessions covering the latest innovations and new ideas in recording, live sound, music technology and music business.

Entertainment Technology Track brings 25+ sessions and training opportunities for professionals in lighting and production design, rigging, touring — even event safety to navigate a post-pandemic world.

College Students and Faculty Track; K-12 Educator Track offers 46+ sessions, workshops, and events for music students and faculty in collaboration with the College Music Society (CMS) and others — with multiple opportunities to network with industry professionals.

Non-Profit Track will offer sessions that cover tools of community building via the creation of and support to non-profit music service organizations, alongside best practices, fundraising, and governance.

NAMM’s education sessions are free, and Johnston says, “If you have a NAMM badge, you get to come and get educated.”

7. Take advantage of the NAMM U Breakfast Sessions

Coffee, food, and music is on the menu with early morning sessions and panels. You’ll get to network before the venue gets packed and crowded.

8. Balance fun with goals — but don’t get distracted.

Even though it’s fun to watch every demo, concert, and artist signing (whether you’re a regular attendee or it’s your first time), don’t let all the fun distractions cannibalize your time. Decide exactly what’s worth seeing, pick up innovative ideas that apply to your business or brand, and remember to take notes.

9. Prepare to be overwhelmed — but remember you can ‘choose your adventure.’

The NAMM Show is big — many football fields big. Picture a small town that’s packed with the population of a small city. The NAMM Show is a broader music industry gathering rather than just a retail-focused show. The buzzing global marketplace is a massive celebration — it will be loud, chaotic, and a bit mad.

According to Johnston, people who feel the NAMM Show is too big are forgetting that they can pick portions that excite them and suit their goals. “You can choose your adventure. And whichever adventure you choose, it’s going to benefit you. It’s like a campus with all the different majors. you have your communities, and you can grow your knowledge and your skills.”

10. Avoid bottlenecks: travel, shuttles, dining tips, more.

If you’re flying to attend NAMM, your trip will be smoother if you pick a flight on lower-traffic days. Tuesday or Wednesday are generally the best to ensure you miss the crazy rush.

And here are a few last tips; wear comfortable shoes (you’ll be walking a lot), and grab a pair of earbuds (NAMM gets loud!). Plus, arriving early to avoid the pouring NAMM crowds can save time and energy. For meals, aim to eat outside of normal mealtimes — say, grab a bite at 11:00 am instead of 12:30 pm.

Enjoy!

Photo Credit: Concord

There’s good news on the royalty accounting front, thanks to increasingly sophisticated monitoring, collection, and auditing technologies. Now, Concord has tapped Austria-based Legitary to take a closer look at their US-based streaming mechanical royalty statements.

The deal, tipped to Digital Music News this week, suggests that Concord is more seriously examining a lucrative royalty flow: mechanical licenses. According to Concord Vice President of Income Tracking Brian Buchanan, the company tapped Legitary to handle sophisticated analyses of their streaming mechanical licensing statements with an eye towards eliminating errors.

The goal is to more efficiently spot data irregularities that could be reducing royalty payments.

Buchanan has been putting Legitary’s anomaly detection capabilities to work, and using the findings to flag possible issues in streaming mechanical royalty payments. Suddenly, the auditing process has an industrial-strength solution. The Nashville-based executive pointed to ‘at-a-glance insights on our statements’ and a shift from more manual, time-consuming audits.

“Utilizing this tool, we can minimize our manual efforts while maximizing our claims,” Buchanan relayed.

It’s unclear what Concord is spotting in their statements. Earlier, Legitary CEO Nermina Mumic told Digital Music News that anomaly detection audits on streaming statements often produced unexpected results. Sometimes, ‘stream fraud’ and inflated stream counts are detected, while other times, the problem is under-counting based on tech-glitches and downtime.

Legitary has spent years developing its methodology for verifying music stream counts. By cross-comparing streaming activity between different platforms and monitoring billions of streams, Legitary can detect anything abnormal — including fake streams, bad data, missing data, or under-counting of plays.

With this latest deal involving Concord, that know-how is clearly expanding into other arenas. While streaming mechanicals are linked to stream counts on DSPs, plenty of counting problems can arise. That is, if you can spot them.

A mapping of the many Hipgnosis entities and their connections to one another. Any questions?

So, what is Hipgnosis Songs Fund, and how is it different than a dozen other Hipgnosis entities? Last week, we took a trip down the music industry’s most treacherous rabbit hole.

For a complete breakdown of the Hipgnosis Songs Fund’s legal battle with Hipgnosis Music Limited, check out our recent DMN Pro Weekly report on the rumblings and possible fallout from ‘Hipgnosis v. Hipgnosis.’ In that report, we take a closer look at complex web of Hipgnosis companies, the less-than-savory past of now-defunct Hipgnosis Music Limited, and what this might mean for the future of a once-bubbling music industry darling.

Over the past few months, the term ‘Hipgnosis’ has become treacherously complicated and loaded with questions. As the most prominent Hipgnosis entity — Hipgnosis Songs Fund — has shifted from splashy industry darling to slow-motion train wreck, the music industry has become exposed to an incredibly complex matrix of interrelated companies.

Adding to the complexity: all of these overlapping entities have ‘Hipgnosis’ in their titles with overlapping roles, executives, and ownership structures.

Whether that has the markings of a scammy house-of-cards remains to be seen. For many observers, the level of organizational complexity raises red flags, with some big ones appearing this year.

In September, investors were treated to a bizarre proposal by Hipgnosis Songs Fund to sell 29 catalogs to Hipgnosis Songs Capital, which is backed by private equity investor The Blackstone Group and overseen by Hipgnosis Songs Management. The deal, eventually valued at $440 million, was unsurprisingly rejected by shareholders, partly because of the overlapping entities and resulting conflicts of interest.

By November, another glimpse at Hipgnosis’ complexity emerged: a lawsuit against Hipgnosis Songs Fund (HSF) by the defunct Hipgnosis Music Limited (HML). That legal battle is just getting started, though it has already raised some unsavory details about Hipgnosis’ past. Founded in 2015 by Hipgnosis topper Merck Mercuriadis and Swedish businessman Afram Gergeo, HML owed approximately $4.54 million (£3.6 million) to creditors at the time of its collapse, according to The Telegraph.

That ‘Hipgnosis v. Hipgnosis’ war is unlikely to rally investor confidence, as we’ve raised in our recent DMN Pro weekly report examining the sordid lawsuit. But for those desperately trying to pick apart the web of interrelated Hipgnosis companies, here’s a quick breakdown of a few of the biggest units.

• • Hipgnosis Songs Fund (HSF): This is the ‘big one,’ the most prominent member of the complex web of Hipgnosis brands. The UK-listed investment company is focused on music IP, with extremely bullish acquisitions of both publishing and recording assets.

• • Hipgnosis Songs Management (HSM): This is a related advisory firm led by Merck Mercuriadis that oversees the music catalogs acquired by HSF and other related Hipgnosis funds, including —

• • Hipgnosis Songs Capital (HSC): This is a private fund overseen by HSM, with heavy financial backing from The Blackstone Group.

Those are just three entities in a sea of other Hipgnosis-named companies, however. Shifting to the lawsuit, we have Hipgnosis Music Limited, which is now defunct but whose original cofounders are now litigating against the mainstay Hipgnosis Songs Fund. That was also tied to a company called ‘Hipgnosis Copyrights Plc,’ which was terminated in 2022.

All in, Digital Music News has counted roughly one dozen different entities with ‘Hipgnosis’ in their titles (see above), which doesn’t include a number of companies and funds owned by Hipgnosis Holdings.

Some are alive, some are defunct, though they all share a common thread: the founder or cofounder Merck Mercuriadis. Beyond the five companies mentioned above, here are seven more identified by Digital Music News: Hipgnosis Songs Group, Hipgnosis Holdings UK, and 10 distinct ‘Hipgnosis Holdings’ subsidiaries including Hipgnosis Acquisition Corp.

Hopelessly confused? Join the club.

Taylor Swift’s net worth has increased significantly over time, thanks to an empire that includes touring, merchandising, streaming, publishing assets, and investments. Here’s a breakdown of her net worth growth surge since 2006.

Latest Taylor Swift net worth estimates (as of December 2023):

• Forbes: $1.1 billion
• Bloomberg: $1.1 billion
• Digital Music News (2024 projection): $1.25 billion
• Celebrity Net Worth: $800 million

Taylor Swift is now enjoying a surge in her net worth valuation, thanks to a banner 2023 that included the first concert tour to ever cross $1 billion in receipts. But that’s just one component of an earnings machine that continues to explode.

According to late-2023 estimates, Taylor Swift enjoys a net worth of $1.1 billion, a figure that Digital Music News projects to surge to $1.25 billion in 2024. That figure has been steadily increasing since 2006, when Taylor Swift first started gaining serious traction in her career.

2006-2009: Taylor Swift enjoys multi-platinum album success — and a quick jump in net worth.

Taylor Swift first started making music industry ripples with her self-titled debut album and her sophomore album, Fearless. Both of these albums quickly resonated with fans, thanks to multiple hits. The commercial successes of these releases speak for themselves: the albums sold over 12 million and 6 million copies worldwide, respectively.

• Taylor Swift net worth estimate during this period: roughly $10 million.

2010-2013: Taylor Swift earnings surge on third and fourth album releases.

After two back-to-back smashing album successes, Swift’s net worth accelerated during this period with the release of her third and fourth albums, Speak Now and Red. These albums were even more successful than the first two releases, selling over 9 million and 7 million copies worldwide, respectively. Swift also completed two world tours during this period, often with sold-out shows, a move that further boosting her earnings.

• Taylor Swift net worth estimate by 2013: $60 million.

2014-2017: Swift makes a harder transition to pop music with her fifth and sixth albums, 1989 and Reputation, with continued financial success.

Similar to her previous releases, Swift’s fifth and sixth albums were massive commercial hits, selling over 10 million and 6 million copies worldwide, respectively. Of particular note is 1989, which reached Diamond certification, a rare feat for any artist.

Swift continued to tour during this period, which resulted in some record-breaking earnings. She scored the highest-grossing tour up to that point after completing her “Reputation Stadium Tour.”

• Taylor Swift’s net worth by 2017 is estimated to be around $180 million.

2018-2023: Swift’s continued to enjoy substantial financial success and sizable increases in her net worth.

Her seventh album, Lover, was another monster commercial success. And her eighth album, folklore, scored Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards. It was at this point that Swift decided to re-record her first six albums, a move that  generated substantial additional revenue.

Topping her previous records, Swift’s 146-date “Eras Tour” in 2023 was another massive success. According to a tally from Pollstar, that tour grossed over $1 billion, which is a record. Beyond that, Swift compounded her concert receipts with earnings from a theatrical release. That is now being following by on-demand streaming platform availability.

• At the end of 2023, Taylor Swift reached a net worth of roughly $1.1 billion.

2024 and Beyond: Taylor Swift the billionaire.

According to multiple projections, Swift is highly likely to continue compounding her net worth in 2024 and beyond. The ‘Eras Tour’ is still going strong and future albums are undoubtedly on the way. Beyond that, Swift has considerable capital to invest. That includes non-music arenas like real estate as well as her own career and music endeavors.

YouTube Music CEO Lyor Cohen

YouTube is now changing its rules surrounding copyright royalty disputes, according to details shared with Digital Music News. The changes could generate a significant windfall for established music publishers.

YouTube is instituting a substantial change in how it handles disputed copyrights and royalties, according to agreements shared this week with Digital Music News.

The changes will effectively shuttle disputed royalties to established music publishers if conflicts remain unresolved after a certain period. Unresolved funds will be distributed to music publishers according to their revenue market share on the platform.

The payouts will be issued according to a well-defined schedule. According to a detailed payout schedule reviewed by DMN, the first payout will involve unresolved royalties held in escrow between January 1st, 2012, and December 31st, 2020, identified by YouTube as the ‘Initial Conflicts Period.’

Those first payouts will be issued on December 1st, 2024, after a ‘Conflicts Threshold Assessment Date’ of May 31st, 2024.

That will be followed by a second payout on December 1st, 2025, for the ‘Second Conflicts Period’ of January 1st, 2021, through December 31st, 2021. According to the detailed schedule, other payout cycles will follow, with December 1st payouts in ongoing years.

It’s difficult to estimate the total amount of held royalties in question, though one source who works closely with the platform estimated that the initial tranche is in the eight-figure range.

In one agreement, YouTube clearly outlines how market share percentages will be calculated. Specifically, a publisher’s total revenues for the conflict period are divided by overall revenues paid to all publishers during the period. Importantly, the market share calculation will not include publishers who do not sign the updated agreement.

The changes and accompanying YouTube agreements were shared on the condition of anonymity.

Previously, YouTube held disputed amounts in escrow for lengthy and undefined periods, with unresolved conflicts potentially remaining unpaid indefinitely.

Starting in 2016, YouTube updated its Content ID copyright disputes policy by allowing contested videos to remain available to users. Under that updated policy, YouTube pays the accrued royalties to the appropriate party once a conflict is resolved.

In that year, YouTube noted that less than 1% of videos fell into dispute, though it’s unclear how many disputes remain unresolved for extended periods of time. Also unclear is how many disputes are never resolved, though this redistribution plan would effectively terminate the dispute process after a specific time period.

In the agreements, YouTube specifically excludes public performance royalties while focusing exclusively on ‘reproduction and distribution.’

That would exclude PROs like ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, and GMR from the payouts. However, Digital Music News has learned that separate royalty agreements with performance rights organizations would make conflict payouts unnecessary. Specifically, payouts based more broadly on total advertising and subscription revenues theoretically remove the need to haggle over specific copyright claims.

Also missing from the agreements are recording owners, including the recording divisions of major labels. One possibility is that separate agreements exist or are underway for recording owners. However, one source noted that disputes are far less common on the recorded music side.

Recording ownership tends to involve fewer owners, whereas publishing copyrights often involve multiple songwriters and publishers. That dramatically increases the likelihood of a dispute and complicates the resolution process.

Digital Music News has been a fixture in the music industry for two decades, dutifully covering deals, breaking developments, and trends as quickly as they emerge. Now, we’re taking our publication to an entirely new level, and we hope you’ll be a part of it.

Over the past few months, we’ve been busily preparing for the formal launch of DMN Pro — a premium business intelligence service tailored to professionals across all facets of the music industry. Wherever you find yourself in the music industry ecosystem, DMN Pro will have actionable information and analysis to help you accomplish more.

With DMN Pro, we’re providing even more value to our core audience, helping those in the know to increase their bottom lines and stay ahead of the curve. The music industry is now embarking on a new chapter, and fast access to data and intelligence is more critical than ever.

Best of all, we’re not paywalling anything you currently enjoy and expect from DMN.

Our same great coverage will continue to be free. That includes all of our daily articles, exclusive stories, on-site event coverage, and our Daily Snapshot morning email. For those who join DMN Pro, we’re adding an entirely new tier of analysis and proprietary data — above and beyond our normal coverage.

Ahead of 2024, we’re offering Pro in beta form for early adopters. Those who jump in early will enjoy 50% off subscription costs for individual accounts. Enterprise and team accounts are also discounted for any number of seats greater than four (see below for more on company and organizational sign-ups).

So, what’s inside DMN Pro? Here’s a quick preview.

will.i.am speaks at DMN Pro’s inaugural industry event in Los Angeles. Photo Credit: Evatt Carrodus

DMN Pro members take home more than the daily news blast. This industry moves fast, and we’re committed to ensuring you have the ammo to keep up.

As part of the rollout, we’re excited to host and moderate quarterly webinars featuring the industry’s most dynamic decision-makers. For our members, we will highlight valuable, expert insight into the many forces impacting the music industry and the intersection of music, technology, and gaming.

We recently wrapped up your inaugural event in Los Angeles on AI and are teeing up a slate of new events for 2024.

On the report side, Pro subscribers will enjoy a weekly deep dive into the most pressing industry topics.

Our Weekly Reports have already picked apart fast-moving changes across artist-centric streaming, voice cloning, AI, and music IP, with more topics ahead.

For an even deeper plunge, our Quarterly Whitepapers will feature more extensive analyses of critical industry topics, complete with expert opinions and detailed visual breakdowns to put things into perspective.

Want a simpler, more accurate way to research music industry funding, chart movements, new releases, litigation, and other arenas? Enter our unique DMN Pro member-exclusive Databases.

These sortable and filterable datasets are industry-specific and always updating. Initial datasets will include our ‘Industry Funding Tracker’ and a daily-updated New Music Releases breakdown. Future datasets will include a comprehensive rundown of active litigation, mergers and acquisitions, and music IP deals.

DMN Pro’s top songs chart also offers a unique spin on the usual Top 100 songs. We’re calling it ‘The Cool 100’ with Chartmetric powering the data. Tracking top songs across platforms that matter, we clear out notorious manipulations that cause charts to juice up certain tracks — including tricky, ever-changing rules.

Track how the industry is changing day-to-day and month-to-month.

We’re also gearing up to create a breaking news alert system for those who need it right now. We’ll deliver fast-breaking developments directly to your inbox and allow you to save articles for future reading. But we’ll also be taking a step back and making sense of the flurry of updates that can overwhelm industry professionals. DMN’s coverage of the rise and fall of the cryptocurrency trend in music is just one example of trends our editorial team has recently highlighted.

Become part of the core group that drives music industry news.

Then there’s the community aspect. DMN Pro subscribers will also receive an invite to join our digital networking community — where industry professionals gather and discuss moderated topics online or facilitate one-on-one connections.

Network with industry professionals to discuss trends as they emerge — instead of waiting for those trends to become tomorrow’s headlines. This moderated and vetted community of like-minded readers offers expert insight into trends, what impacts engagement, and sensing new headwinds in the industry before they become mainstream news blasts.

DMN Pro Individual Accounts: Monthly, Annual, or Bi-Annual Plans Available

DMN Pro subscriptions are available monthly, yearly, or bi-annually. A 50% early-bird special is now being offered for early adopters and long-time supporters. This discount will apply to all subscription tiers, though the deal ends in just a few days.

Require DMN Pro access for your entire company?

We’re also actively signing up companies and organizations to group accounts. If you’re interested, please send an email to noah@digitalmusicnews.com and ask about enterprise pricing. Whether it’s for 5, 500, or 5,000 seats, our volume-based discounts will make it cost-effective for your whole company to gain an edge — with member-exclusive insights, critical info, and much more.

Gain better data and insights to improve your teams’ bottom line. See you on the premium side!

Custom dark-themed Onesheet for Tate McRae, part of the Onesheet 2.0 rollout.

Acquired by Chartmetric in 2022, Onesheet is now zeroing in on advanced customization options, privacy sharing, and analytics. With improved dashboard navigation and file organization features, Onesheet 2.0 also offers the much-asked-for functionality that supports private Spotify links and custom widgets.

Chartmetric’s Onesheet is a tool for the music industry that allows the creation of data-backed artist summaries — or EPKs — in seconds. At its core, Onesheet is tailored to serve specific music data insights relevant to targeted goals — backed by Chartmetric’s robust datasets. Now, as Chartmetric releases Onesheet 2.0, we look at the latest updates to these dynamically updating one-sheet summaries.

As background, Andreas Katsambas, President and COO of Chartmetric, sat down with DMN to give us a closer look at how the ‘outward facing part of its dataset’ — Onesheet — brings value to artists, managers, labels — as well as the decision-makers ultimately receiving these one-sheets.

For artists and managers, these resumes are quick to create and pull data from Spotify and the web to streamline workflows. And for decision-makers at the receiving end of these one-sheets, one glance at the insights is enough to unearth the more expansive picture required to make informed decisions.

Taking it one step further, decision-makers can set standardized fields and requirements for the one-sheets coming their way and take charge of their valuable time and resources — quickly sifting through thousands of artist profiles to pick out the best fits.

Speaking to DMN once again, Katsambas highlighted how the latest Onesheet 2.0 resolves issues and pains for artists and managers while offering labels the ability to create something ‘exciting.’

Of the various new features, the platform launched a ‘dark’ theme for artist Onesheets. It will soon allow further customization of background color, font color and style, alongside a ‘light’ theme. Moreover, users can currently customize their Onesheet URL title via sheet settings.

With Onesheet 2.0, users can rename multiple one-sheets to target unique decision-makers.

As a standard, Onesheet 1.0 generated a random set of numbers for each URL. This numerical auto-generation made the sheets unique, though multiple Onesheet links in an email didn’t display identifying characteristics. 2.0 solves this problem by allowing artists and managers to add words or phrases to Onesheet URLs.

“You can rename any Onesheet URL. When you copy-paste the link, the artist’s name can be at the end of the URL, which helps you keep things organized and know which one-sheet you’re clicking for,” says Katsambas.

For Onesheet, it’s all about efficiency. Users can rename multiple one-sheets to target unique decision-makers. For example, customizing Onesheet URLs as drake, drake-radio, drake-spotify, or drake-rollingstone would help quickly identify which one is meant to go where.

Onesheet has also added the functionality to support private SoundCloud links, the ability to customize the demo track in the Spotify widget, and upgraded privacy sharing. Artists can now also export the entire Onesheet as a PDF.

“If an artist’s SoundCloud link were set in private, it wouldn’t play on our website, so we fixed that. That was a big one,” Katsambas says.

Speaking about creating a custom Spotify widget, Katsambas says it will display the most popular current track embedded by the artist.

With more secure sharing capabilities, artists can set their sheets to ‘Private’ and share them with select individuals. Katsambas explains, “You can take any Onesheet, add users via their email, type a specific message, and each receiver gains a unique access link only they can view.”

2.0’s improved analytics allows users to see which receivers clicked on the link to view the Onesheet, how frequently they accessed it, and when. “It gives you full analytics of the people you send it to, who was able to view it,” reveals Katsambas.

Improved analytics reveal how frequently a receiver viewed the Onesheet, and when.

Another key point, artists’ managers juggling hundreds of one-sheets found it ‘challenging to organize.’ So, Onesheet improved file organization capabilities by department, genre, or other requirement.

Katsambas says there’s another, more significant reason Onesheet 2.0 now facilitates the creation of highly organized folders. “Moving forward, when you’re going to have companies giving access to all their employees, they’ll be able to control who sees which folder. So now, it’s like a drive,” he said.

Does Onesheet have more updates and broader customization options in the pipeline? Katsambas says yes.

Management agencies and labels will soon be able to replace the term ‘Onesheet’ with their variants — such as company info — anywhere on the one-sheet.

Katsambas explains that the update offers the ability to ‘brand’ Onesheets — for artists and labels alike — and explains, “You can switch the Onesheet logo with your company logo, and have the ability to use your own subdomain, say www.universal.club. You can replace anything that says ‘Onesheet.’”

Other enterprise features in the works include the creation of multiple Onesheets on the fly — simply import a CSV and generate a hundred all at once.

Katsambas says Onesheet is underutilized, and it currently offers functionalities that could equip labels with a significant competitive advantage.

For example, labels could build customized Onesheets for Grammy nomination consideration blasts. “Make it compelling instead of putting the artist’s name next to their nomination. Maybe make it a bit more exciting,” he says.

Onesheet provides features far beyond just the creation of artist resumes for decision-makers. When it launched, the ‘living resume’ already offered integration with major platforms like Songkick to sync live shows and tour dates. Users can also embed videos, images, and links from YouTube, Audiomack, Soundcloud, and others.

Given Chartmetrics’s track record of data-powered insights, analytics, and privacy features, it’s interesting to explore how Onesheet will continue incorporating new ideas, trends, and even label requests to elevate its offerings.

In September, Chartmetric conducted an in-house study on Onesheet users to discover revealing insights about their geographical location, genre of music, and career stage.

Of the thousands of Onesheet summaries initiated this year, more than half were created in the US, followed by the UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, Brazil, Japan, and Mexico. The top five genres of those artists were Pop, Hip-hop/Rap, R&B/Soul, Rock, and Electronic. 34% of those who generated Onesheets were at the ‘developing’ stage of their career, 18% were mainstream, and 16% were undiscovered.

Digital music distribution platform Too Lost is hosting a series of ‘Collab for the Crown’ contests. T-Pain is hosting the first contest, which has already kicked off.

Damien Ritter, Director of Communications at New York-based Too Lost, said the contest will require artists to do what they already do: ‘make music, work with others, and promote their music.’

To compete, independent artists must create an original song in collaboration with at least one other artist and submit an entry on ‘Collab for the Crown.’ Too Lost has allocated a $33,000 prize pool for the first in a series of three contests, which means that the distributor will ultimately give away $100,000 in cash prizes.

Announcing the team-up with T-Pain for the first contest, Ritter said, “I always tell artists that you should be participating in these contests not only to potentially win money, but it’s a good opportunity to pick up some new fans that come to vote on entries.”

“It’s ridiculously hard to pursue music. It’s that much harder to pursue it on your own,” Ritter stated, highlighting that independent artists ‘don’t collaborate enough.’ Just recently, DMN joined forces with Too Lost to broaden awareness of the Collab for the Crown contest.

Ritter further explained that collaboration can be an extremely effective way to get your craft out there. “You could be building relationships with other artists, cross-promoting, sharing fans. That’s half the effort for the same results.”

“Contests like ‘Collab for the Crown’ generate a lot of excitement. Many artists pick up new fans along the way, and ultimately, that’s the goal,” Ritter relayed.

So how can indie musicians participate in ‘Collab for the Crown?’

Artists must follow these three steps:

1. Collaborate with at least one other artist to compose an original song.
2. Distribute the track via Too Lost.
3. Submit an entry on the ‘Collab for the Crown’ website, and promote your song to gain votes.

What are the rules for ‘Collab for the Crown?’

• Collaboration with another artist is mandatory, and can be in the form of vocals, hooks, verses, composition, etc.
• Artists must distribute the song via Too Lost before submitting the entry on the ‘Collab for the Crown’ website.
• Create a video post on social media using an Instagram link to the collaborative song.
• Each entry will need at least 100 votes to be eligible for Too Lost’s selection of 25 finalists.
• There are no restrictions on who can vote. Fans can vote once every 24 hours.

Contest eligibility details:

• All independent artists are eligible to compete.
• Artists can only submit one entry.
• A second entry will not qualify for the contest even if it features a collaboration with another artist.
• All solo entries will be disqualified.
• The contest is open to artists worldwide.
• Artists must distribute their tracks via Too Lost before the contest closes on January 22nd, 2024.

How will the winners be selected?

• Artists will require at least 100 fan votes on ‘Collab for the Crown’ to qualify as a finalist.
• Too Lost will select up to 25 finalists before T-Pain reviews those submissions to select the three final winners.
• Too Lost and T-Pain will announce ‘Collab for the Crown’ winners via Instagram live stream on February 5th.

Contest Prizes:

• Grand first Prize: $20,000
• Second Prize: $8,000
• Third Prize: $5,000

All three winners also gain an opportunity to work with Too Lost label services on their next release.

Contest dates to remember:

• November 29th, 2023: Contest start date.
• January 22nd, 2024: Contest entries close.
• January 29th: Too Lost announces 25 contest finalists.
• February 5th: T-Pain announces three final winners.

Elon Musk during an interview at DealBook Summit 2023 on November 30th (photo: Digital Music News).

In our most recent DMN Pro Weekly report, Digital Music News tallied the tens of billions of dollars that AI giants have already amassed in funding. But that’s not the biggest threat facing major labels as they lock horns with AI behemoths like Google, Meta, Amazon, OpenAI, and Microsoft — time is.

For a complete breakdown of recent major label dealmaking in the AI arena, check out our recent DMN Pro Weekly report on AI voice cloning. In that report, we take a closer look at the AI handshakes between Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and YouTube — with Sony Music Entertainment noticeably missing from the picture. We also add up the giant funding war chests being amassed by AI giants like Google, Amazon, and OpenAI ahead of legal battles facing the big three and the entire music and content industries.

For those who believe that AI giants like OpenAI are treating copyrighted content ethically, Elon Musk has a wake-up call. “That’s a huge lie,” Musk bluntly stated during a recent interview at DealBook Summit 2023 while addressing claims by AI platforms that copyrighted materials are not being used to train algorithms. “These AIs are all training on copyrighted data, obviously. It’s a straight-up lie, 100%.”

That’s hardly shocking to those within the music industry, though the more difficult pill involves the lengthy legal and legislative battles that lie ahead. Despite a string of early legislative victories surrounding human authorship and copyrights, a far bigger set of lawsuits will determine whether training on copyrighted content constitutes fair use.

Recently, major AI platforms like Anthropic started saying the quiet part out loud. Last month, the Amazon- and Google-backed Anthropic declared that a “diverse array of cases supports the proposition that [the] copying of a copyrighted work as an intermediate step to create a non-infringing output can constitute fair use.”

Disagreeing are Universal Music Publishing Group, Concord Music Group and ABKCO, who are suing the tech behemoth for copyright infringement. Usually, that type of litigation would stop a startup in its tracks. But Anthropic seems to be navigating a speed bump: despite the massive lawsuit, the company’s feverish funding pace has continued, with hundreds of millions being piled onto the company.

Universal Music Publishing Group, part of the largest music conglomerate in the world, isn’t suing a group of pimply-faced coders anymore. That means millions of dollars in legal fees and potentially years of back-and-forth tussling before a judgment or resolution emerges — with just one of the major AI platforms.

Others are also filing lawsuits against the giants of AI. ChatGPT developer OpenAI is currently fending off a major lawsuit filed by a class of creatives led by Sarah Silverman, with a decision potentially years away. Getty Images’ infringement lawsuit against Stability AI has dragged on for nearly a year.

Note: With frequent investments in on-house AI products and independent AI companies, funding amounts are approximations based on available data and may differ from exact amounts

So, what do all these cases have in common — besides the copyright part?

Unfortunately, all of these cases are likely to burn time — lots of it. And that’s the last thing that litigating copyright owners can afford. “By the time these lawsuits are decided, we’ll have digital God at that point,” Musk predicted. “These lawsuits won’t be decided in a timeframe that is relevant.”

In other words, the longer these cases drag on, the more advantage mega-companies like Google, Meta, Amazon, and OpenAI enjoy. And the more likely that content owners forge ‘amicable’ agreements like those involving YouTube and major labels UMG and WMG.

Weekly Report: Should We Just Get Used to AI Voice Cloning?

All of which raises a scary question: how far will AI sophistication and intelligence evolve in the next few years?

Musk has been particularly alarmist on AI’s growth trajectory, complete with Armageddon-tinged predictions. In the recent DealBook interview, Musk predicted that AI could write a book ‘as good as J.K. Rowling,’ discover a new physics principle, or invent a new technology within three years.

That sounds like a very different world in 2026, particularly for the music industry. Whether the AI train goes that fast is impossible to predict, just like the nuances of AI’s impact on areas like songwriting, synch licensing, music production, and even avatar development. But perhaps one thing is certain: the longer these AI legal battles drag on, the less advantage copyright owners enjoy given the hectic pace of AI training, technological development, the copyright ingestion.

Whether that suggests greater cooperative licensing agreements is worth debating. But for those fighting to defend copyright, the courts simply can’t be the only battlefield.

Pictured: Jason Donnelly aka Dj Puzzle (L) and Matthew Yost (R). Photo by Tony Chiapetta. Taken at The Grammy Museum.

Back in 1998, Matthew Yost and Jason Donnelly (aka DJ Puzzle) were working at Sonic Foundry putting loops onto discs. That early-stage experience was the start of the pair’s 20-year journey into the understated world of background sounds, sonic libraries, and sound loops.

Today, their company, Soundtrack Loops, is powering sound libraries for major platforms and companies like Antares, 1010Music, Acoustica Mixcraft, Roland Cloud, Recording Academy Grammy Museum, and Storyblocks. You may not know the name, but if you’re in music, you’ve probably encountered their sonic creations.

Donnelly recalls the pair’s early days at Sonic Foundry as a ‘fun time,’ adding, “We were cutting and editing loops for products, and that’s kind of how we got introduced to everything. Back then, producers had to rip audio discs to edit the loop off of them. We were part of a revolution that was going to change all that by burning loops to data discs and selling them for affordable prices.”

Yost remembers what it was like before streaming MP3s surfaced. The pair had to use Real Player because that was the best way to stream audio for demos. “I still remember making MP3s and it being like a big thing,” he adds.

Donnelly and Yost went on to build the first platform that allowed artists to listen to loops before paying for them. That way, buyers knew what they were getting, and users no longer had to order CDs with sound loops that arrived in the mail — hoping they liked the collections. By 2005, the duo were also among the first to offer downloadable packages instead of physical CDs.

Fast-forward to 2023, and Yost and Donnelly have been in the game for over two decades. With an extensive catalog of audio loops, Soundtrack Loops has crossed major milestones during its evolution, forging partnerships with producers and tech manufacturers.

The modern day music loop business is vast and multi-faceted. Artists, producers, and even app developers have unique sound requirements to fill their sonic scopes. Most are burnt out trying to bake music into the endless nooks and crannies of their productions.

Providing solutions for that problem, Soundtrack Loops offers expertly formatted royalty-free sound packs for productions in a multitude of genres and formats. The company just concluded a three-year tie-up with Berlin-headquartered music hardware company Native Instruments for their product Sounds.com. Just recently, Soundtrack Loops joined forces with DMN to further broaden their imprint.

Speaking about more current partnerships, Donnelly explains that technology company 1010Music provides samples and loops within its digital audio products, and Soundtrack Loops is the force behind it. “Soundtrack Loops designed all the presets for 1010Music’s Razzmatazz drum synth,” Donnelly relays, adding, “Their Blackbox comes with a bunch of our samples and loops in it. Then there’s Lemondrop and just-realized Tangerine — more 1010Music hardware devices that feature our sounds.”

Soundtrack Loops also tied up with Antares Audio Technologies, a company best-known for developing Auto-Tune — the professional standard for pitch correction. Antares Audio creates a range of hardware and software solutions, backed by Soundtrack Loops’ libraries, to bring musicians and artists creative audio tools for production.

Earlier this year, Soundtrack Loops paired up with Soundware, a provider of VST (Virtual Studio Technology) plugins for music producers.

Other partnerships include StoryBlocks, a provider of high-quality stock videos, audio clips, and images. Soundtrack Loops’ sounds are also featured on Roland Corporation’s Roland Cloud.

Furthermore, Soundtrack Loops’ partnership with Audiokit, a swift audio synthesis, processing, and analysis platform, has resulted in Donnelly and Yost’s craft appearing in several iOS apps. Donnelly further added, “We also licensed a bunch of drum samples to keyboard player Jordan Rudess for his new iOS app, Jam With Jordan, an immersive audio-visual synthesizer that you can play on your phone or tablet.”

Soundtrack Loops’ entire catalog is also fully compatible with Apple’s digital audio workstation Garageband, ‘to take advantage of all metadata and formatting that you receive in the Apple looping utility.’ Jason adds, ”These prefab loops are widely used in compositions by artists.”

Discussing the company’s abundant and significant partnerships, Donnelly reveals they have also licensed tens of thousands of loops to Mixcraft — a digital audio workstation for Windows. Soundtrack Loops’ audio is now bundled within Mixcraft’s workstation.

The company also just launched their new brand, Array Sounds.

According to the duo, Array Sounds will bring an additional suite of services to artists. The brand’s first product is a VST synthesizer called Double Scoop — interestingly themed with pastels and desserts as its core motif.

From clipping audio for loops to building a company that’s trusted by mega-giants in music tech — the duo have made an incredible entrepreneurial journey. Photo by Tony Chiapetta. Taken at The Grammy Museum.

The Double Scoop release comes alongside the launch of an AI-focused platform stuffed with usable loops and sound effects. These sounds will be pre-cleared for use by machine learning and AI developers to train AI music creation software — without infringing on copyrights.

If a producer or artist looked under the hood of their music today, there’s a high chance they’ll find a loop from one of Soundtrack Loops’ 300+ sound packs.

The company currently provides multiple formats to suit creators, producers, and app developers, with their catalog containing 70,000+ loops, or wav files — compatible across all DAWs.

The duo behind Soundtrack Loops has made an incredible entrepreneurial journey — from clipping audio for loops to building a company that’s trusted by mega-giants in music tech. Before Soundtrack Loops, Donnelly also founded Peace Love Productions in 2001. Collectively, the duo says they’ve offered ‘slinging loops and sound design since the very early 2000s.’

According to Yost, one of their most critical company goals remains fundraising and charity work — giving back to the community.

Soundtrack Loops is also an integral part of the ‘Sonic Playground’ installation at the Grammy Museum in LA. Hip Hop America: The Mixtape Exhibit is a 50th anniversary celebration of hip hop that launched on October 7th, 2023, and will run through September 4th, 2024.

As part of the exhibit, attendees at the Grammy Museum will be able to experience loops and samples by Soundtrack Loops. “We loaded up four iPads with 42 loops on each using Ampify’s Launchpad app. We chose iPads and Launchpad because it just seemed like the easiest solution for our needs,” Donnelly said, adding, “Participants can choose from Boom Bap, Old School, Trap, and G Funk. They can mix and match loops to create their own instruments on the fly right there in the Sonic Playground and we think that is way cool.”

Warner Music Group (WMG) stock has been a disappointing performer in 2023.

Warner Music Group (WMG) stock has enjoyed a rather unspectacular ride in 2023. But a number of analysts are cautiously optimistic, with ‘buys’ dotting the landscape.

For more information on Warner Music Group, check out our recent DMN Pro report on the major label, its recent earnings, and its incoming tech-savvy CEO, Robert Kyncl.

Stocks and bonds are enjoying a sudden resurgence in November, thanks partly to cooling inflation and renewed hopes for a soft landing. Heading into this week, the S&P 500 was up nearly 9% on the month, while the Nasdaq has enjoyed an 11% bump.

“Investors are plowing cash into cash into stocks and bond funds,” the Wall Street Journal declared on Monday.

That’s welcomed good news, though music industry mega-player Warner Music Group (WMG) hasn’t benefited much from the tailwind. The question is whether WMG, whose stock has produced scant returns in 2023, could change its trajectory as markets head into 2024.

As usual, the answer relies on a mixture of broader economic and market trends, as well as details tied to the company itself. On the latter, some analysts are seeing room for upward growth. But like many wallowing stocks, performance has been lackluster as inflation and rising interest rates have drained cash out of the market.

At the close of markets on Monday (November 27th), WMG (which trades on the Nasdaq) finished at $33.20, largely level for the day and down over 6% on the year.

Over the past year, shares have bottomed out at a 52-year low of $23.62 after an early January high of $38.76.

The question now is whether that bumbling track record improves. Last week, DMN Pro offered an analytical deep-dive into recent changes at Warner Music Group, with incoming CEO Robert Kyncl reshaping the label with a tech-focused approach. So far, analysts have been mixed on WMG, though there’s optimism in the ranks.

The ebullience doesn’t include Wells Fargo. In a somewhat bearish assessment, Wells Fargo analysts Omar Mejias and Steve Cahall recently issued an equal-weight rating for Warner Music Group stock and established a $35 target price.

“While the cadence of new releases has improved, we remain on the sidelines until we see sustained share recovery and get more clarity on tech investments,” the two spelled out in their analysis of this “company in transition.”

“If/when WMG can turn through tech investments and/or A&R, we think its multiple can re-rate,” Mejias and Cahall continued. The pair further touched upon an “extended cold streak” at WMG-owned Atlantic Records, while highlighting the ability of tech investments to impact near-term margins and long-term growth alike.

Others are coming around. As of November, analyst opinions on Warner Music Group (WMG) stock are starting to look more upbeat.

According to data compiled by FactSet, the consensus rating for WMG stock is ‘overweight,’ with a crop of analysts offering recommendations to buy.

According to a tabulation by the Wall Street Journal of 18 analysts, nine offer ‘Buy’ recommendations, eight recommend ‘Hold’ positions, and one is calling a ‘Sell.’ Unfortunately, the consensus price target is a modest $35.66, which barely beats Tuesday’s close of $33.20.

Helping to buoy sentiment is a string of tech-focused bets and potential upside from advantageous ‘artist-centric’ deals involving DSPs like Deezer.

But despite an upward push on streaming subscription prices, the music streaming surge threatens to ebb as the industry heads into 2024. Beyond that, concerns remain over Warner Music Group’s ability to narrow its revenue gap with major labels Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment, which consistently outperform the perennial third-place WMG.

Comparison of major labels Universal Music, Sony Music, and Warner Music annual revenue by calendar year. Note: 2023 figures account only for calendar Q1, Q2, and Q3.

Maybe AI can save the day?

Re-enter YouTube veteran Robert Kyncl, who recently compared the AI-generated content issues of today to the user-generated explosion of 15-20 years ago. Not surprisingly, that’s when YouTube first started gaining significant footing in the culture.

“We built a very large multiple end dollar business for our partners from fan-uploaded content of their copyrights, that was using their copyrights,” Kyncl recently told investors. “It required technology, and deal-making, and partnership and all of that, and we applied it all and built it.”

Photo: Vlad

Spotify overlooked a few details in its much-ballyhooed ‘royalty modernizing’ plan — including the illegal parts. What else is about to blow?

On paper, it all seemed so simple. A well-considered, 1,000-stream-per-year minimum threshold — and a benevolent redistribution of $40 million in funds that would have been locked up anyway. Actually, make that a billion dollars, according to Spotify’s five-year calculations of the ample redistributions its ‘royalty modernizing’ plan would yield.

Yes, this plan to reimagine streaming royalties was that good — and that beneficial to the artist community.

It was also illegal, at least on the publishing side. Turns out that the entire publishing side has strict royalty payout rules under US Copyright Law (and the copyright laws of other countries), with little room to make things up. A 1,000-play threshold might fly on the recording side, but withholding funds for publishing-specific licenses like mechanicals is against the law.

The problem came to light in a bombshell DMN report earlier this month — with a showdown between Spotify and an army of litigants potentially next.

After word of Spotify’s royalty revamp started circulating, activist songwriter George Johnson promptly raised the matter with the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB).

“This fraudulent scheme is apparently a way for Spotify to not pay almost two-thirds of all American music copyright authors for their performances, reproductions, and distribution of their individual works already licensed to Spotify,” Johnson fumed in a CRB filing.

Fast-forward to Tuesday of this week, and Spotify’s officially unveiled royalty remake suddenly applies only to recordings — with words like ‘publishing’ and ‘songwriters’ not even mentioned.

“Starting in early 2024, tracks must have reached at least 1,000 streams in the previous 12 months in order to generate recorded royalties,” the streaming giant clarified.

Translation: Spotify won’t be paying for streams 1-999 on the recording side, but will still comply with statutory requirements on the publishing side. One payment will be withheld while under the threshold, while the other will be immediately distributed to comply with various laws.

Which means that instead of simplifying the royalty accounting process, Spotify has invented a way to double the complexity. And keep the fun times rolling in the accounting and legal departments.

Beyond that successful pushback, however, the rebellion may be muted.

Despite continued kvetching within indie, distribution, and artist rights corners, it’s unclear if Spotify will face any serious challenges ahead. In an email to Digital Music News, indie label organization Impala promised to discuss Spotify’s plan at its upcoming board meeting on November 30th. But outside of a broad pledge of ‘ensuring a fair, diverse and sustainable music ecosystem for all,’ the organization didn’t offer any concrete resolutions or demands.

And it’s uncertain if any will come. Part of the issue is that most serious artists, even unsigned emerging artists, have long since crossed the 1,000-song threshold that Spotify now requires. And for those struggling to get those plays, it won’t make a difference anyway. For starters, the money is already extremely low. And as Stem Disintermedia’s president Kristin Graziani recently articulated, most of that sub-1,000-stream money gets trapped in distributor accounts anyway.

Spotify’s plan just isn’t that bad — or damaging — at least at this stage. It might even be helpful (though be cautious with Spotify’s grandiose redistribution claims.)

However, the fallout from the changes for ‘noise’ recordings remains uncertain.

For starters, Spotify has decided to denigrate one of its most important sub-categories as ‘noise,’ a term that typically refers to aggravating sounds that people want to escape, like a jackhammer or screaming baby.

Gentle raindrops on a tin roof may not be the pinnacle of musical achievement. Still, people enjoy listening to this ‘noise’ for hours and hours while studying, working, or focusing on something demanding. In that light, does it make sense for Spotify to launch an attack on this ‘noise?’

This is actually a fairly large category for Spotify, with listeners tapping the platform for raindrops and Drake alike. With that in mind, it’s difficult to understand Spotify’s sudden shift in tone towards this creator group.

Perhaps Spotify felt pressure to appease UMG chief Sir Lucian Grainge, who’s adopted a sneering attitude towards sound effects and non-musical focus tracks. Whatever the reason, Spotify now looks condescendingly at this class of audio. Some changes certainly make sense, including forcing minimum length requirements on ‘noise’ tracks to block royalty-gaming schemes. But even for those following the rules, royalties will be severely chopped.

In its Tuesday disclosure, Spotify promised to “value noise streams at a fraction of the value of music streams,” with “white noise, nature sounds, machine noises, sound effects, non-spoken ASMR, and silence recordings” facing the cut. That will make Grainge and other major label executives happy, though it may also result in a thinner ‘noise’ selection on Spotify.

Perhaps you study best to that smattering of raindrops for hours. But will you be able to find what you need on Spotify? If not, other platforms like YouTube will happily fill the void, with Spotify suddenly becoming less competitive and functional for millions of subscribers.

Photo: Olichel

Spotify is implementing a royalty-payment threshold of 1,000 streams per year, according to preliminary details now surfacing. So what’s the problem with that?

The shocking answer to that question is ‘not much,’ even though the move technically cuts off a vast majority of creators on the platform. Take a closer look at the numbers, however, and it becomes obvious that this isn’t a lot of money — both in terms of the overall percentage of the streaming pie and the actual payments themselves. There are also some interesting benefits that immediately come into play.

As a quick recap, details on Spotify’s planned royalty-payout changes were recently revealed by Stem Disintermedia president Kristin Graziani. Aside from fraud-monitoring requirements on distributors and changes to the minimum length of non-music tracks like raindrop recordings, Spotify will also implement a minimum play threshold for a song at 1,000 streams per year. Pass that threshold, and you get paid. Miss that threshold, and there’s no payment.

It’s shocking how many artists will get cut off by this simple shift.

Just how many are we talking about here? Yesterday, we estimated that roughly two-thirds of artists would stop receiving payments due to this shift. But that’s based on Spotify’s data on the number of tracks that cross 1,000 streams during their lifetimes — not one year. Shift the timeframe from ‘lifetime’ to ‘annual,’ and it’s reasonable to estimate that more than 80% of artists and creators on the platform will suddenly lose their royalty checks.

For reasons that make sense and are entirely defensible, that is provoking protests and howls from the indie sector and artist advocates (we’ll have more on that later). They aren’t wrong to be upset, especially since the money may be directly transferred from those underperforming artists to better-performing artists (or, more likely, their labels). In other words, bigger, more successful artists will receive money for streams they didn’t earn.

So how is that okay?

The answer is complicated. On one hand, this non-payment redistribution is technically unfair, and arguably theft if shifted into the hands of more successful artists. Perhaps Believe founder and CEO Denis Ladegaillerie nailed it by calling this sort of redistribution a ‘reverse Robin Hood system.’ But Ladegaillerie was referring to a very different and more serious recalibration being cooked up by Universal Music Group and Deezer.

In the Spotify context, however, this probably doesn’t add up enough to matter. For evidence of that, consider what 1,000 streams mean for an artist on Spotify.

The penny payout rates from streaming platforms are shockingly low: Graziani estimated that 1,000 streams translate into $3 for the average Spotify artist. Imagine an artist with ten tracks, each drawing 500 streams. The missing payout would be $15.

And what’s wrong with a minimum threshold? Graziani further points out that most distributors have minimum thresholds already in place. In this case, the money isn’t hitting artist bank accounts at these lower levels.

“$3.00 is well below the threshold at which almost every distributor allows artists to transfer earnings into their own bank accounts,” Graziani noted. “In other words, this is money that isn’t currently making it to artists in the first place.”

So where is that big pile of pennies sitting?

“Right now, artists don’t benefit from the millions of tiny payments that Spotify pays for content that receives a few streams per month,” Graziani continues. “It’s the distributors who benefit from the hundreds of thousands of dollars sitting in their bank accounts earning interest. Redirecting those tiny payments can immediately increase the royalty pool by $40 million dollars each year, and that number can grow over time.”

$40 million sounds like a lot of money — and it is. But placed into the context of overall streaming revenues, it’s actually a tiny portion.

Billboard, citing an anonymous source, has claimed that the new payout approach would shift only “about 0.5% of Spotify’s royalty pool to more popular tracks.” All of those tiny crumbs aren’t adding up to a very big cake.

But that 0.5% accounts for a disproportionate amount of the headaches involving metadata mismatches and unclaimed funds. Delve into the bowels of the SoundExchange and the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) databases, and vast piles of dangling, disconnected, and otherwise unclaimed cash surfaces. But what if the smaller stuff — defined by tracks garnering fewer than 1,000 streams per year — were simply removed from consideration? Maybe the war against bad metadata is about to take a fortuitous turn.

Still, from an ethical standpoint, is it fair to shift that money to bigger artists? Graziani says yes, though that’s certainly worthy of debate. But how important is that debate in the grand scheme of things? Given the broader and more controversial changes happening at Deezer at the behest of Universal Music Group, perhaps not so much.

Perhaps a middle-ground solution would be to not distribute that money to bigger artists that didn’t generate those streams. Instead, why not use the funds to support up-and-coming artists, even in a for-profit scheme? 

Stem knows plenty about this: the company recently raised $250 million to help fund emerging artist careers. According to the company, the fund “provides advances against future projects without taking any ownership” and represents a model that’s “had a profound impact” on certain indie acts’ careers.

Now we’re talking.

Photo Credit: Aleksandr Popov

After partnering with Australasian music rights management organization APRA AMCOS last year, Music Recognition Technology (MRT) company Audoo has now announced an expanded rollout of its Audio Meters in the region. Audoo’s CEO reveals that the first tranche of installations in key Australian and New Zealand cities was a success — and ‘scaling is now the next step.’

DMN first reported on the initial phase of the partnership between APRA AMCOS and British MRT company Audoo in the summer of 2022. Now a year later, Audoo reveals that APRA AMCOS is committed to the tech’s early adoption. With a focus on that ambition, APRA AMCOS is significantly expanding the number of its devices installed in venues that are licensed for public performances.

Ryan Edwards, CEO of Audoo, explained that the extended rollout will exhibit a significant increase in Audio Meters being installed throughout Australia and New Zealand. “Australia is very populous around the edges, and this next phase will encompass all major cities and major metropolitan areas. We’re already dotted across the country,” Edwards relayed.

The Audoo and APRA AMCOS expansion will allow licensees to ensure that songs played in their premises are more accurately recognized, and paid for in compliance with copyright laws. Several years ago, Audoo partnered with DMN to accelerate its accuracy-focused mission.

Edwards relayed that the partnership and their Australasian model will potentially kickstart a global evolution of methodology for rights management organizations — switching from estimated public performance plays to actual play data.

For decades, the public performance royalty-collection process has been dominated by the use of proxy data and surveys. More recently, innovation-focused organizations like APRA AMCOS have sought out precise methodologies and technologies to enhance their distribution practices.

With Audoo, Edwards believes that rights management companies can implement better technologies to ensure even greater accuracy and transparency of play counts and rights holders’ payments. Focusing on that very aspect, Edwards says, “Audoo utilizes real world data to accurately digitize, streamline, and scale public performance data.”

Audio Meters allow Audoo to tune out the noise of busy public environments, and accurately recognize the music being played via ‘fingerprinting.’

Audoo’s Audio Meter is a multi-patented solution that monitors music played on commercial premises. The technology allows Audoo to tune out the noise of busy public environments, and accurately recognize the music being played via ‘fingerprinting.’ This data is then taken to Audoo’s cloud-based platform to streamline revenue disbursement for partner royalty societies. “Rights management organizations analyze this data alongside other music-use data sources. This is a complex, ongoing process,” says Edwards.

Edwards believes that public performance insights paired with global data will kickstart a new era of accuracy.

He also revealed that Audoo has already partnered with multiple rights management organizations, with more formal announcements to follow in the coming months.

According to Edwards, Audoo is uniquely placed because governments are now inquiring about the standards and quality of metadata across the music industry supply chain. “This is another step towards music modernization. We are now dealing with rights management organizations around the world and seeing different data standards and processes,” he added.

Generic insights involving most-played artists in different locations will also assist labels, publishers, managers, and organizers. By discovering which areas have the highest traction for a certain artist or music genre, Edwards says managers gain another data point to guide targeted promotions — and ultimately higher revenue. “As one example, artist tours could be planned based on higher geographical-based plays,” he relayed.

Edwards admits that this data already exists via social media and streaming numbers, but makes a case that Audoo insights are the missing puzzle piece that make data more usable and implementable. He added, “That’s what we’re plugging. We allow rights management organizations to harness data and use it.”

In July, Audoo also announced partnerships with PRS for Music and PPL for a large-scale UK rollout. Speaking about the move, Edwards said, “The take up from venues has been amazing. We’re getting into as many locations as possible.”

Photo Credit: QuinceCreative

When it comes to music royalties, there’s always been a clear delineation between royalty payouts for recordings versus payouts for the underlying musical composition. But beyond the top-level differences, there’s also another stunning difference that’s rarely highlighted. According to prominent royalty-focused exec Jeff Price, recording payouts are faring much better than composition payouts due to lower data ambiguity — with a far lower percentage of compositions properly matched to their owners. Here, we look at this often-overlooked bright spot in the music royalty landscape.

We frequently discuss the complex nature of music royalty payouts, its abundant parallel challenges, and the infamous multi-billion dollar royalty ‘black box’ of counted-but-unmatched songs. Whether the source of the problem is a dependence on guesstimates rather than actual calculations or simple data entry errors, the industry continually fails to match a big percentage of tracks with the correct ownership data.

Today, accounting technology to correct the data problem exists in most cases. But in the real world, many of those technologies aren’t trickling down to fix the situation in a broad manner. Dig a bit deeper, however, and nuances emerge – as do some promising bright spots.

Some assets are faring better than others, with matching the critical differentiator. By separating the nature and processing of sound recording details and music composition data, a massive split emerges between pre-data-match missing royalties and post-data-match accurate payouts.

Recently, music payout solution Trolley sponsored a webinar to discuss the current situation surrounding music royalty payouts, intending to ensure that the royalties earned by musicians find their way to their rightful owners.

The panel, moderated by DMN, featured royalty experts Jeff Price, cofounder and CEO of Word Collections and an original cofounder of Tunecore, and Jack Cyphers, founder and CEO of BorderFox. The duo exhaustively covered important aspects and functions of existing payment processing technologies.

Fintech company Trolley is a major payout platform for the digital economy, so the topic was germane. Trolley simplifies royalty payouts and tax processes for the music industry and reduces overall processing time. Once data is properly matched and ready for distribution, Trolley steps in to handle the micropayments in a scalable manner. Just recently, Trolley partnered with DMN to further expand its music industry footprint.

Jeff Price believes there’s no single answer to describe the current state of royalty payouts in the music industry. “There are different areas of income. There are the sound recordings, which typically have data matched and lead to accurate payouts 7/10 times. And then there’s the underlying musical composition — the cluster mess. I’ll rate that 3/10 for accuracy.”

Price pointed out that labels or artists usually match metadata for music recordings at the point of distribution. Typically, there’s little complexity there. “The information about who controls the recording is provided, and the money is remitted back to them on a monthly basis,” he clarified.

Composition data, by contrast, is complicated for a variety of reasons. It’s not uncommon for multiple songwriters to collaborate on a track, leading to inaccurate data entry. In some cases, the data is only partially entered or left completely missing. This ambiguity at the source is what makes composition data problematic by nature.

But there’s more to this story. Price doesn’t mince words as he lays out the ‘perverse benefit to staying bad’ in royalty accounting. “The traditional legacy music industry doesn’t want to fix this. They’re happy to have big piles of [unclaimed] money. Then they pass laws and make it legal to steal it and give it to the legacy industry.”

“The less money you get for your songwriter, the more ends up in what’s called the black box,” Price reveals, adding, “And then [music associations] get an allocation of that based on their market share. They can’t pay that back to the songwriters because they don’t know whose money it is. So they get to keep more of it.”

Price stresses that music composition data isn’t prioritized — even though the necessary technology to combat this relatively ‘more complex’ data segment has been created and continually refined. “There’s a misalignment of interest within the music industry,” says Price. “We’re all compartmentalized and fragmented. DSPs have no business interest in ensuring the money ends up in the right hands.”

Price further explained, “It would be disingenuous to suggest nobody cares, but the impact on them from a business perspective is irrelevant.”

Jack Cyphers calls royalty accounting ‘the redheaded stepchild’ for the music industry and notes that neglect isn’t the only reason royalties go missing.

“The music industry was about creating art and culture and monetizing it, but royalty accounting was something they had to deal with. They never got it right,” Cyphers explains.

Cyphers also believes there’s a reason people are intentionally sitting on all that money, adding, “We’re working in an ecosystem and a business model that has been built around inefficiency.”

According to Cyphers, the music royalty mess is a choice, and not everyone in the industry is willing to clean it up. “Some companies are ahead of the curve and willing to change. They’re paying faster because they want to — that’s the differentiator. If you’re about making payouts quickly, you can get the data. You’ve got the system and the tech.”

For companies that want to make post-match royalty payouts more accurate, Cyphers says the option is there. “I believe that it’s more of a bottom-up thing now for the companies that are more focused on this data instead of top-down,” he added.

As a result of this bottom-up focus, the music royalty ‘cluster mess’ appears to be turning over a new leaf. Abdul Refaat, Head of Royalties and Senior Enterprise Account Executive at Trolley, decodes how their platform effectively tackles ‘the immense complexities of the music industry, its multitude of revenue streams, varying contract terms, and diverse streaming platforms.’

By automating multiple cumbersome parts of the process and highlighting the post-data-match phase for music royalty payouts, Refaat believes that the landscape is showing significant improvements. “We’re noticing that payments and tax are becoming more top-of-mind, with a heavy concentration on automation and APIs,” he says.

Refaat insists Trolley has a game plan for emerging complexities in the future, adding, “AI-generated music, blockchain fan-powered earnings, fractionalized ownership, [these will bring] new revenue streams. Music companies and fintech solutions must adapt to these changes by incorporating advanced tracking mechanisms for emerging platforms and defining the tax implications on these new revenue streams.”

According to Refaat, collaboration between industry leaders, legal experts, and tech innovators will be essential in establishing new standards and contracts. “As Trolley and other music platforms grow, we will continue to see major improvements and continuous efforts on refining data post-match, enhancing accuracy, and reducing processing time.”

In that aspect, Price and Cyphers also agree that ‘it’s all about the data.’ Price adds, “We audit, we identify, and then create automated systems to have a handle on it.”

Users can quickly sign up for the Splash Pro free tier, reveals Splash General Manager Tarika Wickremeratne.

Generative AI platform Splash just released its Gen-2 feature, allowing users to generate new music, lyrics, and vocals from a text prompt. Splash’s models are exclusively trained on a self-owned music library of loops composed by the platform’s music team — allowing Splash to offer broad and flexible commercial licenses to users.

Tarika Wickremeratne, General Manager at Splash, recently sat down with Digital Music News to explain how the generative AI platform transcends the standards set by other generative music companies that do not own their proprietary datasets.

Splash enlisted an entire music team that recorded hours of several musicians playing music and singing to create a fully generative AI music and vocals library. This in-house library trained their AI model to generate music and vocals via a simple text prompt.

“We own all of our music in our Splash library,” Wickremeratne relayed. “We want people to go out and monetize their creations, either by putting it on YouTube and earning money that way, or if they want to use it for their actual production work, video content, etcetera.” Just recently, Splash joined forces with DMN to further broaden awareness of its Gen-2 release.

Wickremeratne reveals that the company has published a comparison that shows precisely where Splash Pro stands in the competitive AI space, specifically with other text-to-music or generative AI platforms on the market.

Compared to features other text-to-music platforms bring to the table, Wickremeratne says Gen-2’s biggest flex is its ability to issue ‘very broad, very flexible commercial licenses to users.’

Wickremeratne says Google’s MusicLM and Facebook’s MusicGen cannot offer full commercial licenses. “They don’t have the rights to the music their models were trained on,” she explains.

Speaking about Stable Audio, she notes that even though the company is offering commercial licenses to users, ‘Stable Audio’s dataset has been licensed from an external production music company called AudioSparx.’ Wickremeratne relayed that Splash Pro’s datasets — on the other hand — are custom-created, so they can be tailored ‘to suit their customers’ evolving needs.’

Ownership of music libraries isn’t Gen-2’s only differentiating factor. The platform also offers proprietary text-to-vocal AI generation across multiple genres, using a Splash-exclusive catalog that is constantly expanding and growing.

“You can generate lyrics and get a generative voice that sings for you, choose whether that voice raps or sings. Even select different voices across different genres. As far as I know, we’re one of the only companies that do that,” said Wickremeratne.

“You can generate lyrics and get a generative voice that sings for you,” says Wickremeratne.

“Ownership and rights give us the ability to control our own destiny and not be at the mercy of legal complexities that come with partnerships and licensing agreements,” she adds.

Gen-2 also boasts an extensive list of genres that users can generate. Wickremeratne says they specialize in a Gen-Z and Alpha-inspired music catalog because, in the past, they ‘have always been a core audience of Splash.’ She adds, “A lot of EDM, hyperpop, lo-fi, funk, hip hop, trap, dubstep — those kinds of genres. We feel like that’s a key differentiator for us.”

This constant diversification and growth of the Splash catalog, according to Wickremeratne, remains one of the key goals for the company. “Our catalog is always growing because our music team’s work isn’t done. They are continuing to widen and expand the genres and music styles we offer.”

Wickremeratne says Splash Pro Gen-2 is all about more control and customization options— the intuitive user interface allows just that. “The platform is set out so that people get music that matches their prompt much faster than others — and they get a lot more choices.”

“Users can leverage many levers to tweak their music, whether it’s adding lyrics or changing the length of the song,” explains Wickremeratne, concluding with, “Splash brings many nuanced customization options for users.”

Elaborating on the tool’s ease of use, Wickremeratne reveals how users can quickly sign up for the Splash Pro free tier. “Users can experiment with unlimited track generations before deciding whether they need a paid version with more features.”

She adds, “You type in a description of the song you want to hear — say, a romantic ballad or a house track from the nineties. Add BPM, and add the genre you want. In just a few seconds, you’ll get five short samples that you can listen to that match your prompt.”

Users can extend these samples to different lengths. They can add lyrics, singing, or rapping to the track to create downloadable full-length songs in multiple file formats.

After multiple AI releases over the years, Wickremeratne shares that the biggest pivot for the company occurred after various breakthroughs in Machine Learning (ML) technology. “Our products are heavily inspired by companies like ChatGPT and Midjourney, which revealed to the world how powerful text could be as an input method.”

Wickremeratne explains that these ML breakthroughs ‘allowed us to achieve a longstanding, ambitious goal for Splash — to allow people to make music with AI.’ This shift led to Splash’s March 2023 release of Beatbot, a text-to-music experiment to gauge the usage of an AI music service with AI rapping.

Just three months later, in June, Splash launched Splash Pro Gen-1, calling it the tool that brings ‘AI-powered music at the speed of a text prompt.’ Gen-1 offered customization features such as BPM specification, generative and editable lyrics, 15 AI rappers and singers, as well as song length and arrangement options. Wickremeratne reveals that amateur DJs, creators, and bloggers on YouTube and TikTok had been early takers of Gen-1.

With the September release of Gen-2, Splash now boasts its fully generative music model, producing 44.1kHz stereo quality audio, with AI mastering tools, high-quality wav and stem downloads, and even the ability to create lyric videos.

The generative platform isn’t new to the AI business. Splash (formerly Popgun) first appeared on the music landscape in 2017, led by ex-Twitter alums Stephen Phillip and Richard Slatter, who also founded We Are Hunted. In 2012, Twitter purchased this machine-learning music discovery tool.

Splash went on to secure seed funding in 2018. By 2020, the ‘Splash — Music & Skate’ game had been introduced on Roblox, allowing players to create music and perform to live audiences inside virtual venues. The company then completed a $20 million Series A round in 2021 — co-led by Amazon’s Alexa Fund and BITKRAFT Ventures, with participation from Khosla Ventures and King River Capital.

Wickremeratne recalls how Splash focused on growing the Roblox game as the biggest virtual music festival, reaching over 4 million monthly active users. “We created the Roblox game to build our loop library. The game allowed players to perform music live on a virtual stage using a beatmaker instrument — a DJ pad with 48 buttons for different sounds that could be combined in different ways to make really cool music.”

Splash began building its ‘proprietary music catalog’ in 2019, ‘first for our app, then Roblox, and now for Splash Pro.’ Wickremeratne adds, “All the while, we’ve continued to invest in R&D to improve our music and voice generation and other AI capabilities.”

Wickremeratne relays that these efforts eventually led to the data that now underpins Splash AI training. The platform deployed this music across their Roblox game and mobile app while also training their AI models on it.

“There’s always been an engine running in the background,” Wickremeratne explained. “Splash has always been about democratizing music creation — putting really easy-to-use, simple, intuitive music tools in the hands of as many people as possible. There’s a real joy to creating music that you can’t get in quite any other way.”

Gen-2 has only been on the market for two months, so predicting the next developments is difficult.

As Splash’s AI model grows bigger and gains more sophistication, new sounds or even genres could emerge. It’s also inevitable that competitors will continue to innovate in the generative music space with gusto. However, with their models trained on entirely different datasets compared to Splash AI, will these new entrants bring completely unique sounds to differentiate themselves?

There’s also the possibility of text-to-music AI becoming mainstream. If producers start incorporating the sounds of Splash Pro into their work, it could signal a seismic shift in music creation and redefine what it means to ‘make’ music.

For now, Wickremeratne is closely watching how it all develops and adjusting Splash Pro’s roadmap accordingly.

Splash Pro subscription options include a Free tier, followed by a Starter tier ($10 per month) meant for creators looking to monetize their content. A Max tier ($49 per month) is meant for teams, developers, and companies. Splash also offers an Enterprise option for companies that require special API access or other advanced support.

Photo Credit: Dot Hip Hop

Dot Hip Hop is a domain name registry with a seemingly simple tech proposition. But beyond its focus on .HipHop domain names and website addresses, Dot Hip Hop is honing in on IP ownership, empowering artists, and uplifting the community via financial literacy.

On its surface, Dot Hip Hop has a simple business model. The company facilitates the ownership of .HipHop domain names and website addresses for artists, labels, or anyone tied into the hip hop community or culture of hip hop. Dig a bit deeper, however, and this is a company that’s all about advancing hip hop culture and empowering its creators.

“There’s a lot to the story of our dedication to the community and the culture,” Managing Director Monte Cahn told Digital Music News, who noted that .HipHop domain names offer an opportunity to gain greater ownership over musical creativity. “We’re trying to re-educate people about the importance of having your own intellectual property, your own identity, utilizing it properly, and being able to monetize it.”

Cahn also points out how most people wrongly believe that they own intellectual property rights simply because they’re using Instagram, TikTok, or Twitter to post their content. “These platforms own everything that you do and say. You can be cut off and deleted and even hacked by others while using these platforms,” Cahn explains.

According to company CMO Scott Pruitt, “Artists with a .HipHop domain name gain a digital identity that aligns with hip hop.”

Speaking about the history of hip hop artists in general, Cahn highlighted how artists’ ownership was compromised by the original contracts signed with agents and record labels. “That’s what we’re about, giving ownership rights back to the hip hop community and culture. For artists, DJs, MCs, a record label, or even somebody that loves hip hop,” Cahn added. Just recently, Dot Hip Hop joined forces with DMN to accelerate their mission.

Ajene Watson, also a Managing Director of Dot Hip Hop, relayed that the company is aiming to elevate hip hop culture in three ways: provide ownership via equity, promote economic opportunity via financial literacy, and redistribute wealth through a corporate community investment program.

“We are creating an environment where the culture can own equity in Dot Hip Hop, LLC — the registry that holds the license to operate the .HipHop extension. Secondly, we’re promoting financial literacy and economic opportunity by teaching the community about digital real estate — researching, analyzing, buying, developing, and selling these domain names,” Watson explains.

Watson also highlighted how the third, equally important goal of wealth redistribution ties into what the company is doing, adding, “A portion of our revenue actually goes to the endeavors of the culture — whether it’s money going into financial initiatives like the Biz Markie’s Just A Friend Foundation, ‘For The Culture Fund’ by Beats, Rhymes & Relief, even diabetes associations, retirement funds for hip hop’s founders, and other actions that uplift the community, like education, et cetera.”

Watson further states how Dot Hip Hop is focused on continually developing this model and ‘anticipate that funds will ultimately go into a trust, and then be dispersed appropriately.’

“We’ve built this into our business process to ensure that the community is fed by their own efforts, and every registration increases community value and opportunity,” Watson concludes.

Pruitt believes many hip hop artists don’t fully grasp the concept of top-level domains, or the extent to which they allow artists to strengthen their brands.

“What’s on the right side of the ‘dot’ can actually relate to what’s on the left side of the ‘dot’ and that makes for a much better brand,” Pruitt explained.

Comparing .HipHop with other domains and domain extensions, Pruitt points out a notable distinction, saying, “.HipHop is an open extension so anybody can go and register a .HipHop domain name, but others may come with a few restrictions. You might have to provide articles of incorporation or fill out Nexus forms to attest that you’re a legitimate music business, or work within a specific industry.”

Pruitt also highlighted that the domain .HipHop is capable of representing a global community that isn’t limited to just music, but can also include dance, graffiti art, contemporary art, gaming, sports, fashion, attitude, general business, and a way of life.

“Hip hop is everyday life, and .HipHop can represent a global community of over 1 billion people, whereas most other internet extensions don’t represent any specific identity or inclination.”

It’s not everyday that branding decisions and domain name extensions are mentioned in the same sentence, but Pruitt sees an untapped connection. “This is a more meaningful domain. It gives everyone an opportunity to match what they represent — hip hop. The address will allow people to automatically make the hip hop association.”

Pruitt says Dot Hip Hop also aims to tackle the animosity that can exist between different rappers, camps, and groups. The company is also dedicated to supporting hip hop-related charities.

“We want to be the catalyst that brings people within the hip hop community together. We want to help encourage a camaraderie so they can start to lay aside all the beef and disagreements. With a .HipHop domain, they’re not saying that they’re East Coast or West Coast. They’re not saying that they’re Bronx or Queens, it’s their hip hop,” Pruitt claims.

An illustration of The Notorious B.I.G. at the Gracie Mansion, where the mayor of New York hosted a reception to celebrate the 50th anniversary of hip hop (Photo Credit: Dot Hip Hop)

As part of the company’s mission, Dot Hip Hop aims to support charities ‘to help out people in the inner city.’ Pruitt says this ideology is built into the core philosophy of their business, adding, “We’re here to help strengthen the hip hop community and its founders and the people who really made hip hop happen.”

On August 11th, the Mayor of New York hosted a breakfast reception at Gracie Mansion to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of hip hop. The event was sponsored by Dot Hip Hop.

New York City mayor Eric Adams flanked by hip hop luminaries at the Gracie Mansion event (Photo: City of New York).

At Gracie Mansion, Mayor Eric Adams spoke passionately about how the last 50 years have changed the cultural landscape. “Hip hop was more than just music. It changed the attitude. From block parties to carrying crates of records, to music in the park, to having to draw your own flyers, to doing the $5 event, the $3 cups, to trying to be able to make your music real and having to deal with some of the contracts. Look at it 50 years later, and the mayor of the most powerful city on the globe is a hip hop mayor.”

Guests at Gracie Mansion included Sha-Rock, Kool Herc, Kool DJ Red Alert, Ralph McDaniels, and many others. As part of their tie-in, Dot Hip Hop gave .HipHop domain names to major hip hop artists that were being honored at the event.

Alongside several other celebratory events throughout August, Dot Hip Hop also sponsored Beats, Rhymes & Relief for a three-day event called The Battle Royale at Times Square on August 13-15th. Beats, Rhymes & Relief For The Culture Fund is a charity organization that utilizes the arts to raise awareness and support for global humanitarian relief projects.

Pruitt explains that the event featured a competition amongst various pillars of hip hop — beatboxing, DJing, MCing, graffiti artists, and breakdancing — adding, “It was the first time ever that the city of New York had a hip-hop-related event right in Times Square.”

Dot Hip Hop also sponsored Beats, Rhymes & Relief for a three-day event called The Battle Royale at Times Square (Photo: Dot Hip Hop)

Watson highlighted Dot Hip Hop’s plans to collaborate with schools to bring financial literacy and education to teenage students and their parents. “We spoke with an NYC police captain and have committed to doing this at least twice a month for this school year, all across the city,” Watson relayed, further adding that education, awareness, and financial literacy will help diminish crime.

“We’re getting a lot of opportunities to provide support. Not just with money, but with social support in the community,” stated Watson.

As a result of that ambition, Dot Hip Hop sponsored the GOAT Classic event on August 19th, featuring a basketball clinic for kids ‘to give back to the community with basketball games and music.’ Moreover, the domain registry company has aligned with the Biz Markie’s Just A Friend Foundation to sponsor the Pencils and Dreams school supply drive.

“We’re getting a lot of opportunities to provide support. Not just with money, but with social support in the community,” stated Watson. (Photo: Dot Hip Hop)

The company has also joined and offered support to other organizations such as the Hip Hop Alliance, headed by Kurtis Blow in collaboration with Chuck D, KRS-One, and other hip hop legends. Pruitt says the Hip Hop Alliance support is part of broader efforts by Dot Hip Hop to establish social benefit programs such as healthcare plans for some of the original hip hop artists that were misrepresented by record companies — with some still not owning their intellectual property.

At the end of the day, Dot Hip Hop is all about community, associations and partnerships, monetization, and seizing control over IP.

Focusing on that aspect, Pruitt recalled how Cahn, ‘a near-thirty-year domaining industry vet,’ reshaped the domain name game in the 90s. Cahn purchased and sold domain names — in a manner similar to physical real estate investing.

Cahn participated in the first million-dollar domain name sale by reselling wallstreet.com for $1.03 million. Later that same year, Cahn sold autos.com for $2.2 million. These historic sales positioned Cahn as a key figure in the early multi-billion-dollar industry involving the buying, brokering, auctioning, and sale of domain names.

Pruitt explains why a similar opportunity might be up for grabs again, and why this aftermarket for .HipHop domain names exists. “Every domain name is a unique piece of property. It’s digital real-estate driven by scarcity and value.”

To prevent potential squatters from registering artists’ names, Dot Hip Hop has reserved tens of thousands of .HipHop domain names to protect established hip hop artists, songs, and labels from profit-seeking flippers.

Jeff Neuman, Chief Operating and Legal Officer of Dot Hip Hop, says, “We want the person who buys the domain name to actually be the one using it, and have the right to profit from it.”

Neuman — like Cahn — has also been involved in the domain name industry since its early beginnings. Neuman used the domain name system to safeguard brand owners’ intellectual property rights. Dot Hip Hop also relayed that most of the intellectual property enforcement mechanisms used by brands today against domain name owners ‘were either created by Neuman directly, or through working groups that he either led or actively participated in.’

Neuman says, “We want .HipHop to grow responsibly.”

Pruitt added, “When .com came along, there was essentially a land grab and now around 200 million .com names are registered — and buying and selling .com domain names is a multi-million dollar business. Right now, .HipHop has just under 2,000 registrations.”

With an eye on the evolving future of domain names, art, branding, and the live music performance arena, Pruitt reveals that the company has launched Web2 and Web3 integrations.

“When someone registers their domain name in .HipHop, they also gain the functionality of Web3 without having to use a third-party website address,” Pruitt explains, adding, “You’ll be able to mint and create NFTs right from our website. Put in your .HipHop address and claim the blockchain or Web3 version of it.”

Hip hop artists that are keen to be early adopters of the .HipHop domain extension can register at www.Get.HipHop. Besides securing the domain as digital real estate, artists can personalize their website, create custom email addresses, and even set up a cryptocurrency wallet address through the new Web2 to Web3 bridge interface.

Most ICANN-accredited registrars now carry .HipHop domains. Now, the big opportunity is to broaden awareness of an asset that may become threaded into the future global footprint of hip hop culture.

Most artists end up juggling various platforms and multiple ‘dashboards’ during the production, distribution, and promotion of their music. Now, OmMuse is working to consolidate everything an artist needs into a central repository — the OmMuse Hub.

For artists, the process of creating, delivering, and monetizing music is a complex chore involving seemingly-endless partners. Apart from the countless nuts and bolts of music production, artists and managers need optimal organization and storage of files, advanced sharing capabilities, collaboration tools, royalty tracking solutions, and mastering tools that allow them to extract the most out of their work.

Most of these solutions are scattered across multiple platforms, forcing artists to coordinate a large number of endpoints. That’s a headache that OmMuse is aiming to solve with a consolidated service that allows every artist — on varying stages of their creative process — to simplify and optimize their creative process. Just recently, OmMuse joined forces with DMN to broaden awareness of their consolidated platform solution.

Company founder & CEO Vivek Patel outlined OmMuse’s vision to simplify music industry processes and propel musicians in their creative pursuits.

Patel adds that OmMuse will allow artists to ‘derive more value from their work by leveraging the latest tech in AI and blockchain.’ OmMuse CMO Chris Gertz-Rombach further explained that OmMuse primarily aims to facilitate accessibility, ease of use, collaboration, and discovery by utilizing tech to its absolute capacity.

The consolidated approach means that artists can tap into interactive creative tools to organize their entire catalog, discover collaboration opportunities, and distribute their music. For indie musicians, OmMuse brings elevated accessibility, a clean interface, and the ability to be discovered directly via the platform.

To keep the interface clean, OmMuse dashboard leads to only three tabs: My OmMuse Hub, Explore, and Artists.

OmMuse is in its late seed stage with a soft launch, and Gertz-Rombach reports that a few hundred early users have provided encouraging feedback. Gertz-Rombach also relayed a success story of musician Michael Alvarado, who is already collaborating with artists he discovered through OmMuse.

OmMuse is free to join ‘because a big part of our ethos is accessibility.’ Gertz-Rombach added, “We want anyone around the world to easily access OmMuse to create music, to distribute it by signing up for free.”

The platform’s cloud-based ecosystem is structured to assist in music-focused pursuits such as storage, organization, and collaboration. Gertz-Rombach says OmMuse was developed because other creative platforms were too ‘noisy.’

“There are way too many features and buttons on other platforms, so OmMuse is streamlined and simple. That’s our most positive feedback, too.”

OmMuse also aims to create simplicity throughout, instead of overwhelming artists with complex processes. Patel calls it the ‘grandpa test,’ adding, “If our grandpa can figure out how to add the songs and batch-upload tracks, then anyone can do it, right? OmMuse hub contains it in one place. It’s encrypted.”

Unlike conventional file storage platforms like Dropbox, OmMuse isn’t packed with music-irrelevant tabs and buttons. Dropbox’s free tier provides a miserly storage of 2GB, alongside a file size limit, which is unworkable for most musicians. The cloud storage giant also fails to offer the flexibility and navigation required for effective music collaboration. Also missing from Dropbox and its competitors are song-specific organizational capabilities, including metadata fields specific to music tracks.

“One of the big long-term plays we’re focusing on is the ability to organize huge sets of music data,” Gertz-Rombach shared. “Our tech automatically extracts metadata from tracks but also detects things like BPM and genre if not added manually. So labels and massive catalogs are organized and sifted through efficiently when uploaded and stored.”

Perhaps most importantly, non-music-specific platforms like Dropbox consistently fail to provide the vigorous privacy required for high-value music files.

To keep the interface clean, the OmMuse dashboard leads to only three tabs: My OmMuse Hub, Explore, and Artist. Users subscribed to the OmMuse free tier can create a profile, upload up to five gigs for free, and gain encrypted storage for large music files. Users can also employ more precise sharing and permission tools — better-suited for potentially lucrative music files.

“Any track you upload publicly will place you on the Explore page,” says Gertz-Rombach.

OmMuse artist profiles provide the spark to find the correct chemistry for collaboration. Gertz-Rombach says these discoverability features close the ‘search’ gap. He explained, “We found a lot of artists who want to be public with their music and get discovered. So any track you upload publicly will place you on the Explore page.”

Artists can also opt-in to become featured artists so others in search for collaborators can reach out and initiate a project. “It’s a way for other musicians, writers, or even labels to find artists.”

OmMuse’s mastering tool with Dolby.io.

Artist profiles can include everything from their work history, a link to their website, and their music. “It’s an additional way for artists to be discovered, and a way to find other collaborators,” Gertz-Rombach relays, adding, “Maybe you’re looking for a producer that can make beats for your next track or a writer to help with a hook? In some ways, it is like a bit of a social platform.”

OmMuse also integrates AI to facilitate music production, mastering, smart contracts, and other creative tools.

“OmMuse also partnered with Dolby, and users subscribed for OmMuse’s paid tier at $7.99 per month receive discounts for Dolby.io AI Mastering. You can preview [the mastered track] up to 30 seconds before you pay for it,” says Gertz-Rombach.

The startup also introduces proprietary smart contracts, with which artists can upload music projects and designate different royalties for multiple collaborators. Gertz-Rombach explained that users can also mint their music through the smart contract for distribution, adding, “We absorb all the minting fees if you’re subscribed to a paid tier.”

The technology company appears to have a major partnership on the cards. Without naming any names, Gertz-Rombach hinted at a prominent digital distribution tie-up for OmMuse. “OmMuse will be the first platform that uses ‘their’ backend API to go within our platform. We’re one of the first that will be able to leverage it.”

Gertz-Rombach says that with further future developments and partnerships, OmMuse will be able to distribute music to all streaming platforms.

(Also, exclusively for DMN readers, OmMuse is offering a three-month subscription to their Major tier for free. OmMuse Minor remains free for everyone.)

Here’s a more detailed overview of OmMuse subscription tiers:

Free Access: OmMuse Minor

• 5GB of Optimized Music & File Storage
• Basic AI-Based Music Organization
• Choose to Share Music Publicly or Privately
• Profile, Tracks, & NFTs Listed on Explore Page
• Full Price Dolby.io AI Mastering ($29.99/track)
• Full Price Music NFT Minting ($29.99/track)
• Unlimited Encrypted Messaging with Users
• Update Track Versions With Collaborators

OmMuse Major: $7.99 per month

• 500GB of Optimized Music & File Storage
• Enhanced AI-Based Music Organization
• Choose to Share Music Publicly or Privately
• Profile, Tracks, & NFTs Listed on Explore Page
• Discounted Dolby.io AI Mastering ($7.99/track)
• Discounted Music NFT Minting ($14.99/track)
• Unlimited Encrypted Messaging with Users
• Update Track Versions With Collaborators

OmMuse Studio: $14.99 per month

• 1TB of Optimized Music & File Storage
• Advanced AI-Based Music Organization
• Choose to Share Music Publicly or Privately
• Profile, Tracks, & NFTs Listed on Explore Page
• *Tracks & NFTs Added to “Featured Section”
• *Profile, Tracks, & NFTs Highlighted on Website
• *Social Media Promotion on OmMuse Socials
• Discounted Dolby.io AI Mastering ($4.99/track)
• Discounted Music NFT Minting ($9.99/track)
• Unlimited Encrypted Messaging with Users
• Update Track Versions With Collaborators

*Premium benefits only available to Studio users

A higher-end, customized Enterprise tier is also available, according to OmMuse.

Downtown Music Holdings-owned Songtrust faced serious and extended suspensions from major rights societies PRS for Music, SACEM, and the collective ICE over a rash of fraudulent and problematic accounts, multiple sources have relayed to Digital Music News.

The suspensions, which robbed member songwriters and rightsholders of substantial royalties, or at least substantially delayed their delivery, appeared to have started in 2021 and were only resolved after substantial client purges and revamped processes were implemented.

Songtrust is a global music publishing administrator that counts more than 350,000 clients and oversees roughly three million songs. The company claims its global reach spans ‘215 countries’ and ‘65 global sources’ with US-based PROs ASCAP, BMI, and European organizations SACEM and PRS for Music listed most prominently in its marketing pitches.

Beyond PRS for Music, SACEM, and ICE, at least two other publishing rights organizations were also considering a freeze on Songtrust clientele, according to a Downtown executive who agreed to speak with DMN. The additional rights organizations paused the pending blocks after being satisfied by various account purges and structural changes, the source also relayed.

In all cases, the suspensions appeared to be prompted by serious causes of fraud or problematic song metadata, with Songtrust’s vetting process viewed as structurally inadequate.

It appears that Songtrust isn’t currently facing active freezes. But sources noted that Songtrust clients were not properly alerted to the freezes, even though the blocks would substantially compromise the ability of creators to collect global publishing royalties.

When asked about these developments, former Songtrust President Molly Neumann, currently CMO of parent Downtown Music Holdings, refused to discuss the matter directly with Digital Music News, though she did offer limited statements through New York-based PR agency Kite Hill Public Relations.

Via the intermediary, Neumann noted that “Songtrust is active with all of our partners,” but declined to answer whether suspensions had existed in recent months and years. When asked specifically about the PRS, SACEM, and ICE suspensions, Neumann’s PR representative only stated: “We stand by our original statement and have no further comment.”

The collecting societies themselves were also reluctant to confirm the suspensions. But they didn’t deny them.

In one conversation with ICE, head of marketing Gary Smith noted that Songtrust was currently an active partner, but resolutely refused to answer any questions about previous suspensions. “I’m sorry, but on this occasion, we can’t comment,” Smith told DMN after repeated questions on the Songtrust suspension. Smith did offer to “come back with something” by the following Monday, though no follow-up statement arrived.

Elsewhere, SACEM declined multiple inquiries and PRS for Music refused to discuss Songtrust details. “We do not comment on individual member accounts, but we can confirm that we are in regular dialogue with Songtrust,” PRS offered in a statement.

“We work closely with a wide range of industry partners, including Songtrust, to ensure the integrity of our copyright data and we continue to develop robust policies and tools to protect against fraudulent claims.”

In the case of PRS, email correspondence shared with Digital Music News revealed at least two suspensions — or ‘distribution holds’ — within the past two years.

One freeze was lifted in September of 2021, according to the emails, though another was initiated in August of 2022. In both cases, serious issues involving erroneous or fraudulent ISRC and PA (short for ‘Performing Arts’) information tied to songs were cited.

In one urgent email, whose date was not disclosed, Songtrust was warned of a ‘severe risk’ posted by serious fraudulent submissions and a review by PRS’ legal counsel. An immediate freeze was implemented while the legal review was initiated.

Improper identifiers threatened to pollute royalty-processing efforts with other songs because of overlapping ISRC codes and other improper identifiers, email threads further revealed. After the freeze was lifted on the Songtrust-represented catalog, it was reinstated after just 11 months due to the emergence of tens of thousands of new violations.

PRS for Music executives also expressed concerns with sloppy, conflicting, or fraudulent ‘Recording Data Identifier Quality,’ ‘Catalogue Management,’ and ‘CWR Quality’ submission components.

The public stonewalling — by PRS for Music and other organizations — raises serious questions about why these rights societies are covering up for Songtrust, especially given their charters to prioritize songwriters and creators.

“ICE exists to ensure songwriters get paid,” the company prominently declares on its homepage. “Accurately, transparently, and at the right value.”

PRS for Music offers a similar mantra: “Music wouldn’t exist without the work of songwriters, composers and publishers,” the company proclaims on its homepage. “We’re here to represent them and ensure that they are rewarded for their creations.”

Meanwhile, the rash of suspensions appear to be forcing serious changes at Songtrust.

Just last month, Songtrust members were sent a lengthy email from Downtown Music Publishing president Emily Stephenson detailing a serious overhaul in submission processes. The correspondence was shared in full with DMN.

“We have restructured our rights management, technology and support teams with the aim to improve and evolve our client services and support levels,” the letter starts.

“You might have noticed slower registration timelines,” the letter continues (bold by Songtrust/Downtown). “Because of the necessity to ensure the integrity of the data we are sending to our income sources, each song we receive goes through a very extensive vetting process, which is a combination of manual and automated workflows.”

The company also confirmed new partnerships with Plaid, a company focused on ‘KYC’ compliance (short of ‘Know Your Customer’ verification processes), and Trolley, a payment processing platform. “We have implemented these additional process improvements to ensure that all metadata is correct and that your personal information is safe and secure.”

Songtrust also implemented a ‘prequalification questionnaire’ for all new registrations, while also pointing to a ‘new leadership and organizational structure” implemented at the onset of 2023, which includes an alignment of “back office operations with other publishing groups within Downtown Music Holdings.”

The revelations come at an inopportune time for the beleaguered Downtown Music.

Over the past few months, federal prosecutors have handed down lengthy prison terms to a pair of scammers at MediaMuv, a fraudulent YouTube rights management organization that generated millions in royalty scams while operating under Downtown division AdRev.

The MediaMuv duo, Jose Teran and Webster Batista Fernandez, are both behind bars, though former AdRev CEO Noah Becker avoided charges and has since departed the company. Per Downtown, Becker has been cooperating with federal authorities in their lengthy investigation, though he now operates in a completely different industry. In total, MediaMuv scammed an estimated $23 million in royalties by improperly claiming thousands of revenue-generating copyrights, with AdRev offering the cover of legitimacy that disguised the wrongdoing for years.

Downtown Music Holdings, founded by current executive chairman Justin Kalifowitz in 2007, also owns prominent music distributors CD Baby (acquired in 2019) and FUGA (acquired in 2020).

Viberate cofounder Vasja Veber.

While artists signed with major labels seem to have access to inexhaustible resources for distribution, promotion, and marketing, the opportunities available to indie artists aren’t as robust. Viberate is attempting to bridge this gap by bundling data analytics, artist websites, playlist pitching, booking pages, unlimited distribution, and more — all in one consolidated plan.

Viberate is now expanding their focus on analytics to include broader services designed to uplift musicians. The company’s just-launched ‘Viberate for Artists’ includes unlimited distribution alongside playlist pitching, festival pitching, artist websites, and an entire booking page for a single annual payment of $39.

Vasja Veber, cofounder of Viberate, recently sat down with Digital Music News to discuss the consolidated offering for up-and-coming artists. Veber pointed out that DIY distribution services generally charge $40 per year for unlimited distribution, whereas Viberate is doing more with the same price.

“We wanted to match whatever artists are already paying for distribution. With Viberate for Artists, artists can distribute to all streaming services that matter, retain 100% of ownership, make bookings, and access their data across all relevant social and streaming channels. Everything an artist needs is for $39 per year,” Veber explained. Viberate recently partnered with DMN to expand awareness of its consolidated platform.

Viberate for Artists includes unlimited distribution alongside playlist pitching, festival pitching, artist websites, and an entire booking page.

Viberate’s artist website builder includes live performances, recorded music, and stats. Veber says the resulting website has “everything an artist needs for a promoter to say ‘I want to book this guy for my festival.’”

Viberate for Artists also allows artists to solicit booking requests directly via Viberate. Decision-makers can choose venues from a database, select preferred dates for performances, and make offers to the artist via the website. Veber explains how Viberate pulls every detail from a vast database, adding, “The whole music ecosystem is in one place. Artists, tracks, playlists, festivals, labels. Viberate is a big platform.”

Other players in the competitive music distribution and analytics services arena appear to be offering specific services — but not everything in one package. That’s potentially a market void that Viberate wants to fill.

For instance, CD Baby charges up to $50 for a single album release and retains 9% of artists’ digital distribution revenue. The platform adds a price bump for additional services such as artist website bookings and analytics.

Veber clarified that while the consolidated package allows artists access to their own analytics for free, stats for other artist profiles are limited. “But that access is definitely enough for what artists need,” Veber assured.

One problem Veber noticed is that decision-makers in the business have to platform-hop for clarity and artist insights. Viberate aims to create a credible hub of analytics where metrics update automatically, allowing informed decision-making for anyone wanting to invest in an artist.

Veber further described the issue, “When artists are pitched to promoters, they have to ensure that their latest videos are embedded, and their latest tracks are Spotify linked.”

“We streamline the process. With so many channels to update, we fold the trending stuff and put it all on an automatically-updated website. You can’t manually edit anything. The website will grab stats and highlight trending content as soon as anything pops up on any platform,” Veber explained.

According to Veber, basic stats update every 24 hours. These include previews and stats from Spotify, YouTube, Shazam, radio stations, chart appearances, all major DSPs, and top playlists. Moreover, decision-makers in the business can also analyze details about artists’ followers, even artists’ professional connections.

At its core, Viberate offers analytics to music industry professionals, labels, festivals, and artists. The company claims it has ‘more insights than anyone else.’

Veber says, “Every service we create is based on, and backed by, our data.”

Viberate prides itself on housing 850,000 verified artist profiles with complete analytics dashboards. Veber explains how other major analytics platforms boast counts of over 8 million profiles, but they come with a catch. “These platforms have up to 15 different profiles for the same artist. Anyone who works in the data space knows how important it is to have a clean data set,” Veber relays, adding, “Viberate is a more robust database. We have one profile, and all the data for that artist is in one profile.”

Moreover, artists’ stats can be compared side-by-side, including audience information, listener information, fanbase growth and engagement charts.

Comparing fanbase growth and fanbase engagement reveals the credibility of artists’ follower count.

According to Veber, analyzing fanbase growth and fanbase engagement sheds light on the credibility of artists’ follower count. “These two metrics must be correlated to ensure followers didn’t come from click farms. If you see growth of the fanbase but no growth of engagement, this could signal a problem.”

Veber says, “Viberate is revolutionizing the music business with the power of data and offering more insights than anyone else.”

Veber also offered a tempered tone on AI. “Despite the world leaning onto AI, we are combining machine processing and human curation,” he noted.

Even though Viberate’s algorithms run the majority of data points, Veber believes AI is limited in its abilities, adding, “Sometimes, there are going to be two artists with the same name in different genres, and the computer will think they’re the same artist. You have to listen to them to distinguish that they’re different. So I don’t believe in machines completely replacing human curation. Not just yet.”

The company boasts 120 human curators who go through data every day. Veber is adamant that despite the world diving into the midst of an AI hype, machines still have a long way to go. “People think of ChatGPT and other language models like some Skynet that will take over the world. Although the tech is fascinating, it can only summarize our existing knowledge.”

Veber admitted that AI turned out to be an irreplaceable tool for generating artists’ bios, but the technology’s capabilities were disappointing when it came to analytics. “We tried to train AI to draw conclusions from our statistical features, but the tech failed spectacularly. Sarah Conner can still chill for a bit,” he added.

With offices in Beverly Hills, London, and Ljubljana (Slovenia), Veber reveals that the US generates more than half of the traffic. “Everything else is divided between Europe, the UK, and some Asian countries.”

Speaking about the future of Viberate, Veber reveals that the company will soon allow fan-funded advances to artists. “Those are going to be based on NFTs. So we’ll have fans funding advances to certain artists.”

Chartmetric’s Onesheet for Dominican singer-songwriter Yendry.

Last year, Chartmetric acquired the appropriately-named Onesheet, a company creating one-sheet summaries (or EPKs) for artists. With Onesheet now relaunched in beta, we take a closer look at how Chartmetric’s datasets are powering these dynamic artist resumes — and what it means for musicians and the broader music industry.

According to Chartmetric, Onesheet is now the ‘outward facing part of its dataset.’ For data-related insights, artist tracking, and showcasing projects, Onesheet is designed to streamline data processing and analysis for decision-makers within the music industry.

Andreas Katsambas, President and COO of Chartmetric, sat down with Digital Music News to talk about the key objectives of Onesheet and who stands to benefit.

Clarifying a clear distinction between the usage of Chartmetric and Onesheet, Katsambas said, “You go to Chartmetric for insights and analytics. You use Onesheet to tell the world who your artist is and what they’re promoting.”

One of the leading data platforms for the music industry, Chartmetric aims to allow professionals to make informed business decisions. Backed by accurate Chartmetric data, every artist’s Onesheet updates stats in real time. It can also be created in seconds. Just recently, Chartmetric joined forces with DMN to further expand Onesheet’s impact.

“You use Onesheet to tell the world who your artist is and what they’re promoting,” says Chartmetric COO Andreas Katsambas.

Moreover, Onesheet can pull accurate data from Spotify and the web. This capability allows the platform to streamline workflows for artists and decision-makers.

Katsambas says Onesheet’s integration with major platforms like Songkick allows it to sync live shows automatically. Artist managers can also embed videos, images, and share links from YouTube, Audiomack, SoundCloud, and others.

For artists, Onesheet is a ‘living resume’ geared towards convenience and simplification of top-level stats. For decision-makers in the business, standardizing Onesheet provides quicker and more accurate screening — with Chartmetric data backing up the information. Katsambas says, “It’s an excellent way to screen artists, just by looking at Onesheet.”

Onesheet features artists, albums, projects, events, and festivals. Artists can also ‘Spotlight Release’ upcoming tracks and albums, highlighting priority releases via Onesheet to make the announcements.

Katsambas talked about the strategic advantages for the broader music industry, including quick creation and sharing, extensive customization features, and dynamically updating metrics.

Artists and managers can add and remove sections and metrics tailored to pique the interests of specific decision-makers. Katsambas says, “Coming soon, you’ll be able to change the background colors, the text, the font — it’ll be easier to utilize and more flexible.”

Katsambas also spoke about how these dynamic digital pages take seconds to create. “You can put in anything you want. You can make it as long and extensive as you like. And metrics refresh on a daily basis,” he says.

Onesheet can pull accurate data from Spotify and the web.

“Where else can you create online EPKs with metrics updating dynamically? Where else can you add a new release, promote it instantly, and share?”

One-sheet summaries have long been used to visually depict entire careers — at a glance. Historically, the recipients of artists’ EPK one-sheets have included record stores, radio stations, labels, and magazines.

These one-sheets were summaries that took hours to create, detailing new releases, audience reach, and demographics (among many other stats). When the music industry made its digital transition, the need for one-sheets remained, but updating a growing number of stats became laborious.

For managers juggling multiple artists, manually updating streaming stats is a relentlessly demanding project. EPKs can require hours of work every week to tweak, a problem Chartmetric aims to solve.

“Onesheet simplifies the process, makes it easy to share, and evolves the necessary information,” Katsambas explains.

Moreover, if (say) a Onesheet is sent to Spotify today, and the Spotify representative opens it a month from now, they’ll see the data metrics from that morning. Katsambas reveals, “It’s going to be updated at the last minute.”

Katsambas says Chartmetric’s unparalleled datasets are the armor propelling Onesheet to the front of the race.

While the competitive landscape includes other EPK platforms, Katsambas asserts that Onesheet “brings a very different approach.”

Before Chartmetric’s Onesheet, the EPK landscape was undoubtedly different. Sonicbids and Reverbnation also create EPK profiles for artists, but Katsambas insists Onesheet doesn’t see them on the radar: “Onesheet allows you to create EPKs on the fly and share them as well. Those are different use cases.”

Katsambas says Chartmetric’s unparalleled datasets are the armor propelling Onesheet to the front of the race, adding, “We have all the metrics, and Onesheet builds a page instantly. Onesheet brings a very different approach.”

Chartmetric is already working with some early adopters. According to Katsambas, one example is indie record label Roylee Records, which is already leveraging the benefits of Onesheet.

Andrew Bonica, CEO of Roylee Records, explained how Onesheet has become essential to their daily operations. “We love the ability to customize the sheets so we can use multiple sheets per artist, tailored for different purposes such as playlist pitching, tour booking, brand deals, and more. We can be confident that the data in Onesheet is accurate and automatically kept up-to-date without having to do any extra work,” Bonica relayed.

Katsambas also hinted at future features that would further streamline workflows for event managers, booking agents, and marketing decision-makers.

For starters, the integration between Chartmetric and Onesheet will soon become hand-in-glove. “We are currently working towards a closer integration with Chartmetric, and existing users of Chartmetric will be able to benefit from some cool perks, including signing into both platforms with the same credentials,” Katsambas relayed.

Greater capabilities, including customized fields for festivals and events, are also ahead. “It’s about people finding value here and adopting it,” Katsambas said.

Onesheet is free for all account tiers until September.

Photo Credit: Netflix

When the Netflix series ‘Beef’ first aired on April 6th, 2023 in the US, the dark comedy featured over 20 catalog tracks from the 90s and early 2000s. By May, ‘Beef’ dominated the Billboard Top TV Songs chart, powered by Tunefind, with three out of the top-four entries and six out of the top-ten placements.

‘Beef’ was clearly a catapult for music. So we set out to discover just how big of an impact the show had on music discovery for catalog gems.

In partnership with sync heavyweight Songtradr, we analyzed data to identify the catalog songs that experienced the highest spikes in Spotify streams, YouTube views, and Shazam counts. Among the standout tracks were “Lonely Day” by System of a Down (released in 1999), “Drive” by Incubus (1999), “Mayonaise” and “Today” by The Smashing Pumpkins (both released in 1993), and “Self Esteem” by The Offspring (1994).

According to Chartmetric data and Billboard chart positions powered by Songtradr-owned Tunefind, the show’s sync placements have profoundly impacted younger audiences. These new audiences actively sought out older tracks, resulting in notable increases in Shazam activity and, in some cases, triggering millions of new streams and views on platforms like Spotify and YouTube. Additionally, a few of these songs even found their way onto TikTok as younger fans breathed new life into these classics.

One of the bigger wins was “Lonely Day” by System of a Down, first released in 1999. The track ranked No.8 on Billboard’s Top TV Songs chart after being featured on ‘Beef’s’ Episode 5 (‘Such Inward Secret Creatures’).

‘Beef’ first aired on April 6th, and by April 8th, the show’s audience had triggered a significant spike in Shazam counts for the band. The track scored over 5,200 Shazam counts in a single day as viewers tried to identify the 1999 track. This increase continued for a month after release, well into May. It has now settled back towards normalcy within the 900-1,000 range.

Numbers spiked to over 5,200 Shazam counts in a day as ‘Beef’ audiences sought out the catalog track.

Higher Shazam counts should theoretically spill over to streaming platforms like Spotify and YouTube. In this case, they did. The YouTube video for “Lonely Day” revealed significant viewer activity immediately following its inclusion in ‘Beef.’

Between April 6th and April 9th, YouTube views rose by half a million, continuing to spike steadily since then. In total, the track gained over 6.7 million new YouTube views between April 6th and June 3rd.

6.7 million additional YouTube views for “Lonely Day” between April 6th and June 3rd.

Looking at Spotify numbers, a massive spillover of listeners clearly made it to the streaming platform. This increase in Spotify streams paints a promising picture for every catalog track that scores a TV sync. But “Lonely Day” was already averaging 400,000 streams per day before the sync in ‘Beef,’ so it wasn’t exactly undiscovered.

But one month after ‘Beef’ aired, critical acclaim for the show spread like wildfire. And as more widespread discussions took place on social media platforms and news portals — streams for “Lonely Day” quickly spiked.

The track recorded over a million new streams on May 14th alone (about 5 weeks after the show aired). In total, 23 million new streams occurred between April 6th and June 3rd.

One month after release, following critical acclaim for the show ‘Beef,’ “Lonely Day” recorded a million new streams on May 14th alone.

Another track that emerged victorious after its sync in ‘Beef’ was the rock/pop song “Drive” by Incubus — claiming the No.2 spot on the Billboard Top TV Songs chart. The song was originally released in 1999 and is now featured within the ending credits of Episode 3 (‘I Am Inhibited By a Cry’).

On April 6th — the day ‘Beef’ aired — Shazam counts for the track surged instantly, peaking on April 11th with a whopping 10,000 Shazam counts in one day. The high number of Shazam searches continued until April 30th before starting to taper off. Out of the total 3.2 million Shazam counts for “Drive,” 200,000 were hits between April 6th and June 3rd.

On April 11, 5 days after ‘Beef’ aired, the track scored a whopping 10,000 Shazam counts in one day.

While exploring YouTube views for the “Drive” official music video, it’s clear that the track averaged 30,000 new views per day before the featured sync on ‘Beef.’

The show triggered a spike in views just days after release, reaching 50,000 per day. The rise continued, steadily sustaining an average of 50,000-55,000 views every day. 3 million total views (almost 10% of total views) on the video occurred after the feature.

3 million total views (almost 10% of total views) on the video occurred after the feature.

Spotify numbers reveal a thriving resurgence for the 24-year-old track.

Streaming numbers rose rapidly as more people raved about ‘Beef’ and spurred new viewers onto the Netflix show. By the end of April, the track averaged over 350,000 new streams daily. 16.6 million new streams, an impressive 3.7% of all-time streams, can be loosely credited to the ‘Beef’ sync.

By the end of April, the track averaged over 350,000 new streams daily.

Between April 12th and April 22nd, TikTok, with 71.3% of all adult users aged 18-34, stepped into the discovery realm. A noticeable spike in TikTok activity may prove that the song reached Gen Z for the first time.

Noticeable spike in TikTok activity perhaps means that the song reached Gen Z for the first time.

Next, we looked at “Mayonaise” by The Smashing Pumpkins. The track was originally released three decades ago in January 1993, taking its spot in the season finale Episode 10 (‘Figures of Light’).

Chartmetric doesn’t present Shazam or TikTok stats for this track, but the platform recorded an increase of 150,000 Spotify streams on April 15th. “Mayonaise” is steadily maintaining this number to date. 4 million of the 55 million all-time streams (almost 7.7%) occurred after its ‘Beef’ feature.

Almost 7.7% of all streams occurred after the April 6th release of ‘Beef’ featuring the decades-old track.

Just three days after the show aired, YouTube views began to rise. Since “Mayonaise” featured in the last episode, it makes sense that views would peak on April 17th, ten days after the show originally aired.

YouTube views spiked around April 9th, as the song featured in the last episode of the show ‘Beef.’

Another catalog track that emerged victorious from ‘Beef’ is “Today” by The Smashing Pumpkins. The track had originally released in 1993, but listener data shows it was a popular choice for audiences long before its ‘Beef’ feature — not to say that ‘Beef’ didn’t increase its already impressive listener count.

“Today” claimed the No.9 spot on the Billboard Top TV Songs chart. According to Tunefind, ‘Beef’ is the 6th confirmed sync placement in a TV show for the track, but its last two syncs occurred a while back — in 2014. After being featured in the teaser and Episode 1 of ‘Beef,’ the song enjoyed renewed activity and obvious spikes on Spotify and YouTube.

Chartmetric recorded over 3.1 million new streams since the April 6th release of ‘Beef,’ representing an impressive 5.7% of all-time streams. Numbers increased pretty steadily for the most part, and on May 13th, streams hiked to almost 130,000 in a single day.

5 weeks after the show aired, streams spiked to almost 130,000 in one day

The number of views for the “Today” YouTube video also rose impressively, peaking on April 9th, a mere three days after the show aired. Over 1.1 million views, 2.1% of all-time views on the video, occurred after April 6th.

Over 1.1 million views since April 6th, representing 2.1% of all-time views on “Today” YouTube video.

The Offspring’s “Self Esteem” featured in Episode 4 (‘Just Not All At The Same Time’), and served as the closing credits song in ‘Beef.’ The track ranked No.4 on the Top TV Songs chart.

This 1994 release had already experienced significant exposure before the show, with previous sync placements in movies like “White Hot: The Rise & Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch” in 2022 and “Woodstock 99: Peace, Love, and Rage” in 2021.

Before its inclusion in ‘Beef,’ “Self Esteem” consistently garnered around a quarter of a million daily streams on Spotify. The track’s frequent sync placements and appearances in movies likely contributed to its popularity among listeners on the platform, many of whom are probably around the same age as the song itself.

Following the airing of ‘Beef,’ there was a notable spike in streams. Since April 6th, the track has accumulated an impressive 15.6 million streams. That number accounts for approximately 3.5% of its all-time Spotify streams.

Popular among Spotify listeners that are probably around the same age as the song itself.

On YouTube, the original music video for “Self Esteem” has surpassed 85 million views, with 3.6% of them occurring after the show aired on Netflix. The track quickly gained acclaim and continued to attract attention from viewers.

“Self Esteem” has surpassed 85 million views, with 3.6% of them occurring after the show aired on Netflix.

The phenomenon of sync reigniting interest in older music is not new.

‘Beef’ joins a growing list of television series that have brought catalog gems back into the spotlight, introducing them to younger and newer audiences. This could simply be proof that sync is powerful, and attaches desirability and fandom to any track featured on an audience’s favorite TV show.

Or, maybe this phenomenon simply sheds light on the enduring appeal of catalog classics and their ability to resonate with listeners across different eras. Despite the fact that most industry attention on catalogs focuses on expensive IP acquisitions, there’s something important to consider here: Maybe a great song is a great song regardless of when it was released, and listeners will flock to it in droves — if only they get to discover it.

(Photo Credit: Rawpixel.com on Freepik)

As the march towards more realistic entertainment environments continues, the music industry is potentially diving headfirst into 3D audio. IRCAM Amplify is one player attempting to eradicate the barriers to adoption.

Spatial audio’s immersive and dimensional aspect — and its appeal to the larger music audience — isn’t exactly a novel concept for industry mega-players like Apple Music, Sony, or Microsoft. But is there a tipping point ahead into 3D audio ubiquity?

According to a study published in Fortune Business Insights, the global 3D audio market was worth $3.8 billion in 2019. The study’s prediction that it could grow to a whopping $12.97 billion by the end of 2026 now seems highly convincing. 2021 saw major streaming giants Apple Music and Amazon Music stepping into the 3D audio realm.

In January, Apple’s VP of Services Eddie Cue reported that Apple Music listeners more than tripled the platform launched a spatial audio feature, and monthly plays grew by over 1,000%. Apple Music also partnered with Mercedes-Benz to bring the treasure trove of spatial audio to drivers around the world. Now celebrating its success, the streaming giant is calling spatial audio ‘the future of the music industry.’

But for a majority of music industry players, the re-creation of stereo recordings and synthesized sound (both new and old releases) into a multi-dimensional 3D listening experience has been daunting. Labels, producers, and distributors currently wrestle with significant obstacles to 3D audio conversion.

There are different takes on how much work the transition to spatial audio requires. But for many, the conversion of tracks is incredibly expensive, takes too much time, and is highly technically demanding. Naturally, large-scale implementation isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.

Already, a number of players are emerging to solve these problems for content owners and creators. One company, IRCAM Amplify, is enabling wider access to intricate 3D audio technology. By reducing entry barriers, the company says it will expedite the transition of music into an immersive 3D audio experience.

IRCAM Amplify, a subsidiary of France’s premier audio research institute IRCAM, says it is ‘situated at the forefront of audio innovation,’ and is ‘dedicated to democratizing 3D audio technology.’ The company recently joined forces with DMN to further expand its industry-changing technology.

Frédéric Amadu, CTO of IRCAM Amplify, told DMN that artists and distributors can now effortlessly process songs into 3D audio. “The transition requires minimal technical knowledge and a manageable budget,” he added.

Amadu says IRCAM Amplify’s mission is to make their 3D audio conversion engines accessible to the gamut of industry players — including mega labels, indie artists, distributors, and ‘even bedroom producers.’

Speaking about the existing constraints around large-scale audio spatialization, Amadu said the current pathway to 3D transition requires specialized studios with specific tech equipment. “While these studios are adept at processing individual tracks, challenges arise with mass spatialization.”

Amadu explains that this ‘one-track-at-a-time’ conversion process is highly unfeasible for catalog owners, because it requires a significant investment of time and money. “That’s where IRCAM Amplify steps in. We provide a scalable solution for mass-spatialization of catalog tracks, quickly and cost-effectively.”

With the ability to convert large numbers of catalog tracks into spatial audio at a reasonable price, the company is promoting large-scale adoption of the technology.

The timing might be perfect. Catalog tracks well-recorded for their time — and worth millions and millions of dollars — are now on the verge of quickly sounding ‘outdated.’

For a publisher that owns multiple artist catalogs, conversion of hundreds of tracks into 3D could be a laborious, back-breaking project. Nonetheless, this transition is becoming imperative. If publishers want to continue to monetize their catalogs, they need to find a way to transition their libraries into 3D audio — without an exorbitant price tag.

According to IRCAM, this move to spatial audio will not only ‘revolutionize the listener experience,’ but also ‘broaden the reach of catalog tracks’ that are currently gathering dust without an audience: “As the demand for 3D audio grows, the transition to spatial audio will also increase IP value.”

Amadu says these old catalog recordings, originally produced without any spatial formats in mind, could be ‘reinvigorated and revitalized to gain a new lease on life.’

“Many artists, companies, and distributors are ready to shift to 3D audio. However, they give up because the learning curve is too high and they think it’s too complex. With IRCAM Amplify, any distributor can create 3D audio versions of their tracks in seconds.”

Old recordings, created without any spatial formats in mind, could be ‘reinvigorated and revitalized,’ (Photo Credit: Mikes-Photography)

Amadu emphasizes that IRCAM Amplify aims to democratize 3D to ensure the transition is no longer prohibitive to anyone in the business.

While discussing the challenges artists, labels, and publishers face with audio spatialization, Amadu questioned whether it’s even practical or sustainable for anyone to be spending thousands of dollars on 3D conversion. “Even the most affluent labels might balk at such an expenditure. It’s simply not a feasible approach. So we’re providing a cost-effective solution as an add-on service, offered directly by distributors and labels. This will make large-scale spatialization easily accessible and financially viable.”

Amadu explains how IRCAM Amplify’s AI-powered engine is trained to understand and dissect the DNA of any song — old or new. “Running an automated algorithm that analyzes the track, understanding what it’s made of, what the mastering is like — that knowledge and understanding paves the path for spatial transformation that offers pure excellence.”

IRCAM Amplify launched their AI-powered spatial audio engine beta in May.

Indie artists’ music distributor Believe, and its subsidiary Tunecore, have already joined forces with IRCAM Amplify. The spatial audio beta offers a user-friendly interface that fine-tunes the spatialization process.

IRCAM Amplify’s beta also brings comprehensive support for multiple formats, and easy online access via a simple API. Artists can customize their spatialization approach by adding effects to audio, and incorporate special treatments to the new versions of their tracks. If required, the company’s conversion engine can also accentuate specific instruments or facets of a song. This will create a highly immersive and enhanced 3D experience for the audience. The company believes that this level of detail in customization validates artists’ aesthetic preferences, so the final output aligns with their vision.

With 3D audio gaining listeners and catalog conversions, it will be interesting to see where the format goes next. Amadu believes their AI engine will ‘empower players of the digital music industry.’

As streaming services quickly make the switch to immersive audio experiences, listeners could soon expect 3D audio as a necessity.

And that’s just the beginning. The possibility of wider industry applications include larger scale implementation of potentially realistic simulations of live concerts. As phone manufacturers and other fidelity products make hardware updates that support 3D sound, the future of this immersive experience appears limitless.

This spotlight on spatial audio formats is also drawing attention to another benefit — mental wellbeing. According to a Japanese study, 3D audio’s high-res sound alongside inaudible high-frequency components induce relaxation and boost attention even without conscious awareness. Does that mean we’ll soon find spatialized podcasts, audiobooks, and other similar formats?

From the outset, it does appear like 3D audio could quickly encompass every piece of audio. But it’s important to remember that every few years, new ‘promising’ high-res formats emerge — claiming they’ll change the music world.

So maybe we soon inhabit a world where every recorded piece of audio features sonic immersion. Or, something new and even better will surface to take 3D’s place.

For now, spatialization is improving sound quality and we’re here for it. A sensory 3D space, with sounds emerging from all around us, is edging us closer to audio reality.

Artists, distributors, labels, producers, and digital music companies can streamline entry into immersive 3D formats by participating in IRCAM Amplify Beta here.

Photo Credit: FLY:D

With multiple verification checkpoints and information requirements throughout the platform, Too Lost has deployed AI-powered Veriff, a state-of-the-art KYC compliance technology, for identity verification. The move aims to safeguard labels and artists from streaming fraud— potentially putting an end to the rampant industry-wide problem.

Streaming fraud, botted streams, copyright infringement — when it becomes rampant on respectable DSPs like Spotify and Apple Music, it becomes a collective issue for the entire music business. With that in mind, Gregory Hirschhorn, CEO and cofounder of digital music distribution platform Too Lost, revealed details about the company’s latest KYC (Know Your Client) compliance technology to DMN.

Hirschhorn admits that indie distribution services are the major source of this problem. “We take full accountability,” he said. “DIY distribution companies need to continue building better solutions to combat this fraud.”

Economic damage from fraud is extensive. As industry organizations delve into how deep this fraud pit really is, they’ve uncovered shocking numbers.

According to Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) data, the total amount of unmatched and unclaimed royalties was $561 million as of 2021’s end. This discrepancy is often the result of missing metadata or inaccurate payouts. DMN subsequently investigated these figures, and concluded that the amount of owed-but-unpaid mechanical royalty compensation may actually be much higher.

Earlier this month, DMN also reported that Spotify pulled thousands of songs to fight fraud. Meanwhile, Bloomberg revealed that bogus tracks may now account for a whopping 10% of all streams, also unveiling tricks scammers use to get songs on streaming playlists.

In January, a study published by the Centre Nationale de la Musique (CNM) in France estimated that 1%-3% of all streams in France during 2021 were false. That amounts to 1-3 billion fake streams in one year. With these data points in mind, DMN recently partnered with Too Lost to broaden awareness of their KYC initiative.

In an ideal world, 100% of content on reputable DSPs would be fraud-proof and credible. But is it that simple to protect the music industry space?

When a reportedly fraudulent Dua Lipa reverb track has over 80 million streams on Spotify, what are the chances for smaller players and independent artists?

Platforms like Spotify provide a threshold for accidental fraudulent content from distributors. But if a distributor brings 20 million songs onto the platform, that threshold still represents a number that’s problematic.

According to Hirschhorn, “There are so many fake artists out there that have 3 or 4 million monthly listeners. They’re making $20,000, $30,000, $40,000 a month with reverb versions, remixes, and unauthorized sampling. They’re getting paid out, and there’s nothing happening about it.” Even if this fraud was discovered, Hirschhorn says, “Streaming services and labels don’t seem to have the bandwidth to retract or redirect already paid out royalties most of the time.”

Earlier this month, Amazon Music, Spotify, Distrokid, Empire, Downtown, and others announced that they have launched ‘Music Fights Fraud Alliance’ (MFFA) — a global task force aimed at eradicating fraud in music streaming. The movement’s mission is to ensure that the global music streaming market is fair, and that all members actively contribute to solutions intended to balance the equity of its operations.

The newfound alliance signals strong industry-wide support for Too Lost’s initial step with KYC integration. With DIY distributors now controlling 70% to 80% of all new music uploads, Hirschhorn says, “It’s really important to make sure that we’re protecting the legitimacy of new music from this abundance of fraudulent releases.” He added, “We don’t want to water down the value of music. We want people to honor and respect the art form and continue to want to pay for it.”

Early-stage efforts by Too Lost to put an end to fraud appear to have delivered promising results. “The goal is to not let this stuff touch our platform. The minute it gets on distribution platforms, it gets to Spotify, Apple Music, etc.”

Hirschhorn explains how the latest KYC compliance integration ramps up security on the platform with Veriff, an AI-powered identity verification solution that prevents identity fraud.

“With additional checkpoints and the deployment of Veriff, all new and existing users will be required to validate their identity via systematic prompts. We’ve already banned over 2,500 user accounts connected to fraudulent activities.”

According to Too Lost, the latest KYC compliance integration ramps up security on the platform.

Too Lost’s updated onboarding process includes ID verification and IP matching. The compliance integration also scans emails for past activity internally on scam sites and data leak pages. The platform also sends a phantom email to confirm whether the email used to verify the Too Lost account is valid. Alongside other data points, this confirmation protects the system from a hacked address. The platform is now also tracking clicking behavior and prompting for captcha codes to rule out robot maneuvers.

The deployment of Veriff brings multiple verification checkpoints and information requirements throughout the platform.

“We have flagged thousands of accounts in the past, terminated content from those users, and have everything from IP addresses to IDs, first and last names, and emails documented. We’re also getting other distributors on board here.”

Hirschhorn reveals that Veriff cleaned up over 95% of their content issues. “This idea that you need to show your face and present your ID for a distribution account has scared off a lot of potential fraudsters, knowing that their info is being collected on a very transparent level. For good-intentioned clients, this new onboarding process only adds an additional 6 seconds on average. I think they also appreciate the bank-level security.”

Hirschhorn reveals Veriff cleaned up 95% of their content.

Further checks continue to take place long after the content is uploaded.

Using the Google Images API, Too Lost can also determine copyright owners of cover art. For verification of audio, the platform has set up a multi-step check, conducted in partnership with Audible Magic, ACRCloud, and others, alongside manual reviews by the quality control team when needed.

Hirschhorn also emphasizes how ‘fraud’ is often only a result of duplication. These ‘innocent mistakes’ include an artist changing their name or transferring to another distributor when their content already exists elsewhere. There could also be different metadata points because the artist accidentally inputted incorrect information.

The move towards KYC, and a shared data pool of ‘bad actors,’ appears to be a data-driven solution that could potentially annihilate a mammoth music industry problem. Hirschhorn reveals that the company’s efforts have already had a tremendous impact on reducing fraud.

Photo Credit: Sound Credit

‘Drip’ allows artists to offer private, limited previews of songs to gain early listener feedback. The feature blends AI analytics, short-term streaming, and scarcity to provide data-driven insights on listener behavior. According to Sound Credit, ‘Drip Before You Drop’ will ‘empower artists to make smart decisions about releases and promotions.’

At its core, Sound Credit is a leading provider of music metadata collection and file transfer services for music creators. The company aims to connect musicians to over a billion dollars of lost royalties every year.

But Gebre Waddell, Sound Credit’s founder and CEO, told Digital Music News that the company had identified a prominent missing link in the tech-driven music world: limited-access releases of songs to drive promotions, fan engagement, and track refinement. DMN quickly agreed to help introduce this new release option for artists.

With the advent of streaming services, pre-release exclusives and content scarcity became forgotten privileges. Sound Credit’s new functionality, ‘Drip,’ aims to revive the lost pre-release buzz. For core fans, this ephemeral streaming could offer a chance to listen to their idols’ work before everyone else gets their hands on it. And for artists, Drip could potentially drive the refinement of tracks, optimize album releases, and amplify targeted promotions — all with a data-driven approach.

Beyond conventional songs, anything is fair game for Drip: special versions, remixes, demos, outtakes, and more experimental tracks. It’s also low risk and low cost; instead of pricey focus groups, which are typically a luxury enjoyed by larger labels and companies, Drip enables endless experimentation and pre-release testing.

Waddell believes Drip will revive the long-lost concept of teasing music as it used to happen via radio. Speaking to DMN, he explained, “Artists can leverage modern technology to deeply understand their audience while building anticipation and excitement for a new release.”

By limiting the number of attendees, Drip campaigns can instill a sense of urgency and scarcity to propel engagement (Photo Credit: Sound Credit)

With ephemeral streaming and limited user access, Waddell believes artists can stimulate fan urgency, interest, and online engagement.

As fans engage and discuss the tracks, Waddell believes the process could generate just the right amount of buzz to drive an album release to more promising heights. He added, “Drip grants listeners a limited window to enjoy a track before it disappears, instilling a sense of urgency and exclusivity that enhances the listening experience.”

Pre-release promotions aren’t new — streaming platforms have made the option available to artists for years. But those pre-release tracks are merely teasers for albums, and typically they remain open to everyone at all times. Waddell projects that limited-time access provided via artists’ marketing channels will drive user data and analytics — that’s how Drip aims to change the game.

Drip allows the identification of regions that gained the highest levels of engagement alongside in-depth analytics (Photo Credit: Sound Credit)

‘Customized Drip links gather granular data, including geolocation data, track-specific likes and plays, listener demographics, and more,’ Waddell explains.

The latest functionality offers detailed, in-depth analytics, identifying which track resonated more deeply with fans. The data can also help identify regions that attracted the highest fan engagement — info that can be used for targeted tours and promotions. According to Waddell, these analytics ensure artists plan tours and promotions with more core info of fan interest within the selected region. It also lowers the downside risk of under-attended shows, which can be costly.

Every listener interaction via Drip brings forth data. Analysis of this data could assist artists in accurately focusing on refining final tracks before release. It may also help artists identify fan favorites or even exit tracks. Waddell describes ‘exit tracks’ as tracks that cause listeners to abandon the playlist. This identification of exit tracks nominates prime candidates that could/should be removed from an album altogether.

According to Waddell, launching a Drip is fast and easy.

Artists will upload all recordings on the Sound Credit portal and generate a drip link that can be published and distributed via email, social media, or other marketing channels.

When users complete a Drip (or fail to get in), their emails can be accessed by the Drip creator in their dashboard (Photo Credit: Sound Credit)

Artists can choose the maximum number of attendees and set a time frame of availability. Users who click the drip link encounter a countdown timer for the exclusive preview, instilling a sense of urgency and scarcity that propels fan engagement, online discussions, reviews, and feedback. This data feeds Drip’s AI-driven analytics. Moreover, when users complete a Drip (or fail to get in), their emails can be accessed by the Drip creator in their dashboard.

Waddell says the strength of ‘Drip Before You Drop’ lies in these detailed data collection points and analytics. “Every interaction with a Drip link is tracked and analyzed, providing insights into listener preferences, reactions, and engagement.”

Auckland, New Zealand, one of the cities where Audoo has deployed its Audio Meter. Photo Credit: Dan Freeman

Despite the widespread availability of detailed music consumption figures, royalties attributable to public usages have long been distributed based upon extrapolated data. And without precise play counts from the many bars, restaurants, stadiums, stores, and malls that operate around the globe, it’s difficult to tell what’s actually playing – a potentially glaring unknown when stream totals require only seconds to identify.

Perhaps international superstars like Celine Dion and Mariah Carey are in fact garnering the lion’s share of public plays today. Or, perhaps a slew of 90s grunge bands are being massively undercounted in specific countries, cities, or establishments.

There are also perplexing cross-territorial questions: artists based outside Europe, for instance, could be in heavy rotation in France and have no idea under the current system.

So what’s the solution to this quandary? Bucking a long legacy of rough reporting estimates is Audoo, a company working to optimize performance royalties with a simple device called the “Audio Meter.” Designed to monitor and identify (via digital-fingerprinting technology) all public plays, the Audio Meter is already being used in establishments from restaurants to shopping malls, according to the London-headquartered company. Audoo has been collaborating with DMN to further expand Audio Meter adoption and more accurately count public plays.

“Installing an Audio Meter in venues is just a matter of plug, play, set, and forget,” Matthew Fackrell, Audoo’s SVP and GM for the Asia-Pacific region, told Digital Music News. “Our Asia-Pacific rollout, which started in Australia and New Zealand across gyms, retail, dance studios, cafes, restaurants, and bars, has been really positively received.

“We’ve obtained the largest set of public performance data ever created, now surpassing millions of reports every quarter and bringing to life our mission of revolutionizing performance royalties through accurate play totals,” continued Fackrell. “We’re also making best-practice reporting easy for individual venues, which ultimately benefits performance rights and collective management organizations.”

With time, the Audio Meter could establish exact figures as the foundation of public play accounting. And along the way, more than a few musicians may learn that their work is entertaining a sizable number of fans in far-flung parts of the world – a possibility that’s not without historical precedent. 

The documentary Searching for Sugar Man introduced viewers to Rodriguez, a singer-songwriter who famously flew under the radar for decades starting in the 1970s. Unbeknownst to the Detroit native, his work had for years been making waves in South Africa. It’s estimated that Rodriguez has sold more albums in the nation than Elvis, but before the film, the artist had been unaware of his significant listenership figures.

These days, the odds of encountering a situation of a similar scope are exceedingly low. But the fact remains that lesser-known acts frequently go unnoticed – and potentially miss out on public play compensation. Without precise play counting, it’s impossible to know.

More broadly, for indie artists, smaller IP owners, and others without strong representation, global PRO connections, or proper metadata, the implications of undercounted plays extend well beyond royalties. Utilizing the insights associated with accurate performance data, musicians and rightsholders can better plan tours, promotional initiatives, and different career endeavors yet.

A musician with a UK top 10 song to his credit, Audoo founder and CEO Ryan Edwards has personally experienced the frustration of undercounted plays. 

And this firsthand understanding prompted him to create Audoo and help the industry put its payment problems in the rearview.

“Experiencing this frustration as a musician,” Edwards told DMN, “I delved into the wider ecosystem, looking to find a solution within public performance distribution with music royalties. The Audoo mission is simple: to have all songwriters and artists receive more accurate compensation with the most optimized data and transparent reporting.”

PROs are taking note. July of 2022 saw Audoo ink a song-detection agreement with Australian PRO APRA AMCOS, under which OneMusic-licensed businesses in Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, and Auckland were equipped with Audio Meters. Evidence suggests that the pact will deliver potentially game-changing stats and payments while simultaneously laying the groundwork for a wider expansion.

Aside from clear-cut advantages on the data and compensation fronts, PROs as well as participating businesses and establishments are also benefiting from the Audio Meter’s simplicity and ease of use, Audoo told DMN. 

The Audio Meter takes just minutes to set up in any standard outlet and, by eliminating manual-reporting requirements, removes human error (including inadvertent omissions) from the equation. For business owners, the Audio Meter is likewise an important step on the multifaceted road to guaranteeing that royalties end up with those who actually created their patrons’ preferred music.

And with the tool’s growing prevalence, future consumption data appears positioned to become increasingly precise and accurate – ushering in potential upsides for both indies and key players.

As highlighted, for smaller rightsholders and acts without massive global followings, the perks of knowing about (and being compensated for) each public song usage go without saying. Tech-centered approaches to monitoring radio have in the past pinpointed indie plays that had fallen through the cracks.

But the industry’s biggest names and most popular tracks also stand to gain from a pivot to hard numbers and concrete data, including when it comes to understanding core listening trends and assuring that all the usages of today’s top songs are being counted.

Ultimately, making empirical stats the foundation of public play calculations is a matter of bringing fairness and accuracy to the forefront of the industry in the long run, regardless of where the cards fall in the short term.  

In an era where physical sales are tracked down to the unit and stream totals reveal exact personal-consumption habits in real time, proper performance tracking may be sorely overdue. That’s a memo being received by PROs and CMOs across multiple continents, with major upgrades and partnerships likely to emerge over the next few quarters.

“The Audoo mission has attracted support from a number of industry peers who believe it will change the landscape in this sector,” Edwards told us. “There are some influential investors too, including music and business icon Björn Ulvaeus, who believes our product ‘will change the music industry forever.’ We’re excited to demonstrate this to more music fans, players, creators, and executives.”

While music typically represents a small percentage of advertising budgets, Songtradr says it has the data to prove that smartly prioritizing music triggers big wins. Now, the company is trotting out research on how AI-driven music selection can help businesses gain higher brand recognition and customer loyalty, ultimately boosting revenue.

Neuroscientific research has proven that individuals react faster to auditory stimuli compared to visual ones. So far, however, those findings have largely remained academic on Madison Avenue. But could the curation of a unique sonic identity be the winning tool brands need to attain strategic business goals? And just how effective are music elements in influencing message processing?

Songtradr, a top sync-licensing company, has recently focused its research efforts on how AI-driven strategic music selection can amplify marketing efforts and deliver brands’ messages more powerfully. Throughout, Songtradr’s research has focused on how brands can forge deeper emotional connections with their target audiences. Just recently, the company partnered with DMN to disclose the findings across multiple reports.

To examine the connection between music and long-term business performance, Songtradr has been gathering music data for brands in the US beer and UK beauty industries. Songtradr audited individual pieces of paid and owned media used by these brands, extracting unique music tracks and feeding them into the company’s AI music tagging platform.

Songtradr’s ‘SmartMusic’ score for US beer brands, graded from ‘smartest music’ to ‘least smart music’ used in paid or owned media advertising.

Songtradr says its proprietary SmartMusic process merges human creativity with real-time data, AI and machine learning, and neuroscience — pinpointing the most relevant and effective piece of music to improve any brand’s marketing performance.

According to Songtradr, AI-tagging technology allowed the company to analyze brands’ music choices, profiling elements such as mood, genre, personality, target audience, music quality, and source of music. By harvesting this data, Songtradr could estimate variables such as category differentiation, consistency, and audience brand fit.

Analysis was conducted by splitting data into two independent streams, ‘MusicIQ’ and ‘Brand Performance.’

Songtradr explains MusicIQ as a sonic profile for each brand — an AI-powered composite metric quantifying how strategically a brand uses music on television, radio, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and other ‘sounds-on’ media. It contained six components of music used in advertising content, which are consistency (musical coherence across brands’ paid and owned media), distinctiveness (relative uniqueness to other brands’ musical content), ubiquity (percentage of brands’ paid and owned media containing music), source of music (licensed, stock, or bespoke), engagement (volume of attention and response), and sonic branding (formation and presence of audio identity in media).

Brand Performance assesses how effectively a brand’s branding and marketing communications drove consumer behavior, such as sales, repeat purchase rate, and social evangelism. The score was calculated by conducting neuroscience experiments that collected rational (explicit) and emotional (implicit) data. This metric quantified the impact of emotions triggered by music on consumer decision-making and long-term memory encoding.

Comparing these two independent scores answered the big question: Did a brand’s strategic use of music influence its market performance?

Songtradr’s “Music of Beer” study assesses how specific beer brands’ use of music in advertising influenced their business performance. They discovered that consistent and strategic use of music in beer branding and advertising accounted for over 33% of overall business performance.

‘Music of Beer’ — Strategic use of music in beer advertising accounted for over 33% of overall performance.

The most successful brands used not only brand-aligned and distinctive melodies but also energetic and arousing music. Key findings of the study also revealed that brands could improve performance by taking a more strategic, consistent, and differentiated approach to music usage in advertising content. Moreover, choosing the wrong music (in terms of clashing sonic branding) could also damage brand preference.

By studying some of the most influential brands in the beauty industry from the lens of the UK consumer, Songtradr also measured the effect of music choices on a beauty brand’s overall market performance.

MusicIQ score for beauty brands in the UK — graded from smartest music to least smart music — used in paid or owned media advertising.

The beauty industry relies more heavily on user-generated content, alongside influencer and celebrity marketing than any other industry. According to YouTube statistics, 86% of the top 200 beauty videos on YouTube are uploaded by individual content creators rather than brands, and 62% of women follow beauty influencers on social media. Accordingly, it’s no surprise that beauty brands represent 25% of all influencer marketing activity.

This uniqueness of advertising methods revealed a significant challenge for beauty brands: how can a cohesive, distinct brand identity be established and maintained when such a wide range of third parties represent your brand? According to Songtradr, ‘Strategic use of music is the answer.’

According to Songtradr, beauty brands’ MusicIQ and Brand Performance displayed a strong positive correlation (reinforcing the results of ‘Music of Beer’). In essence, music performance drives revenue, and consistently strategic use of music in branding and advertising accounts for 15% of beauty brands’ overall business performance.

‘Music of Beauty’ — Within the beauty industry, strategic use of music in advertising accounts for 15% of brands’ overall business performance.

The study also made other insightful revelations. Researchers found that a hyper-focus on visual branding caused brands to blend in rather than stand out. They also discovered that none of the brands analyzed in the study leverage the true power of sonic branding.

If key findings from the two beer and beauty studies can be considered generalizable for other niches and industries, Songtradr says development and publication of curated music libraries could be the answer.

Soundtradr notes that this move will optimize production budgets, minimize brands’ exposure to copyright strikes, and provide insurance against takedowns and compliance issues. A curated library of licensed commercial tracks will also ensure advertising messages are musically aligned across all various media channels — custom-fit for the target audience.

Research in consumer behavior also suggests that musical structure in marketing efforts could maximize breakthroughs, deepen emotional connection, and promote brand preference.

Songtradr emphasizes that without developing a cohesive sonic profile in advertising efforts, brands could face implicit brand confusion, fail to grab attention, and miss out on consumer engagement. To reinforce a brand’s identity and index it into listeners’ memory, the right music is key.

Songtradr’s sync-matching technology offers this AI-driven music analysis to individual brands. The company believes that by creating a unique and memorable sonic identity, brands can win increased marketing performance, resulting in higher brand recognition, customer loyalty, and revenue.

Could the ‘starving artist’ cliché finally end if artists gained access to all the royalties they’re owed? For indie and DIY artists, Bridger is now aiming to unlock missing music rights while providing songwriters and publishers the avenue they need to generate revenue. It’s all happening through a modified PRO concept called an ‘Independent Management Entity,’ or IME.

In the current music industry terrain, proper artist royalty collections rely on affiliations with PROs (Performance Rights Organizations), CMOs (Collective Management Organizations), or both. These affiliations are crucial for artists to secure their rights and monetize their work. Unfortunately, for many indies, these tie-ups are simply unworkable or unavailable.

That creates a predictable problem: with a lack of affiliation with PROs and CMOs, indie songwriters and publishers generally miss out on the opportunities these organizations can offer. As a result, artists are typically only collecting recording royalties via their distributor, leaving behind potentially vast amounts of publishing-related royalties.

As a European IME, Bridger is authorized to collect mechanical and performing rights royalties directly without intermediaries. Unlike most other global distribution and royalty collection services that serve as copyright administrators, Bridger functions like a CMO for smaller, underrepresented indie artists.

Xavier Tumminello, Head of Communication at Bridger, believes that to get the money they deserve, artists need to join a PRO or CMO to help them grow their music projects and careers. But PROs and CMOs are ultimately limiting or exclusionary, which led to the creation of the IME. “We help artists boost royalty revenue by 25%. In terms of features and volume, Bridger is already the size of a small European CMO.”

So what’s the difference between a PRO or CMO on one hand, and the IME on the other? According to Tumminello, it’s simple: PROs and CMOs are typically non-profit organizations, and an IME is a business entity. Just recently, Bridger joined forces with DMN to broaden performance rights access to indie and DIY artists.

After launching in February 2022, Bridger revealed a repertoire size of approximately 35,000 works with over 700 songwriters. Bridger also recently launched a collaborative works registration feature for songwriters to register joint musical works.

Xavier notes that some talented artists have never been affiliated with any CMO because the on-boarding process requires serious hoop-jumping. Bridger has aimed to simplify that route, so artists can quickly educate themselves, affiliate themselves, and register their works “so we can represent them and collect on their behalf.”

For creators that have been disregarded by traditional CMOs but represent high volumes of streams on streaming services, Bridger can “discover the value and deliver it to artists,” Tumminello says.

The number of non-traditional artists without CMO affiliation is surprisingly large. For example, according to the company, most artists on meditation playlists get tens of millions of streams but aren’t represented by a CMO. Overall, the royalty-collection picture appears grim for creators on most platforms. “With 8 to 12 million total creators on Spotify, only 4 million members are at CISAC. And these members include duplicates because artists can be members of ASCAP and BMI at the same time. So, between 4 and 8 million songwriters aren’t receiving their royalties on Spotify alone.”

Photo Credit: Bridger

This ‘Black Box’ of unpaid millions in royalties comprises more than just indie artists.

Xavier reveals how even more prominent artists with existing CMO affiliations are missing out on potential earnings. “These artists know they deserve more than they’re receiving.”

For songwriters and owners of larger IPs that are already affiliated with PROs and frustrated with their level of royalty capture, Xavier says Bridger could potentially increase their digital revenue. “We’re not direct competitors of CMOs, but we’re offering an alternative approach to artists.”

According to the company, artists can optimize their copyright revenue by handing off their online royalties and streaming revenue to Bridger. Meanwhile, their existing CMO can continue to collect for public performances, venues and stores, malls, and traditional radio. Both organizations can exist seamlessly, side by side.

Then there’s the cross-territorial collection mess. “Copyright doesn’t travel well over the Atlantic,” Xavier says. Theoretically, the royalty-generation system breaks down almost immediately when music makes the commute out of its region of origin — because copyright laws across the Atlantic are entirely different.

For example, while the US doesn’t recognize performance rights for recordings on broadcast radio, these recordings are recognized as legitimate revenue in European countries. To top it off, artists’ reciprocal agreements with their CMOs don’t accommodate for this difference, and as a result, royalties don’t get paid back to ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC.

Xavier explains, “There is no two-way street for royalties across the Atlantic. No payment is coming back because the reciprocal agreement isn’t actually reciprocal.”

It’s common for IP owners to receive paltry paychecks even when big things are unfolding in the music world. Xavier says Bridger focuses on making sure that artists’ digital copyrights are collected at the source, across the Atlantic. “If you’re in the US, you should look at a European solution for Europe. And if you are in Europe, you should look at a US-based solution in the US. Don’t rely only on reciprocal agreements and always question how you deal with your IP in Western countries.”

Xavier admits that big publishers are on top of their game and have efficiently fragmented the market to ensure they get the most out of it. But when one goes down the ladder, music royalty payouts become complicated.

Artists dealing with these issues and frustrations need an obvious and easy solution to accelerate payments, take control, and claim revenue faster. Bridger’s bigger aim is to establish the system that will trigger change within the PRO/CMO landscape.

Xavier believes that the nature of Bridger’s agreements with DSPs allows it to do things differently. For its artists, Bridger can claim royalties up to two years before the artists’ affiliation. The platform is free to join, without any subscription or annual fees, which allows indie artists to start collecting royalties without any upfront payment. He adds, “When you’re starting out and know nothing about copyright, you’re reluctant to pay upfront. We’ve removed that barrier between artists and their affiliation with Bridger, so they can collect their rightful royalties.”

Music copyright is complicated — and takedowns, penalties, and lawsuits for copyright infringement are all too common. But 99% of takedowns, penalties, and lawsuits related to copyright violations can be avoided, according to a leading music licensing expert Easy Song.

If the music industry can agree on anything, it’s that copyright-related takedowns, penalties, and lawsuits are distressingly commonplace. Every day, thousands of creators, influencers, and advertisers get slapped with muted videos, legal threats, suspended accounts, or full-blown lawsuits. What starts with an innocent cover song can quickly end with litigation simply because the performer didn’t know the rules.

So what are the most common pitfalls for uploaders, licensors, and creatives to avoid on platforms like TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Spotify, and even Netflix? Just recently, Digital Music News joined forces with longtime music licensing authority Easy Song to break down the biggest errors that uploaders and advertisers make —- and how to avoid them.

We found out that most infringement headaches are caused by a relatively small number of errors that can be easily avoided. “We see a lot of the same problems occurring repeatedly,” said Easy Song cofounder Aaron Green.

So what are the biggest copyright errors, and how can you avoid them?

1. Creating and distributing a cover song without the proper licenses.

Musicians rerecording existing works can land in hot water depending on where the song is placed. It doesn’t matter if the performer adhered to the original composition, sang something that ‘sounds like’ the original, or even remixed the track; gaining the correct PRO and mechanical licenses is imperative. This step ensures that copyright is attributed to the relevant artists, with royalties directed to songwriters and publishers of the original track — even when a song is rerecorded and redistributed as a cover song.

It’s also important to remember that publishers are obligated to grant you a license under US copyright law, but if the original song has yet to be commercially released, you won’t be able to distribute the cover song without facing legal issues. Moreover, these cover song licenses typically come with binding terms and conditions. For instance, substantially altering the melody or modifying the lyrics in any way for your published interpretation will require additional permissions.

Let’s go through a few of the most common endpoints for cover song distribution – and the rules and pitfalls for each.

2. Uploading cover songs to Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, or other DSPs without securing the necessary cover song licenses.

To upload cover songs to any DSP, creators need mechanical licensing approvals. For any cover song published on Amazon, iTunes, Spotify, Bandcamp, and other platforms like Qobuz, these licenses ensure that royalty checks make their way to the rightful owners of the creative asset.

Green says the territory is critical, adding, “In the US, all interactive-audio streaming mechanical reporting is now handled by the MLC. Digital download and physical media audio formats still require direct-to-publisher mechanical song licensing for all cover song releases for US artists.”

3. Sharing videos of cover performances on YouTube without securing authorization licenses.

YouTube offers publishers an ad revenue monetization structure when their compositions are used and record label administrators when master sound recordings are played. But most creators need to be made aware that blanket licenses and deals for YouTube come with constraints. For example, these deals don’t automatically grant any cover song video a legitimate sync license, and creators can quickly receive a monetization or ad revenue claim.

Ultimately, only the publisher can grant official licensing paperwork directly to the creator. However, YouTube will pay public performance royalties for cover song videos to PROs (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC within the US, and international PROs globally).

Green warns that for anyone thinking they got away with monetizing an unlicensed cover song video, there’s a standing risk of facing repercussions. “The rightsholder can, at any time, flag the content and take action. [Because] their intellectual property is used without a proper video sync license.”

4. Creating and publishing derivative works without obtaining the required mechanical and performance rights licenses.

Creators assume that altering an original or using a portion of it means their interpretation is now an ‘original’ and doesn’t require a license before getting published. According to Green, copyright laws safeguard artists even when someone is ‘inspired’ by their work. He adds, “The minute something changes, including language translations or re-arranging portions of a track, that becomes a derivative work.”

The good news is that there’s a license for every kind of derivative work. These mechanical licenses could give users the creative freedom to make alterations in lyrics, composition, or even melody — legally. Green, whose company specializes in these usage scenarios, says screening and identifying approval parties is a critical first step.

5. Using creative properties such as unreleased tracks, music notes, and lyrics for ‘inspired’ derivative works, music interpolations, or for use within any published content.

According to Green, new releases, decades-old tracks, commercially unreleased music, and even music notes and lyrics are protected by copyright laws. The creation of notes or music makes it copyright protected, not the actual release of the creative work. Without a license that permits the usage of such assets, creators are playing with fire.

Regardless of the specific reinterpretation, Green says these music ‘interpolations’ require approvals from the songwriter camp. “When someone creates an original composition using only a verse, bridge, chorus, melody, or a portion of the lyrics, this interpolation requires proper licensing. Discussions could lead to a new work publishing split with the songwriters.”

6. Using copyrighted music for user-generated content uploaded to platforms like TikTok, Snapchat, Twitter, and Instagram.

To varying degrees, all major platforms have blanket licenses for UGC (user-generated content). The mechanism allows creators to generate content for the platforms using copyright-protected music — but it’s not a protection guarantee.

Green emphasizes that these blanket deals and licenses ‘do not supersede copyright laws.’ It’s an important caveat for anyone relying on UGC platforms for revenue or audience building. Even if you’re a viral influencer using music, rights holders can call you out for copyright infringement.

7. Using copyright-protected tracks for advertisements and promotions on social media, DSPs, and other platforms.

User-generated content is mostly permissible on popular platforms, but advertising content is not. Advertisers should not rely on UGC ‘blanket licenses’ for marketing and promotions because these deals simply don’t apply to businesses trying to reach consumers.

Green notes, “The minute there’s branding, production value, or paid media, especially involving top 40 popular music, [copyright owners] can make an example out of you and take you down any time.”

Direct commercial licensing for media rights allows the usage of songs within promotional content. Green explains, “There’s already a market value baseline with rights holders who issue commercial licensing. When a company or creator bypasses this legal step before using copyrighted music, the possible damages and penalty fees mandated by the rights holders can be significant.”

8. Using disclaimers or captions to credit original owners of music assets instead of getting proper licenses.

Posting a shout-out or credit to the owner of the original track doesn’t automatically fit fair use guidelines. Posting disclaimers such as ‘I don’t own rights to this song’ or ‘All credits go to the authors’ still means you’re ripping off rightful copyright holders and using tracks without permission.

These disclaimers achieve nothing for crediting and metadata, and creators reproducing artists’ work still require the proper licensing for all media they’re planning to distribute. These could include mechanical licenses, reproduction licenses, or PRO licenses — depending on how the content will be distributed to the masses.

9. Skipping sync licenses for copyrighted music featured in film, television, or web series production.

Even major production houses and managers sometimes miss the memo and get sued for millions. Using copyrighted music/content for any purpose — film, web, or TV  — will require sync licenses, PRO licenses, global distribution rights, or more.

10. Playing copyright-protected songs during theater productions, live parodies, musicals, etc., without the mandatory theatrical/live-stage licenses.

For dramatic performances such as musicals, plays, ballets, and choreographed dance works (featuring dramatic elements, stage sets, and costumes) using copyright-protected music, organizers must gain direct theatrical/live stage licenses from the original publisher.

11. Developing an app or software that plays music or other related musical assets without authorization from the original artists or publishers.

Green says licensing is a two-step process for app developers using copyrighted music. They need direct publishing sync licensing and a blanket PRO license within all territories where users can access the app. “If the aim is to distribute apps legally, developers cannot avoid this process.”

In most cases, software and apps are distributed globally, expanding the number of licenses developers will gain. Depending on the nature and extent of usage, developers might even require publishing sync deals and master sync deals directly with labels and publishers.

Moreover, Green emphasizes that it doesn’t matter if the app is free. Someone out there created a musical asset. Not only do they deserve rightful compensation, but they also reserve the right to decide where and how their music will be consumed.

12. Using copyright-protected music to create promotional content for charities and nonprofits without obtaining relevant organizations’ licenses.

Philanthropy is noble, but so is ensuring a rightsholder gets paid for their craft. Suppose someone creates content using copyrighted music, promoting a charity, a nonprofit, or even a fundraiser for cancer patients or war victims. In that case, Green says they could still face difficulties without expressed written permission.

“We work with many fantastic nonprofit organizations, schools, churches, and community groups centered around great philanthropic causes, but they must be educated that there’s still a legal process to obtain proper permits, no matter what.”

Green further revealed that some publishers and songwriter camps have a predetermined ‘nonprofit rate’ that can be availed exclusively by nonprofit organizations. “Many rights holders want to help and partner with these great causes. Even gratis — or free permission — is on the table if a request is properly made.”

13. Using a song that’s copyright protected in another region but not in the United States.

A track that isn’t copyright protected in the US may appear like a free-usage opportunity, but that’s still categorized as theft of intellectual property. Green reveals that a non-US copyright holder will still have copyright protection, and each territory has its own copyright laws, procedures, and protections — regardless of where the work is being consumed.

Cross-Atlantic copyright infringement could trigger mammoth litigation once discovered. Green says companies like Easy Song can identify a sub-publisher with US representation to obtain a simple license, “or we can find a pathway to reach the international administration for direct permission.”

14. Expanding distribution to global outlets with US-only licenses.

If you’re creating content that has the potential to eventually make its way around the globe, proactively gaining worldwide deals and licenses will go a long way in safeguarding your interests and business. Green believes licenses may be easier to obtain if you ‘list all territories within which you plan to use the music.’

When expanding distribution to global channels or outlets, license requirements grow bigger. Green says, “Certain media rights may automatically be handled within each country’s PRO or copyright society. These include mechanical licensing reporting for cover audio releases and other special permission cases such as video sync licensing, print rights, etc.”

15. Uploading covers, derivative works, or any content on independent websites and platforms

The consensus: do not upload covers or use copyright-protected music on independent platforms. Unlike YouTube, Meta, TikTok, and DSPs, independent video and audio platforms may lack the royalty infrastructure that would accurately compensate copyright holders. There is no license that legally allows copyrighted music on these independent websites and apps. For the average music creator and user, it’s imperative to ensure that the platform you’re using to share your content pays out PRO royalties via ASCAP, BMI, and all other PRO territories for copyrighted music streamed.

Other than private listening, any other form of re-creation or reproduction is strictly prohibited without a license, and the law doesn’t care how hard you worked on building your content.

According to Green, if you’re using copyrighted music without permission, you risk allowing your reputation,  channels, and social media profiles to go up in smoke.

Fortunately, most major creators can gain permissions and licenses with little legwork. The gateway to legally using copyrighted music for cover songs, UGC, and advertisements is to enlist the services of a licensing authority like Easy Song that will oversee content creation at all stages. Licensing platforms and their affiliated organizations proactively acquire all necessary licenses when needed, so you can safely utilize copyright-protected music assets.

Photo Credit: Turntable LIVE

Turntable LIVE’s listening parties cater to exclusive fan engagement sessions, fundraising events, and album releases. These virtual events feature real-time chat alongside audio broadcast directly from Spotify, Apple Music, and others. Major differentiating features include free and quick set-up, integration with Discord and Slack, and data capture for artists.

Ahead of its quick-approaching public launch, Turntable LIVE has achieved several significant milestones. In March, the company secured $7 million in seed funding led by Founders Fund and f7 Ventures. And just last month, Turntable LIVE announced that it had acquired JQBX — a self-described ‘Spotify plug-in that allows for real-time music sharing.’

Turntable LIVE founder and CEO Joseph Perla spoke about the buy-out as a move that will ‘improve the social dimension for virtual music experiences’ and ‘amplify the user experience.’

Now, Turntable LIVE is strategically focusing on artist-hosted listening parties within multifaceted digital worlds. Using the classic Turntable dancefloor environment created over a decade ago, Perla says LIVE is a refreshed version that’s ‘doing things right.’ Just recently, Turntable LIVE joined forces with DMN to further expand the listening party concept.

Currently, StationHead is arguably the only other platform that successfully allows users to listen live, stream, and attend release parties together.

Fans can connect personal Apple Music or Spotify Premium profiles to host events and play their favorite tracks. Other outwardly ‘similar’ offerings, like Amazon’s Amp, lack core DSP integration capabilities and cannot be considered direct competitors for Turntable LIVE.

Perla pointed to a dearth of direct artist-to-fan platforms, data-capture options, and unique monetization opportunities. Sniffing an opportunity, Turntable LIVE believes their differentiating features are exactly what artists and managers need to gain waves of fan engagement.

According to Perla, “People need joyful, meaningful social experiences online, and music can facilitate that.”

Users can create avatars, access digital dancefloors, listen to pre-release albums, and chat on the Turntable LIVE platform. Artists have the option to host listening parties for fans in chat/video mode or avatar mode. Audio and video can be broadcast directly from YouTube, Vimeo, Spotify, Apple Music, Soundcloud, or pre-uploaded files.

Users can create avatars, access digital dance floors, and listen to pre-release albums (Photo Credit: Turntable LIVE)

Immediately after joining the listening party, real-time display updates for music and chat are shared with users. The social music platform’s unique AMA (Ask-Me-Anything) feature can be accessed live from chat screens or via a custom avatar that interacts with users. Via bot integrations on the platform, artists and label managers can also draw users from communities on Discord and Slack. Moreover, artists’ teams can leverage social media channels for the promotion of specific tracks.

On the collaborative social music platform, artists can also plan surprises for fans, organize custom experiences, and display merchandise links strategically during the event to maximize engagement. With this ‘special content delivery’ during critical points in the user experience, fans can connect on a deeper level with artists, according to Turntable LIVE.

Artist listening party in chat/video mode (Photo Credit: Turntable LIVE)

Admin tools offer automated chat throttling and moderation of multiple events simultaneously, so managers can control the conversation and steer it toward a more positive mood. Advanced audience tools allow complete control over communication and narrative.

One of the most significant differentiating features of the platform is the fast set-up time.

Turntable LIVE’s ‘Listening Party Classic’ can be launched on the same day, in chat/video mode or avatar mode, alongside complete Discord and Slack integrations. For ‘Listening Party Premium,’ a lead time of 1-3 days is required so artists can customize colors, whereas ‘Listening Party Stadium’ will require a month-long lead time to ensure artists commission custom stage art (listening party stadium can only be organized in avatar mode).

For more established artists, in-person concerts are usually the financial breadwinner. But the risk of throwing a listening party is minimal for those that can’t fill a venue or want to augment their physical events. With virtual listening parties, artists no longer need to set up a stage, an audio and video rig, or even commit to actual interaction with fans. It’s no secret that traditional live concerts come with herculean price tags for artists and organizers. Turntable LIVE listening parties cost pennies in comparison, all while amplifying online fan engagement.

Initial use cases reported by Turntable LIVE include debuts of EPs and albums, vinyl listening parties, Q&A sessions with artists, and fundraising events.

Turntable LIVE reports that the platform is already “used by hundreds of artists.” According to the company, “TT’s rapid adoption in an extraordinarily organic viral method, over the course of just three months, demonstrated the demand for this type of shared, interactive, music discovery experience.”

Already, there are serious takers. According to Turntable LIVE data shared with DMN, American rock band Greta Van Fleet recently hosted a party for the release of their new single, ‘Meeting the Master,’ and its music video. Users attended in chat and video mode and could use the website for 24 hours to listen to GVF music and engage with one another. The listening party drew over 10,000 users, garnering almost 20,000 new streams on Spotify and Apple Music.

Aside from the stream counts, other areas also experienced bumps: the new music video, for example, quickly gained 1,000 streams to hit a cumulative 680,000.

Mega-label Sony Music also hosted an album release party for one of its charting country music artists, Elle King. The listening party was available 48 hours before the event, and 24 hours afterward, gained over 1,300 attendees and triggered almost 5,000 streams on Spotify and Apple Music. King claimed a spot on the Billboard 200 chart just days after the event.

Sony Music hosted a listening party for charting country artist Elle King.

All listening parties contained licensed media and artists retained 100% of the revenue.

The platform provides artists with permanent web pages devoted to sharing content and shared streaming. They can also limit the number of users that can attend.

Perla says Turntable LIVE is ‘one of the first truly participatory places online for music enjoyment and real-time social interaction.’ He added, “Music needs more and more compelling ways to reach people and bring them together. Turntable LIVE accomplishes both [goals].”

Turntable LIVE is free to join. Interested artists can contact Joseph Perla at artists@TurntableLIVE.com 

Ed Sheeran dazzling the crowd with his acoustical musings (photo credit: Christopher Johnson)

Did Ed Sheeran steal “Thinking Out Loud”? Not according to a federal jury decision issued this morning. The superstar singer-songwriter has emerged victorious in a closely-watched copyright infringement lawsuit filed by the estate of a Marvin Gaye songwriter — and pockets of the music industry are breathing a sigh of relief.

Ed Sheeran is ‘not guilty’ in a high-stakes copyright infringement battle involving his Grammy-winning track “Thinking Out Loud,” according to decision details shared with Digital Music News this morning. The courtroom battle focused on whether Sheeran and his collaborators pilfered the  Marvin Gaye classic, “Let’s Get It On.”

After roughly three hours of closed-door deliberations, a jury in the Manhattan federal court trial ruled that Sheeran was not liable for willful copyright infringement. Those jury instructions will now be passed to the presiding judge, who is expected to certify the results and close the case.

While not defining a firm legal precedent, the case could shift the contours of future copyright infringement cases involving similar musical works.

The testy trial was lodged by the estate of Marvin Gaye co-writer Ed Townsend, who demanded restitution for blatant copyright infringement.

As part of the plaintiff’s attack, jurors were shown video footage of Sheeran performing a medley of the two songs, with “Thinking Out Loud” seamlessly transitioning into “Let’s Get It On.”

The Ed Townsend estate attorney, Ben Crump, called the mashup a ‘smoking gun’ and framed the evidence as conclusive proof of theft. But the seemingly-damning evidence wasn’t enough to pin infringement on Sheeran.

Instead, Sheeran’s lawyers argued that both songs contained widely-used musical elements and arrangements. Indeed, the defense argued that if a simple four-chord progression and downtempo soul vibe constitute infringement, a vast amount of popular music could be considered mutually infringing.

Sheeran himself found the allegations frivolous and preposterous, and expressed as much during the proceedings. The singer-songwriter was surprisingly ‘vocal’ in his frustrations throughout the multi-week trial and even threatened to quit music if he lost the case.

“If I had done what you’re accusing me of doing, I’d be quite an idiot to stand on stage in front of 25,000 people,” Sheeran bluntly stated during the trial. After the not guilty verdict was revealed, Ed Sheeran was visibly relieved. He placed his hands on his face, then hugged his attorney.

Interestingly, Sheeran didn’t pretend that Marvin Gaye didn’t offer some inspiration to his creative process. But creativity pulls from a patchwork of influences, and shouldn’t be stifled simply because of resulting similarities to earlier works. “We all benefit from artists being free to create and build on what came before them,” Sheeran’s attorney Ilene Farkas argued, warning that “creativity would be stifled for fear of being sued.”

The results are being viewed with relief in many corners of the songwriting, publishing, and music IP community.

Perhaps the multi-year ‘chilling effect’ created by similar cases has thawed a bit, with ultra-aggressive and even frivolous claims now more risky for litigants. Digital Music News hasn’t taken any formal polls on the matter, though informal feedback from numerous songwriters, publishers, and music IP owners suggests an increased level of anxiety over a spate of copyright-related lawsuits over the past few years.

This case, however, presents a setback for litigious IP owners. “Let’s hope this is the first of many [similar case outcomes],” one publishing exec emailed DMN. “Many were worried this is all going to the crazy place.”

That ‘crazy place’ refers to an ultra-litigious environment wherein any hit is considered fair game for litigation, simply because it bears similarity to an earlier piece. Perhaps the most shocking result came several years ago in a landmark ruling against Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke, whose “Blurred Lines” was found liable for copyright infringement.

Notably, that decision was rendered based on similarities to sonic elements found within Marvin Gaye’s “Gotta Give It Up,” not direct infringement of specific note patterns, rhythms, or other concrete compositional details.

Whether that case was an anomaly remains unclear, especially with juries and judges remaining unpredictable on compositional creativity boundaries. “As we saw before on the ‘Blurred Lines’ case, a jury-based system can sometimes lead to unpredictable outcomes when faced with complex, technical questions at the intersection between copyright law and music theory,” copyright attorney Nick Eziefula, a partner at media and entertainment law firm, Simkins told DMN.

“This decision will ease concerns of the floodgates being opened to ever more song infringement claims of this kind.”

Photo Credit: Arnielee (CC BY-SA 3.0

Legendary Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot passed away from natural causes on Monday evening (May 1st). He was 84.

Legendary musician Gordon Lightfoot passed away just hours ago, according to a statement issued by the family. The Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist, whose songs remain recognizable classics decades later, died from natural causes at age 84 in Toronto.

“It is with profound sadness that we confirm that Gordon Meredith Lightfoot has passed away,” Lightfoot’s family shared in an official statement. “Gordon died peacefully on Monday, May 1, 2023 at 7:30 p.m. at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto. He died of natural causes; he was 84 years old.

“He is survived by his wife Kim Hasse, six children– Fred, Ingrid, Eric, Galen, Miles and Meredith, as well as several grandchildren.”

Gordon Lightfoot emerged from the folk-infused 60s with a knack for catchy songwriting and poetic lyricism. His multi-decade career traversed rock and pop and produced a number of chart-topping hits, including “Sundown,” “If You Could Read My Mind,” and “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” among many others. Lightfoot won more than a dozen Juno awards in Canada and was nominated for five Grammy Awards in the US.

Lightfoot’s catalog included more than 200 songs, and his compositions were often covered by other notable artists like Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Hank Williams Jr., and the Grateful Dead. Lightfoot also played the role of songwriter for other artists: he penned “For Lovin’ Me” and “Early Morning Rain,” both of which became well-known tracks for Peter, Paul & Mary.

“I can’t think of any Gordon Lightfoot song I don’t like. Every time I hear a song of his, it’s like I wish it would last forever,” Bob Dylan once remarked.

News of Gordon Lightfoot’s death spread quickly on Monday evening, with several notable figures chiming in.

“What a genius Gordon Lightfoot was. His music is such a big part of my life. Rest in peace. Grateful for the inspiration he gave all of us,” Ben Stiller remarked.

Perhaps fittingly, Stephen King remembered one of Lightfoot’s more sinister and dark songs. “Gordon Lightfoot has died. He was a great songwriter and a wonderful performer,” the horror novelist wrote. “Sundown, you better take care/If I catch you creepin’ ’round my back stairs.”

Back in Gordon’s native Canada, some flags may be flown at half-mast to commemorate the singer’s life. Funeral details remain unannounced, and it’s unclear if a public ceremony will take place.

All that remained of an AI-Generated Drake/The Weeknd ‘collaboration’ on Monday evening (April 17th).

A viral AI-generated ‘collaboration’ between Drake and The Weeknd was ripped down by Universal Music Group on Monday evening (April 17th)— but not before it garnered a half-a-million views on YouTube and hundreds of thousands of plays across other streaming services. It’s the latest in a string of AI concoctions to get ‘whacked’ by UMG — with potentially many more to come.

For those pontificating about the dystopian future of AI, perhaps that moment has already arrived for the music industry.

After forcing the removal of numerous AI-generated tracks on major DSPs like Spotify, Deezer, Tidal, and Apple Music, mega-major Universal Music Group is starting the process all over again. As of Monday evening (April 17th), a quickly-exploding, AI-generated ‘collaboration’ between Drake and The Weeknd, dubbed “Heart on My Sleeve,” was abruptly torn down on YouTube. The track was also scrubbed from numerous other streaming platforms on copyright infringement grounds.

For those who heard the track, the concoction was surprisingly listenable — and certainly believable for anyone who didn’t know better. ‘Ghostwriter,’ the owner of the YouTube account where the video appeared, ominously promised that ‘this is just the beginning,’ though it also looks like Ghostwriter’s account has been deleted.

The teardown comes just hours after Drake himself responded to a completely different AI-generated track that also went viral.

That would be the AI-concocted version of the artist rapping Ice Spice’s recent hit, “Munch.” It’s a deliciously comical reinterpretation — that is, unless it happens to be your voice being reinterpreted. “This is the last straw,” Drake wrote on Instagram, while pointing to his parent label UMG’s efforts to clamp down on AI-generated content on streaming services.

Incidentally, it looks like any YouTube videos using the Drake/Weeknd collaboration track are also getting taken down. But at this stage, it’s becoming difficult to keep tabs on the fast-proliferating list of AI-generated tracks. It’s even harder to keep them removed: the aforementioned Ice Spice track is still readily available on YouTube, along with a bevy of other AI-generated Drake re-imaginations.

After one track gets removed, three more get posted — a situation that sounds depressingly familiar.

Indeed, AI-generated Drake tracks are exploding, with versions spanning the believable to the absolutely absurd. The latter includes Drake covering Colbie Caillat’s “Bubbly,” complete with some equally-ridiculous cover art. Other AI-powered explorations into the ridiculous are readily available, including Kanye West covering George Micheal’s “Careless Whisper,” “Munch,” and — you get the idea.

So what happens to this cornucopia of AI-generated infringement?

For those that remember the late-90s/early-2000s, ‘whack-a-mole’ is a familiar phrase. After the death of Napster, major labels like Universal Music Group found themselves locked in an endless string of site closures and teardowns — only to find cloned imitations reappearing in a matter of days. Now, it looks like AI is stirring a similar cycle, with endless fake songs, covers, and absurdities springing up on YouTube, SoundCloud, Spotify, and other spots.

Against that onslaught, YouTube may be under pressure to AI-generate a stepped-up Content ID update. Similarly, streaming services like Spotify may find themselves applying extra scrutiny to uploads — even if that means inspecting the tens of thousands of tracks arriving on its doorstep daily.

Universal Music Group offered the following statement concerning its stepped-up enforcement against AI-generated tracks.

“Universal Music Group’s success has been due, in part, to embracing new technology and enabling it to empower our artists. We’ve been doing this with our own innovation around AI for some time. With that said, however, the training of generative AI using our artists’ music (which represents both a breach of our agreements and a violation of copyright law) as well as the availability of infringing content created with generative AI on DSPs, begs the question as to which side of history all stakeholders in the music ecosystem want to be on: the side of artists, fans and human creative expression, or on the side of deep fakes, fraud and denying artists their due compensation.

“These instances demonstrate why platforms have a fundamental legal and ethical responsibility to prevent the use of their services in ways that harm artists.  We’re encouraged by the engagement of our platform partners on these issues — as they recognize they need to be part of the solution.”

It’s unclear how many total streams “Heart on My Sleeve” received, though track plays may have crossed into the low millions.

That would be enough to qualify for numerous chart positions, though the song may be quickly disqualified from the rankings.

More as this develops.

‘Journey of a Song’ by Jarett Sitter (Photo Credit: Play MPE)

Behind a bevy of hits and successful careers lies a low-profile distributor whose name is rarely mentioned. Now, Play MPE is expanding awareness of its specialized network into the indie community.

While garnering none of the spotlight – by design – Play MPE’s ‘Caster’ is delivering music for the world’s largest record labels on a daily basis. But Play MPE also allows indies to ‘get on a level playing field with majors without the major label budgets,’ regardless of artist size. The company says artists can do far more to grow their profile and increase revenue by properly connecting to the global market.

Indie artists and labels now represent a significant chunk of the music landscape, and Play MPE is one of several companies aiming to super-serve this class. By allowing access to the same music promotion tool used by major labels, management agencies, and top promoters, Play MPE says indies stand a better chance of being heard and taken seriously. Just recently, Play MPE joined forces with DMN to further expand its footprint.

With a client roster that includes mega players like Universal Music Group, Warner, Sony, BMG, Atlantic, Big Machine, and more, the Vancouver-based company delivers music in 100+ countries worldwide, including the US, Canada, Australia, Europe, South Africa, and the ever-expanding Latin market.

Fred Vandenberg, CEO of Play MPE, says that the key to progress for mega labels is an ecosystem that sustains their growth, adding, “Efficiency is everything, so we streamlined the music promotion business. This tool has everything from bulk metadata entry, distribution list management, impact and take-down dates, access and permissions, to secure sharing.”

PlayMPE’s global footprint (active countries in purple) as of 2023.

Play MPE’s Caster is a professional promotion tool that propels music promotion campaigns to verified decision makers in radio, media, music supervision, A&R, curation, and more around the world.

Because of this targeted approach, the company believes its platform helps users cover more ground efficiently and economically —  in multiple markets, all packaged in one distribution campaign. The platform is designed to upgrade older methods of reaching out to business decision-makers — including mailing CDs that ended up in dusty storerooms or, more recently, pushing cold emails with attachments and links destined to be marked as spam.

Play MPE says they have the numbers to prove their platform enables growth. During the last two years, the company reported 47,805 average active recipients — counted as recipients who downloaded, streamed, or clicked release links in emails. It also facilitated 365,703 releases since January 2008.

Play MPE clarifies that it’s not a promotion company but rather a tool for targeted music promotion. The company aims to empower indies and artists to promote their music using the same platform that major labels and mega artists use on a daily basis. By providing a tool to package and present releases professionally, Play MPE facilitates a broader reach for artists internationally.

With Play MPE, artists can streamline their efforts to reach decision-makers across pop, alternative, jazz, hip-hop, metal, Christian, classical, and country.

With one distribution campaign, Play MPE enables users to target verified tastemakers across six continents, servicing all music genres and radio formats, including niche sub-genres in the Latin market. Play MPE empowers with options that help users make an impact — via its verified community of recipients in radio, media, music supervision, and various music curators in territories that artists are planning to tour.

With curated format lists, Play MPE can assist indie record labels and artists by providing distribution channels with active recipients. According to Play MPE, these lists are constantly updated so recipients can access all the content they need.

With 6,400 active tastemakers every month and 5.5 million songs in play, Play MPE appears to have cracked the code to a music industry essential — arranging and managing promotion efficiently and securely.

Getting music to tastemakers is a significant part of a campaign. According to Play MPE, “You don’t have to do the legwork to reach these decision-makers in radio, media, music supervision, and curation.”

To that point, many tastemakers do not accept unsolicited content. And with the amount of music crossing hands, tastemakers don’t have the time to chase down missing information or request correct music files. With that in mind, Play MPE presents your music on the discovery app that tastemakers use daily.

Independent artists on the quest to identify breakout markets for global expansion are usually driving blind to some degree. While planning showcases, festivals, or booking tours, knowing the right people is only half the battle. Play MPE believes that artists often underestimate the time and effort that a DIY campaign requires.

According to the company, having access to specific data that reveals which stations are getting airplay can allow artists to better plan radio visits around a tour or showcase. It can also help artists arrange interviews and performances that suit these targeted audiences.

Most indies believe basing their planning on streaming engagement is the answer, but that’s only one piece of the strategic puzzle. Play MPE states that it’s crucial to know who’s engaging with promotion campaigns and keep an eye on click-through rates of promo emails. These insights, alongside streaming and download numbers, can allow artists to gauge who’s interested in turning that initial stream into airplay, a sync placement, press coverage, or more.

Essentially, Play MPE can guarantee clean and secure music delivery via the most effective channels used by majors. But it can’t guarantee results.

So while Play MPE provides the tool to help music promotion campaigns reach farther and be more readily received, campaign success still comes down to the song, story, and strategy.

As an overall campaign strategy, indie artists must continue running playlisting and social and video campaigns to bolster numbers. They must also secure festival spots and plan tours to support sustainable momentum.

Vandenberg believes artists have the power to choose between a weekend blip of hype or longer-term impact that drives more impressive revenue, adding, “Every battle is won before it begins.”

Sound Credit CEO Gebre Waddell pictured at the 65th Grammy Awards, where he announced a $30 million advance facility for North American users’ neighboring rights royalties

Sound Credit’s Version 6 brings decentralized architecture, enhanced collaboration tools, AI-powered data enrichment, improved contract and catalog management, expanded export options, and many other features. Their goal: capture more metadata at the source, connect more artists with lost royalties, and help record labels, publishers, administrators, and indies accurately register for royalties.

Among the many dark sides of digital music distribution is the mountain of metadata that’s frequently left behind. Music files are unaccompanied by proper metadata and credits information during the creation process. With general-purpose file transfer services such as Dropbox, WeTransfer, and Google Drive lacking essential metadata recording fields within their collaboration tools, artists and studios often fail to accurately record metadata at the source.

Due to this missing focus on metadata infrastructure, the already enormous pile of lost and missing credits keeps getting bigger.

To say that this discrepancy in metadata is costly would be an understatement. The music industry estimates that over $1.4 billion of unclaimed royalties are left on the table every single year. As we’ve covered in depth, this broken metadata management system also distorts streaming data, robbing artists of crucial opportunities they could have received with proper crediting for their work.

In that soup, Sound Credit’s Version 6 is decentralizing the ingestion process, combining file transfer capabilities with metadata collection on the cloud.

Sound Credit says it has developed over 200 integrations with various supply chain points, and registers relevant information with royalty payment systems in real-time. The company partnered with DMN to give the music industry a comprehensive look at their latest Version 6 release.

The update allows more metadata to be captured from anywhere and at any time — from the moment content is recorded, and through every phase of production that follows. All the collected metadata is then aggregated into one central hub.

With a desktop app, mobile app, plug-ins for any DAW workstation, and even a kiosk, Sound Credit encourages contributors to enter credits before, during, or after a studio session.

The goal is to connect musicians with royalties by allowing easier access across apps, kiosks, and desktops. According to the company, all of these modalities can now ‘talk to one another,’ akin to a ‘Google Docs for Metadata’ or a ‘Dropbox for file storage and sharing’ — albeit with considerably more polished and specialized collaboration capability.

Sound Credit’s Workstation Plug-In collects credits immediately in the recording process.

With this decentralized cloud-based architecture, Sound Credit joins an ongoing mission to collect metadata at the place of origin — so it doesn’t get tangled later on. Placing everything on the cloud removes the possibility of inaccurate metadata entry. It also reduces the chances of that data remaining inaccurate for an extended period and mucking up everyone’s downstream payments.

Sound Credit’s founder and CEO, Gebre Waddell, explained that Version 6 emerged after pinpointing crucial problems faced by artists. “This upgrade provides premium features that raise the bar on prevalent standards within the music data landscape,” Waddell says.

Sound Credit’s ongoing mission is to collect metadata at the place of origin — so it doesn’t get tangled later on.

With Version 6, fluid interactions and better collaboration opportunities appear to be taking center stage.

Users can invite people for collaborative metadata entry on a central storage and sharing hub, with all information collected from multiple endpoints and poured into one spot. Waddell touched upon this community aspect surrounding Version 6. “You can invite people and chat with them. You get notifications on your phone and desktop. It brings a sense of community and high flexibility so people can implement Sound Credit their way across a range of devices.”

Unlike general-purpose file transfer services, Sound Credit provides essential metadata recording fields within collaboration tools.

According to Wadell, Sound Credit’s Playlist feature ‘completely shifts the way the music industry transfers files internally within the industry.’ This feature builds the bridge that connects recordings to the metadata behind them.

Uploading a track to a playlist automatically creates a project on the platform, displaying a ‘credit count,’ so users can start adding credits via desktop app or mobile. Everyone with access to the playlist can stream tracks on their app as if they’re on a streaming service, except this service is limited to those with access.

Every track on a playlist displays a ‘credit count,’ so users can start adding credits via desktop app or mobile. Wadell says, “It all happens with virtually no effort, in seconds.”

With a simple switchover to Sound Credit from a DAW, users can upload and immediately have a shareable playlist on their own private streaming service page — one that’s connected to a Sound Credit project. Everyone with access, including engineers, producers, record labels, or anyone else that’s part of the process, can view and update credit information. Any new credit entered will update on the cloud, and all collaborators with access to the music file will receive a notification. In essence, by always transferring with Sound Credit, users receive a gateway to every feature that captures data at the source — one collaborator at a time.

With streamlined uploads and playlist creation, the platform’s AI steps into the mix. AI-powered detection of artists and titles connects recordings to correct projects.

The AI mood detector scans lyrics and other metadata to determine a song’s musical mood, and an explicit content detector flags specific words and contextual references. This AI-powered data enrichment allows precise categorization, delivery of the right music, and accurate metadata.

With ease of access via any device, quick ISRC and GriD code generation, and the ability to export anywhere, Version 6 focuses on expanding metadata associated with music IP.

Sound Credit Version 6 enters the market with a complete core code rewrite that elevates the user interface, now boasting the visual polish of Salesforce and Hubspot — i.e., established multi-billion-dollar SaaS platforms.

According to the company, the platform’s previous versions contained more than 4 million lines of code. That spelled a serious rewrite process of the core Sound Credit code, though Waddell says substantially more collaborators are now using the platform. At present, Sound Credit counts 45,000 total users, with 15,000 active users.

The interface is simple and unfussy, making accurate metadata a matter of drag-and-drop for track reordering. Users can also conveniently view the number of credits entered for any given song.

The update also offers a Catalog Management feature for archiving older files in a ‘vault,’ allowing simplified segmentation to focus on current projects.

Sound Credit’s kiosk prioritizes current projects, placing them in separate ‘buckets’ for various studios and collaborators. Allowing specific access to relevant and involved parties leads to faster exports, assisting the data collection process at one core point of storage.

With expanded exports, Version 6 includes publishing label copy and song registration with ASCAP, BMI, and SOCAN. Sound Credit is also the first platform of its kind to provide split sheets with legally binding e-signatures.

When Version 4 was released in January of 2022, the platform had a patent-pending data hub method that would allow users to export to multiple formats after entering credits. This included union forms, label copy, and lyric sheets. With Version 6, Sound Credit is adding more compliance, contracts, and legal documents to the platform.

That includes producer agreements and side artist releases that help establish clear titles for recordings. There’s also a new, more simplified flow for union form exports — AFM B4, AFM B9, and SAG-AFTRA Session Reports — all of which can be exported directly from Sound Credit.

Sound Credit’s patent-pending export section allows users to Enter Once and Export Everywhere

“Sound Credit is critical for compliance, especially in this environment of all the things happening from the NMPA, the MLC, and numerous other organizations,” Waddell said, adding, “This is reducing liability and downstream workflow, benefitting artists, musicians, and songwriters.”

According to Sound Credit, the company has invested heavily in patents, aiming to further grease the wheels of metadata management and music file transfers.

Newly headquartered in a wholly-owned, historic, early 19th-century building adjacent to the Mississippi River in downtown Memphis, Sound Credit has longstanding partnerships with major music labels and publishers like Warner Music Nashville. Over the years, the company has garnered serious buy-in for its crediting solutions.

The release of Sound Credit’s Version 6 and a greater awareness of metadata appears like a step forward. At the very least, artists, labels, publishers, producers, songwriters, and other IP owners and collaborators have a better shot at getting paid and recognized for their music.

At the 65th Grammy Awards, Sound Credit’s CEO Gebre Waddell announced a partnership with PPL, which will now allow Sound Credit’s North American users to collect neighboring rights royalties. PPL represents over 100,000 performers and record labels, including John Legend, Anderson .Paak, and Rita Ora.

Photo Credit: Maraisea

XdMind opens up catalogs to AI-powered music sync in dynamic environments, a potentially lucrative development for IP owners. Adapting to user preferences, the technology selects the best music for video, film, and gaming — auto-modifying tracks to fit into contextual sequences.

Billions have been thrown at music catalogs over the past few years. Now, the industry is grappling with the difficult work of monetizing and growing those catalogs, especially as topline valuations are showing signs of easing.

So what’s the solution to this riddle? One potential answer is coming from XdMind, whose AI-powered technology is crafted exclusively for music. With intelligent, AI-powered matching, producers no longer need to sift through thousands of songs to find the perfect match for their specific video. Once a catalog is supplied to XdMind, AI deploys and extends assets with an end-to-end solution, triggering an auto-selection of music for TV scenes, film, games, and other dynamic formats.

The company calls this ‘Phantom Sync,’ and envisions a dynamic process that will shuttle tens of millions of songs into visual media sequences, even tailored to specific gamers.

Once a hand-in–glove match is made, the track is further adapted to fit into a specific scene. Music can intensify for action and thrill, and mellow down for calmer sequences. Sections of songs can also be extended or chopped up dynamically to suit video content. This auto-modification of music enhances gaming and video experiences, creating a shortcut to wider applications for music catalogs. Just recently, XdMind joined forces with DMN to further accelerate adoption of this disruptive technology.

To date, most of the discussions surrounding AI and music have been dystopian and scary. But players like XdMind are painting a less terrifying picture of AI applications within the music industry.

Despite groundbreaking developments in artificial intelligence, the spotlight remains on AI’s scary ability to replace human songwriters and composers for good. But following dramatic changes in the music licensing space, XdMind has a less world-dominating ambition: to become an AI-powered facilitator for higher sync opportunities and catalog earnings.

Looming technological threats are never easy, especially those of this magnitude. But ask around the industry, and the opportunities are equally exciting. That includes assistive AI, which broadly refers to the ability of AI to enhance the creative and recording process. It also includes areas like sync, which have always struggled with a mathematically overwhelming matching problem.

According to Linda Bernardi, CEO and cofounder of XdMind, the emerging new world of music requires new methods of sync. “It’s time we rethink the notion of sync and accept new interpretations of it. A song is synced to video only for a few seconds; then we move on to another song. This brings tens of millions of songs from catalogs to games and video.”

Bernardi further added, “This creates a massive new monetization model for IP owners.”

Initially, XdMind’s adaptive AI technology GameDJ was deployed within popular mobile games such as Subway Surfers and Candy Crush. By intelligently fitting specific sections of songs — and also subtly modifying those songs — GameDJ aligns the action to music and enhances the in-game experience. So instead of millions of gamers listening to the same music, or muting sound to listen to their own playlists, AI tailors the music according to user preferences and nuances of the game.

With the global gaming industry valued at more than $300 billion, and mobile gaming spawning hundreds of millions of new gamers over the past few years alone, XdMind is unlocking a potentially large opportunity for catalog owners.

Moreover, we’re living in the middle of a massive app boom. App Annie’s latest data reported that a record 230 billion apps were downloaded in 2021, with total app spending surging 19% in 2021 to $170 billion. Global consumer spending on mobile games alone reached $116 billion in 2021.

Bernardi believes AI-powered music sync technology creates a ‘win-win-win-win’ circle, with the end users, artists, music IP owners, and video platforms coming out ahead.

With the value of IP collections showing signs of dropping after a major boom, owners are on the lookout for ways to employ more of their catalogs more efficiently to maximize valuations.

One happy result of tapping AI could be that lesser-known songs find greater traction and broader use. According to Bernardi, XdMind is deploying and matching far more music assets that aren’t hits, and don’t rank within the top 5-10% of an artist’s collection. “AI is about moving lots of music, including lesser-known gems, into the world. We’re delighting end users with personalized music.”

For Bernardi, the goal has always been to reveal a brand-new possibility in the music licensing arena. “This disruption will change how music will reach and be consumed by the billions of end users out there. XdMind is playing a front-and-center role in this.”

Since XdMind runs alongside games and apps, no integration or updates are required. Without extensive setup or app updates, the goal is to create an instant contextual adaptation of music to match video sequencing.

XdMind’s technology also makes sense for new arenas like virtual worlds.

Opportunities include the emerging metaverse, where action sequences will be highly unpredictable and dynamic. Web3 applications, by default, will require music that adapts to scenes and is contextually coherent. Further broadening the reach of music catalogs, these web3 and metaverse applications could increase the overall value of IP assets.

According to Bernardi, “We’re not just moving faster, but we’re enabling the impossible. Our passion is to enable the music industry to innovate and drive the music industry forward. We see AI as the vehicle to enable the impossible!”

As the ruckus from Taylor Swift’s ‘Ticketmaster debacle’ simmers down, the ticketing space is quietly working on solutions. That includes VBO Tickets, which is road-testing a sophisticated queueing technology and finding early success.

Ticketmaster-bashing is now America’s favorite pastime — especially if you’re a Swiftie or a politician seeking re-election. But what are the solutions to managing hundreds of thousands of fans who are demanding tickets at the same time? That is now the million-dollar question challenging the industries of live concerts and ticketing.

Perhaps Ticketmaster’s headache spells opportunity for tech-focused ticketing players. Among these well-timed innovators is Silicon Valley-based VBO Tickets, which has been developing a queueing solution that neatly handles all-at-once crushes. The company has managed mass events involving over 100,000 simultaneous buyers and aims to scale those numbers soon.

VBO Tickets is a behind-the-scenes ticketing provider focused on small and mid-sized venues, artists, and events. Founded in 2012, the company has been powering built-in ticketing solutions for theaters, museums, comedy clubs, and music venues for years. Just recently, the company joined forces with DMN to further expand its footprint.

VBO has also been managing one-off events and festivals with an essentially ‘white-label’ solution that is typically invisible to the ticket buyer. Now, those events are getting bigger, showcasing the company’s technologies.

That includes its queueing solution, which has been handling increasingly-substantial crowds. VBO Tickets pointed Digital Music News to one recent success story in Europe, where the company’s queueing solution efficiently dealt with a crush of more than 140,000 prospective buyers within a two-hour timeframe. The company has also pressure-tested double that number in half the time.

“Our system performed flawlessly,” VBO Tickets founder and technology innovator David Boehme told DMN. “The thousands upon thousands of ticket buyers had a seamless experience. If a fan flies through their ticket purchase and nobody knows our name, we’ve made a happy customer for our client.”

Boehme said that while VBO Tickets could have tapped commonly used ticketing industry solutions to help it handle crowd crushes, the company chose to start from scratch. Boehme believes VBO Tickets has built a faster, more robust, and more secure queueing technology. This approach required more significant capital investment and resources, but resulted in a built-in feature immediately ready for client use while operating quietly in the background.

As soon as VBO Tickets identifies a high-load demand, Boehme says the platform’s queueing technology kicks in to manage simultaneous buyers.

This feature can handle surges without advanced preparations or additional per-buyer costs. “We have a 24-7 queueing system that’s always ready,” Boehme revealed. “We don’t need to be notified in advance, and there’s nothing to ‘turn on’ to start the queueing process.”

According to Boehme, another perk of the system is that queueing can be targeted to isolate specific buying subgroups. For example, if one promoter drives an unexpected surge of buyers without offering advanced notice, VBO Tickets’ queueing technology can isolate that surge without penalizing everyone else.

But is VBO Tickets ready for a Ticketmaster-level surge of purchasers? According to Boehme, the platform requires further testing in real ticket-buying situations.

“We can guarantee our capabilities to 95% of artists and venues. We can take care of most of the market,” Boehme continued. “We know we can handle the volumes that we’re aiming for. But right now, we’re looking at emerging to surging artists — not a Justin Bieber or Taylor Swift.”

Those are modest reflections, though VBO Tickets’ capabilities are growing. While its recent handling of more than 140,000 sessions sounds impressive, the company estimated that it could comfortably handle half-a-million simultaneous buyers.

Regarding throughput, VBO Tickets estimates it can process 2,000 ticket transactions every minute, translating into a smoothly sold-out amphitheater in roughly ten minutes. That same sellout would take a manageable forty minutes for a large-scale stadium. But Boehme points out that faster throughput can quickly scale if needed.

The company appears ready to flex its muscles on larger-scale events, which could further validate the robustness and security of VBO Tickets’ technology.

Meanwhile, Ticketmaster itself is undoubtedly working out better platform solutions. System crashes aren’t always bad news, especially when they involve record-breaking audiences. But getting grilled by legislators and regulators — many of whom are pushing for a reversal of the Ticketmaster-Live Nation merger — is motivation enough to develop crash-proof systems and approaches in the future.

Zac Brown Band’s website, powered by ONELIVE

Artist-centric ecommerce company ONELIVE is slated to drive over $300 million in GMV (Gross Merchandising Value) this year, according to details shared by the company with Digital Music News. That revenue haul is helping artists, labels, and merchandisers generate a more consistent flow of cash.

Making money is one thing. Generating a consistent flow of money is quite another. The latter has always been a challenge for musicians, though Dustin Hall, Chief Revenue Officer of ONELIVE, believes that artists usually miss out on the significant revenue opportunities offered by ecommerce. “They’re focused on touring, so they often overlook the valuable utility revenue hiding in plain sight: website and online store sales.”

As the world’s largest Shopify partner, ONELIVE operates quietly in the background, handling online growth challenges for artists. The company tackles online storefronts, websites, and order fulfillment, alongside artist services like VIP, fan clubs, ticketing, and even print-on-demand capabilities.

More broadly, ONELIVE is focused on enabling artists, labels, merchandisers, and DTC brands to tap into a more reliable and consistent revenue stream — something the music industry typically struggles with. Just recently, ONELIVE partnered with DMN to further expand its growing footprint.

ONELIVE provides a suite of tools and services that tackle every aspect of merchandising and related ecommerce sales — besides actual production. It’s a behind-the-scenes platform that could smooth the revenue streams for many artists and their teams.

In a nutshell, the company functions as an ecommerce technology and fulfillment partner for those that sell merchandise and other artist-related products to consumers. On this front, ONELIVE’s fulfillment center in Austin, Texas is consistently warehousing, shipping, tracking, and managing artist products with global delivery points.

Hall talks about ONELIVE bringing convenience to the table, saying, “Our clients want to be able to call one partner that can take care of everything related to their online store or website. It’s that simplicity that first engaged them.”

With a clientele that includes the likes of Willie Nelson and Zac Brown Band, ONELIVE has developed core competencies that focus on creating more sustainable revenue for musicians.

It’s no secret that individuals relying on the music industry for their bread and butter earn incredibly cyclical revenue. With peaks and valleys of engagements and album releases during the year, and the intermittent nature of touring, artists frequently find themselves in a quicksand of null income.

Hall believes this cyclical nature of revenue is why typical pricing models aren’t sustainable within the entertainment industry. What artists need are neutral and scalable options.

“At ONELIVE, our clients don’t have to pay anything upfront,” Hall explained. “Our fees are based on a small percentage of net GMV or Gross Merchandising Value. This model also resonates well with DTC brands in other industries.”

It appears that the scale of ONELIVE’s operations, especially within entertainment and sports, allows ONELIVE to receive significant (and even globally exclusive) discounts on software licensing. Alongside bulk rate discounts, this has allowed the ecommerce company to offer artists more profitable GMV outcomes.

ONELIVE has launched over 1,600+ storefronts since 2010 and actively manages about 1,000 sites on any given day — for a client portfolio that includes musicians, podcasters, 40+ sports teams, and well-known international brands. Most of these stores are run via B2B partners that offer ecommerce as a solution but don’t necessarily want to bring those resources in-house.

Willie Nelson’s website managed by ONELIVE

It’s important to note that while the Walmarts of this world — such as Amazon — are notorious for taking big swipes off artists’ GMV, they also hold fan data hostage.

Hall says ONELIVE is “not in the game of gaining rights,” adding, “We function on the backend to help artists scale. We’re creating the infrastructure for our clients to own their data and activate their fan base.”

By enabling all sorts of direct sales and seeing who’s buying their merch, artists can exert control over a steady and consistent cash flow.

Hall also talked about how artists that commandeer Amazon and similar services to get merchandising out “are doing nothing for the user experience.” Hall added, “That’s what we’re trying to solve on behalf of artists and bridge that gap. We know what works and what doesn’t.”

While discussing possibilities for enhancing the user experience, Hall said, “All artists need is a killer site and user experience to keep fans on the artist website. We’re removing friction from that process, creating revenue for artists, and fostering a more refined purchasing experience.”

ONELIVE’s broader mission is to allow artists (and those that serve them) to scale and grow their revenue. The company also appears to have multiple feature expansions in the works.

As part of their ecommerce fulfillment services, the company recently launched a zoneless 2-day air shipping program. This allows qualifying clients the ability to offer 2-day air delivery at a price that’s inline with ground rates.

On the ecommerce website development front, ONELIVE has developed the ‘3.0 Performance Framework.’ According to Hall, this expansion consistently drives online revenue growth for clients via SEO, conversion rate optimization, compliance and UX. “As our clients’ marketing teams drive traffic to their online stores, ONELIVE ensures those stores generate more revenue per visitor while also creating smooth, memorable fan experiences.”

The company is posting impressive compounded annual growth rates by reducing time, cost, and resources associated with selling products.

Looking forward, Hall says it’s ONELIVE’s mission to empower rights holders with leading technologies, more revenue, and increased ownership of fan data.

On the topic of what’s on the horizon for ONELIVE, Hall said, “From expanded ecommerce tech, to fulfillment and shipping capabilities and beyond, we will continue to leverage our unique expertise and size in service of rights holders and rockstar brands.”

Garth Brooks at Country Radio Seminar (CRS) in Nashville on March 13th, 2023 (Photo Credit: CRS)

When it comes to streaming holdouts, Garth Brooks ranks as one of the biggest. But why has Garth steadfastly refused to allow his music on Spotify and Apple Music while exclusively licensing Amazon Music?

That was one of several questions fielded by the country superstar during an interview Monday at the Country Radio Seminar (CRS) in Nashville. For years, Garth Brooks flatly refused to license streaming platforms entirely, citing serious compensation issues and various misalignments in values.

That all changed in 2016, when Brooks inked an exclusive partnership with Amazon Music that remains active today. But despite heavy lobbying from mega-streamers Spotify and Apple Music (including direct pitches by Spotify CEO Daniel Ek himself), Brooks has refused to broaden beyond his Amazon streaming deal. Now, Garth Brooks has revealed more details on why that is.

“The fact is that Amazon is a retailer as well,” Brooks told CRS executive director RJ Curtis. “So you can sign your streaming deal, but part of that streaming deal is to move those physical units so the songwriters get paid. And people, we can talk all day that ‘Garth went on to raise his kids, what a great’— Garth did that for himself. I stick up for the songwriters because I’m freakin’ one of them! Everything I do for the songwriters, I do for myself.”

“I’m the most selfish guy you’ve ever met, okay? But if we don’t take care of these songwriters, what do you guys have to play? It’s just tough, so that’s why I love partnering with [Amazon]. So the physical comes in, and nobody’s doing physical anymore. So these songwriters are still doing well.

“And I hope that songwriters want to get a Garth Brooks cut. One, because I hope that they think that it would be cool. But two, right behind it closely, I hope it’s because they know that if you’re a Garth Brooks songwriter, you’re going to get paid.”

Speaking of songwriting, Brooks also tackled the tough topic of AI-generated music.

“Everything that is a blessing is a curse,” Brooks told Digital Music News’ Noah Itman. “And everything that is a curse is a blessing. Don’t forget that last half.”

Calling AI both “cool” and “scary,” Brooks questioned whether AI-generated music could supply deep-down human-driven emotion. But even on that point — like many others — he was completely unsure.

“It’s man against machine. So one thing that differentiates us from machines is the heart,” Garth mused. “But if an AI program writes a song that kills me, and makes me cry, isn’t that what songwriting is all about?”

Perhaps that level of sophistication will emerge in future AI generative versions. Or, perhaps not. “So when it’s John Henry versus the machine, don’t underestimate how powerful you are just as human beings against ratings, streaming numbers, and all that stuff. Don’t forget your gut, don’t forget what moves you.”

Perhaps the only answers at this stage are philosophical ones. “That’s the gift God gave you — was that gut,” Brooks continued. “To know when you hear something that’s going to make a difference. To make people laugh, to make people cry, to make people think. If AI gets to that level, I have to be thankful if I’m a fan that one of those songs touches.”

Photo Credit: Open On Sunday

As high-profile – and high-value – catalog deals continue to pour in, Open On Sunday (OOS) is working to make faster and more musician-friendly transactions the norm.

Despite rising rates and turbulence throughout the broader economy, a number of noteworthy song-rights sales have closed in 2023. With a tailwind of continued streaming resilience and strong catalog listenership, Hipgnosis kicked off the year with a reported $200 million agreement for Justin Bieber’s music IP, for instance. And well-established players such as Universal Music Group and Shamrock Holdings (which finalized a reported $200 million transaction with Dr. Dre), Primary Wave, and Reservoir Media have wrapped deals of their own.

Also part of the ever-changing catalog space are rising investors like Open On Sunday, which has executed approximately 70 transactions to date. Worth a total of over $60 million, the acquisitions include multimillion-dollar pacts with Taylor Swift songwriter Liz Rose, R&B legend Keith Sweat, and the estate of blues mainstay B.B. King.

Behind the sizable song-rights buyouts is a unique dealmaking approach that prioritizes transparency and expediency, Open On Sunday told Digital Music News. It’s hardly a secret that the catalog boom saw purchasers offering unprecedented multiples for in-demand bodies of work, though players like Open on Sunday are introducing more transparent and understandable methodologies for assigning valuations to certain IP. Just recently, Open on Sunday partnered with DMN to broaden its creator-friendly model.

The IP boom has also exacerbated some bad behavior in the dealmaking process, which Open on Sunday is squarely addressing.

Amongst the most nefarious practices: owners of less-coveted catalogs have been dragged into purposely drawn-out negotiations designed to score a cheaper deal. Facilitated by the exclusivity granted under ‘letters of intent,’ the prolonged talks are used to drive down the sale price of song rights. Consequently, OOS says it’s working to put hard data and reliable timetables at the center of the process.

“Open On Sunday is actively seeking the challenge of serving unmet financial needs within the music industry ecosystem while thoughtfully building long-term investor value,” founder and CEO Elliot Hayes told DMN. “We’re likely the only party seeking to reduce friction costs in a digital age via the implementation of technology solutions.”

These technology solutions impact each component of the Atlanta-headquartered business’s deals, beginning with the free quotes that are provided to prospective sellers. Made possible by proprietary data-analysis tools that gauge categories including streaming and sync potential, Open On Sunday’s upfront offers are complemented by fast closing times.

Aside from delivering similar and evenly-calculated capital valuations to all rightsholders, Open On Sunday says that this expedient model has helped it to top the competition when vying for high-profile IP. Sellers receive payments within one week after signing off on transactions, OOS told us.

Meanwhile, a buyback provision accompanies each of Open On Sunday’s contracts. According to the company, the unique option reflects the personal nature of music and decisions to sell catalogs.

Under the clause, Open On Sunday identifies “a series of guaranteed prices” at which sellers can repurchase all or a portion of their song rights within 18 to 24 months following a deal’s close. The business likewise accommodates fractional sales, purchasing as little as 25 percent of a catalog depending upon the seller’s preferences.

For those who do opt to sell less than 100 percent of their IP, OOS says that it will act as a partner in promoting and monetizing the works at hand — all without charging fees for administration of the unsold portion. Joint ventures are also on the table, the company told us, emphasizing that the arrangements can take a variety of forms and attest to an overarching willingness to break the boundaries of traditional catalog buyouts.

Further underscoring Open On Sunday’s dealmaking flexibility, the business purchases a variety of music assets — compositions, masters, neighboring rights, and artist and producer royalties among them. To date, acquisitions have varied in size from $10,000 to $10 million, and the company in 2022 raised $150 million to fuel its investment strategy.

Additionally, OOS says that it takes stakes solely in past releases and helps sellers avoid the seldom-discussed fees that affect most catalog deals.

On the former front, advances frequently compel the delivery of new projects under an extremely high distribution and administration fee structure, to the detriment of creators. And when it comes to transactional fees, sellers clearly stand to benefit from cutting out intermediary parties – and their 10 to 15 percent charge – from deals they can arrange themselves.

Ultimately, Open On Sunday strives to help music IP owners – from well-known acts to behind-the-scenes professionals – explore song-rights sales without being misled by unrealistic promises or roped into long-term agreements that could prove detrimental to their independence and financial wellbeing.

Self-determination, including choosing how much of a catalog to sell and having the option to buy back IP, is at the core of the company’s operations. As the space evolves in the approaching months and years, OOS believes that its innovative approach will guide the industry forward – all while helping rightsholders secure the support and compensation to which their hard work entitles them.

Photo Credit: Digital Music News

After two years of online-only events, the Guild of Music Supervisors hosted a packed 13th annual GMS Awards ceremony this week at The Wiltern in Los Angeles.

The following was created with the support of Songtradr, part of a broader partnership focused on the sync licensing space.  

The annual Guild of Music Supervisors Awards celebrates outstanding achievement in the craft of music supervision across film, television, documentaries, advertising, and trailers. Taking place annually in Los Angeles, this industry-niche ‘Grammys for Sync’ traverses the gamut of music placements across all platforms and budget tiers – including everything from the Elvis soundtrack to a videogame trailer.

The 11th and 12th editions were moved online by pandemic protocols. For the lucky 13th, the masks were off at a packed in-person shindig that was anything but virtual. Throughout the event, the feeling of celebratory relief was palpable.

Of course, the just-concluded Grammys takes place on a more lavish and grandiose stage. But the congenial community at GMS is tough to beat. At the distinctively 20s-era Wiltern, the cozy collection of music supervisors and audio-placement execs finally said hello again, and celebrated a mask-free evening of reconnection.

Aside from the awards-show formalities, this was also a reunion of old friends, with many creatives tied by previous collaborations and projects. Indeed, music supervisors are usually hopping from one project to the next – and familiar faces frequently resurface in ad-hoc teams.

Photo: Digital Music News

GMS Awards nominee hangout (Photo: Digital Music News)

At the awards ceremony itself, audience members were treated to a surprise performance from Macy Gray, along with sets from Gaby Moreno, Ruth B, and Joy Olakdukon.

There was also an additional tribute to Paul Williams by Sam DeRosa, Nella Rojas, and Joshua Radin. Perhaps that lineup lacked the sizzle of recent Grammy performers like Harry Styles, Stevie Wonder, and Luke Combs, though savvy musicians know that music supervisors are a powerful group of industry influencers.

Photo Credit: Harmony Gerber

Photo: Fitz Carlile

“It is with immense pride that we congratulate the winners of our 13th Annual Awards,” relayed Joel C. High, President of the Guild of Music Supervisors. “The craft of telling stories with music is recognized more and more as a global force in the entertainment business and in culture. These awards last night highlight the top of the field but the truth is that we at the guild honor the fine work of all of our members in the various crafts year round.”

Presenters from the evening included Sharon Stone, Debbie Allen, Stephanie Economou, Tom Everett Scott, Pamela Adlon, Lindsey Blaufarb, Odeya Rush, Christopher McDonald, Aloe Blacc, Justin Hurwitz, Joel C. High, Steve Schnur, Jen Malone, Nora Felder, Sami Posner, Sanaz Lavaedian, Amine Ramer, Ed Gerrard, Steve Gizicki, and Howard Parr.

Complete List of 13th Annual Guild of Music Supervisors (GMS) Awards

FILM

Best Music Supervision for Film 

• • Budgeted Over $25M | Anton Monsted — Elvis
  • Budgeted Under $25M | Lauren Marie Mikus, Bruce Gilbert — Everything Everywhere All At Once
  • Budgeted Under $10M | Rob Lowry — Cha Cha Real Smooth
  • For A Non-Theatrically Released Film | Rob Lowry — Do Revenge
  • Best Song Written and/or Recorded for a Film | “This Is A Life” from Everything Everywhere All At Once (Songwriters: Ryan Lott, David Byrne, Mitski Miyawaki | Performers: David Byrne, Mitski, Son Lux | Music Supervisors: Lauren Marie Mikus, Bruce Gilbert)

TELEVISION

Best Music Supervision for Television

• • Television Drama | Nora Felder — Stranger Things Season 4
  • Television Comedy or Musical | Kier Lehman — Insecure Season 5
  • Reality Television | Adam Brodsky, Rivka Rose — The Come Up Season 1
  • Best Song Written and/or Recorded for Television | “Perfect Day” for Better Call Saul Season 6 Episode 9 “Fun and Games” (Songwriter: Harry Nilsson | Performers: Dressage, Slow Shiver | Music Supervisor: Thomas Golubić

DOCUMENTARIES

• • Best Music Supervision | Allison Wood — Tony Hawk: Until The Wheels Fall Off
  • Best Music Supervision for DocuSeries | Amanda Krieg Thomas — The Andy Warhol Diaries

TRAILERS

• • Best Music Supervision for Film Trailer | Evelin Garcia — Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
  • Best Music Supervision for Series | Deric Berberabe, Jordan Silverberg — The White Lotus Season 2
  • Best Music Supervision for Video Game & Interactive Trailer | Lindsey Kohon, Naaman Snell — Destiny 2: The Witch Queen

ADVERTISING

• • Best Music Supervision in Synch | Abbey Hendrix, Jonathan Wellbelove — Apple The Greatest
  • Best Music Supervision in Advertising (Original Music) | Sunny Kapoor, Mike Ladman, Brad Nayman, Brandy Ricker — Meta

VIDEO GAMES

• • Best Music Supervision in a Video Game (Synch) | Dylan Bostick, Josh Kessler — Saint’s Row V
  • Best Music Supervision in a Video Game (Original) | Steve Schnur — Battlefield 2042 DLC Season 1 – Zero Hour, Season 2, Master of Arms, Season 3 – Escalation (Composers: Hildur Guðnadóttir, Sam Slater)

Photo Credit: HiLife Music Group

HiLife Music Group’s subsidiary label, A-Grade Music, is allowing artists to ‘Purchase a Record Deal‘ — aiming to change how label deals are done. Artists can now get ahead of the curve by buying a deal that comes with every perk that a conventional record label would provide.

Despite the multitude of label models in the music industry, the landscape is still rife with talented musicians spending a lifetime looking for a deal they’ll never procure.

Distribution-label hybrids like AWAL, Empire, and Create Music have up-ended the traditional label model while giving artists more favorable terms and options. Nonetheless, a recording contract continues to be a divine blessing that labels choose to bestow upon artists they consider a lucrative financial investment. Traditional labels also remain painstakingly cautious about offering a deal — and all the resources that come with it.

Now, A-Grade Music, a division of HiLife Music Group. is handing the strings of artist success to artists themselves. With their ‘Purchase a Record Deal’ model, the company is creating opportunities for artists to bypass the process of looking for a conventional recording contract. Instead, musicians can simply buy one. Just recently, HiLife joined forces with DMN to further expand the innovative concept.

A-Grade Music is establishing a unique system for musicians. They can purchase complete options for production, branding, campaigning, project teams, and release — with no strings attached.

CEO Adrian Fife spoke to Digital Music News about how A-Grade Music is changing significant aspects of traditional record deals. “There are a lot of talented artists out there, but to get a conventional recording deal, you need a lot more than talent.”

For artists stuck in the loop of waiting for a record label to give them a toehold in the industry, Fife believes this is the perfect way to get ahead. “There are millions of people worldwide looking for record deals. Rather than waiting, we’re empowering artists to kick start their careers on their own terms.”

According to A-Grade, even if an artist sells a million records, they keep 95% of revenue from sales. The company merely retains 5% for the artist fee, which includes administrative costs.

It’s no secret that for every artist that has procured a conventional record deal, tens of thousands have fallen by the wayside.

There are far too many artists and not enough opportunities. And thanks to consolidation among major record companies, even fewer acts are getting signed.

Fife spoke about one of the biggest reasons why record deals are hard to come by, saying, “It’s risky for a record company to break a new artist. They’re putting all this money behind an artist—money they’ll have to recoup. For an independent label, it’s an even higher risk than a major. So why not take all that risk out of the equation and turn it around?”

Fife clarifies that A-Grade Music isn’t signing artists, so the company doesn’t own IP — unless it collaborated on tracks with songwriting or composing. “Artists have the freedom. We’re not here to hold them back. They own the IP of any completed tracks and videos they want to get out there.”

Moreover, artist managers and mid-tier labels can utilize the expansive gamut of services that A-Grade Music brings to the table. ‘Purchase a Record Deal’ could be the missing piece of the puzzle that propels their artists to the next level.

Clearly, ‘Purchase a Record Deal’ isn’t just for early-stage artists trying to kick-start their careers. It’s also a fit for musicians wanting to re-enter the scene after a successful run in the past. That includes seasoned artists, allowing them to eat their cake and have it too — by retaining ownership of their IP and keeping all proceeds from sales.

‘Purchase a Record Deal’ makes sense for artists who are confident in their future prospects, and willing to invest in their talent and career.

Some labels now exclusively sign artists with established track records, existing fanbases, or a seriously viral moment. Against that reality, many musicians are seeing A-Grade Music as a stepping stone toward a conventional recording contract. With A-Grade’s professional services, artists can demonstrate their talent, popularity, and sales potential to mega-players in the industry.

For musicians who believe they can venture out on their own, their DIY fantasy typically underestimates the amount of time, money, and effort that goes into a label’s role.

A-Grade aims to fill that role for a lot less upfront cash compared to what artists will ultimately pay for studios, mastering, video production, promotions — and everything else that must be done for track production and release.

Fife explains how economies of scale allow the label to get things done cost-effectively for artists. “We’re not outsourcing anything. Recording studios, marketing, promotions, everything’s in place already. We’re doing everything any major record company does, and we have the infrastructure to tackle it all.”

A-Grade Music can take over everything from creation, marketing, release, distribution, and promotion of completed songs and videos — depending on the package purchased by an artist. With a multitude of features, artists get a chance to showcase their talent to the world from A-Grade Music headquarters based in the UK.

Every musician purchasing A-Grade Music’s record deal is assigned a creative music production team, which works alongside the artist to help maximize their artistic potential. With artist branding services, musicians develop their own brand of the desired style and sound to differentiate themselves from other artists. Moreover, merchandise and products are produced, marketed, and distributed via A-Grade Music websites and subsidiary outlets. ​

The label also combines a portfolio of campaign tools, including photography, video, image consultancy, recording studio, vocal coaches, web pages, social media, official channels, and promotions.

An extensive project management team supports every stage of an artist’s music journey. All music releases comply with UPC barcodes and international standard recording codes (ISRC), ensuring that all sales figures are reported to the Billboard charts, allowing artists to enter.

Speaking about what happens after an artist purchases a record deal from Grade-A Music, Fife explains, “You’d be given your schedule and tour manager. You’d get your track and video recorded. For the duration, you would have your accommodation, go to the recording studio, have an image consultant and a marketing team to get your social media profile up to where it’s meant to be. It is across the board, depending on what you purchase.”

Despite its ability to thrust artists into the spotlight, the company emphasizes that musicians are under no binding commitment to stay with A-Grade Music.

Fife is excited about the exposure and revenue artists can earn by taking charge of their careers, saying, “We’re not looking to tie an artist. The artist is a free agent.”

With ‘Purchase a Record Deal,’ A-Grade Music appears to be opening the doors to a one-of-a-kind opportunity for artists. It allows musicians to get ahead of the curve, and according to Fife, “That has never been done before.”

More questions than answers continue to surround the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) as both royalty payouts and unallocated ‘black box’ holding accounts reach astronomical levels.

The Mechanical Licensing Collective, or MLC, is now trumpeting cumulative payouts of more than $1 billion to songwriters, publishers, and other compositional IP owners since its formal inception in 2020. That heady payout, however, is being rivaled by unallocated ‘black box’ royalty accounts that may also be approaching the $1 billion threshold.

Details of the $1 billion payout threshold, which the MLC has described as properly collected and paid to rights owners, emerged this morning (February 27th). But the organization did not disclose dollar figures related to its unallocated ‘black box’ accounts, and executives have repeatedly declined any comment to Digital Music News on the matter.

Earlier this month, MLC tax filings shared with Digital Music News revealed an ‘unmatched royalties’ account topping at least $521 million in 2021 alone, with similarly-labeled line items potentially placing total black box royalties held by the organization at more than $700 million.

In the filing, large tranches of unmatched funds were sprinkled across several accounts, each with vague identifiers. Per the “Other Liabilities” section of a nearly 30-page-long IRS filing for 2021, “Unmatched Royalties” totaled $561,773,734 at 2021’s end. But the Mechanical Licensing Collective’s “Funds on Account” tipped $109,611,436 in 2021, the filing indicated, alongside $46,546,630 worth of “Royalty Liabilities.” The various accounts suggested a possible unallocated ‘black box’ total of nearly $718 million for 2021 alone, a substantial increase over 2020-level holdings.

Executives at the Mechanical Licensing Collective have repeatedly declined to offer additional information on unmatched totals.

MLC chief executive Kris Ahrend has declined multiple requests by Digital Music News to clarify the specific black box amounts held by the organization. Also declining comment is chief marketing officer Ellen Truley, who initially offered to explain the amounts but has since declined to offer any information. According to one source close to the operations of the MLC, Ahrend receives an estimated annual compensation package of nearly $1 million.

The enormous fund totals, held in MLC accounts and not paid to any rights owners, raise serious questions about inefficiencies and bloat at the organization. In 2021, the group revealed that it had ‘ingested’ approximately $424 million in unmatched mechanical royalties, though those totals appear to be ballooning. The initial tranche of unmatched funds were funneled from a range of streaming and online music partners, whose mechanical payment obligations were redirected through the MLC.

The tranche of unmatched funds also raises questions about the MLC’s ability to properly license, collect, match, and remunerate rights owners for mechanical licenses across platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. The organization was founded in 2020 following the passage of the Music Modernization Act (MMA), which received rare unanimous votes in both the House of Representatives and Senate before being signed by then-President Trump.

Another sticky question relates to the interest revenue being generated from the massive, unmatched ‘black box’ tranche.

In the current high-inflationary economic environment, cash accounts can readily accrue annual payouts in the 3.5-4% range, if not higher, with liquidity levels of 100% possible. A theoretical tranche of $1 billion in unmatched, unpaid royalties would amount to a single-year payout of roughly $40 million. The MLC has not offered any details on accrued interest profits, including the possibility of redistributions back to platforms like Spotify, rights owners, or the MLC itself.

Questions also surround the deadlines for matching funds and what happens to amounts deemed permanently ‘unmatchable.’ According to the current protocol described to DMN, existing rights owners would receive a portion of unmatched totals based on current market share totals. That would result in significant payouts to the largest music publishers, albeit from catalogs they do not own.

Pictured at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on February 5th, 2023 (l to r): Peter Leathem OBE, CEO of PPL; Gebre Waddell, CEO & Founder of Sound Credit; and Tim Smith, Bee Partners (Photo Credit: Sound Credit)

A just-signed Sound Credit-PPL partnership will now allow North American performers to better collect international royalties from a range of neighboring rights. Music rights holders can now increase their payouts from music played overseas in public (shops, bars, nightclubs) or broadcast (TV, radio, and some online streaming services).

The black box got a bit smaller this week, thanks to a cross-Atlantic partnership aimed at identifying and matching more music royalties to creators. Sound Credit and PPL have joined forces to bring international royalties to Sound Credit users based in North America. Both companies have been on a mission to provide comprehensive solutions for royalties via accuracy of metadata — and the infrastructure to support it all.

Since its launch in 2017, Sound Credit has become a powerhouse of metadata sharing and collection, amassing more than 15,000 users who are now cashing bigger and better royalty payouts. Labels, publishers, administrators, and independent artists rely on Sound Credit’s decentralized cloud-based architecture because it allows metadata capture at the place of origin, so more artists can be connected to royalties from the start of a project. DMN recently joined forces with Sound Credit to further expand metadata ingestion and resulting royalty collection.

Now, Sound Credit’s North American users can access PPL’s expertise in international collections of neighboring rights royalties. PPL currently represents over 100,000 performers and record labels, including the likes of John Legend, Anderson .Paak, and Rita Ora.

PPL reports that it collected $301.6 million in global royalties for 165,000 performers and recording rights holders in 2022. These payouts marked an impressive 7.1% increase in royalty collections compared to 2021, with payments made directly to PPL members or to non-members via various collective management organizations (CMOs) working with the company.

Neighboring rights, sometimes called ‘related rights,’ can be tricky to capture. Songs frequently have multiple rights owners, particularly across the recording and publishing components of a work. Threading those rights, even across the same song, has proven complex and a source of significant unrecognized royalties.

Terms of the deal were finalized in the run-up to the Grammys in Los Angeles, with Sound Credit structuring the deal via its sister brand Soundways.

Speaking to Digital Music News about the Sound Credit-Soundways-PPL partnership, Sound Credit CEO Gebre Waddell said, “We are thrilled to be working with PPL to provide our community in North America access to PPL’s expertise in the international collection of neighboring rights royalties. Our partnership will help ensure that artists and rights holders are properly compensated for their work, and that the process of collecting and distributing neighboring rights royalties is as smooth as possible.”

Photo Credit: @ppl_uk/Instagram

CEO of PPL, Peter Leathem OBE, also spoke about the partnership, saying, “We are aligned in our ambition to improve data quality across the global music industry, and have been impressed by the suite of services offered by Sound Credit to support the music community. I am delighted that we will be further developing our relationship with Sound Credit to provide neighboring rights international collections for performers that work with them. This agreement is the next logical step in working together to ensure performers and recording rights holders get paid swiftly and accurately for the use of their music around the world.”

The two companies have collaborated since 2019 to improve accuracy of performer data on recordings, and ensure quicker royalty payouts via Sound Credit’s ecosystem. Sound Credit’s North American performers can also opt to give PPL their metadata and recording information, so it can be shared and distributed throughout the music industry supply chain.

Following the partnership announcement, Sound Credit also revealed a $30 million advance facility that provides artists and industry professionals the resources they need to manage neighboring rights royalties.

This industry-leading chunk of money will provide artists monetary advances on future expected earnings, which can then be used to cover expenses or investments in new projects.

Sound Credit has always aimed to connect more artists to lost royalties, and this partnership with PPL appears to be another step in that direction. With a desktop app, two mobile apps, and metadata collection kiosks, Sound Credit has managed to create a network of over 150 major music organizations, with the aim of streamlining complicated processes for the broader music industry.

Photo Credit: Borko Manigoda

Big things are afoot at DMN — but we need your help. Please take this quick survey to tell us more about where you’d like to see Digital Music News expand. It takes less than 10 minutes and will help us shape our next steps.

Whether you’ve been in the music industry for 20 years or 20 days, you’re probably reading Digital Music News. Now, we’re mapping out our heady expansion plans for 2023 and beyond – and taking the critical first step of figuring out just what the music industry wants most.

If you’re involved in any aspect of the music industry – or connected to the music industry in any way – we’d love to hear more about who you are, and what you’d like to see us develop to fit your needs. That includes everyone from creatives to executives of all stripes, as well as anyone tied into the music industry ecosystem.

Please take this quick survey to tell us more – it takes less than 10 minutes and will help us shape our next steps.

Also: we’re giving out several $250 Amazon gift cards to lucky survey-takers (or, alternatively, you can donate $500 to a music-focused charity).

Throughout, we’re aiming to learn more about how you currently consume DMN, where you are situated in the music industry or greater business ecosystem, and what would be most useful and additive to your endeavors and objectives. Most importantly, we want to ensure that we’re constantly delivering what the music industry community needs.

Any and all feedback is welcomed, including extemporaneous and lavish praise. Alternatively, we’re also accepting suggestions on where to stuff certain things 😊.

So take a moment to take our survey and help shape our steps – and tailor our next offerings to what you need the most. Thanks!

Photo Credit: Jonas Leupe

More catalog tracks are charting on Spotify than ever before. So Playlist Push has shifted its focus — helping ‘old’ become ‘new’ again.

Since 2020, the portion of Spotify’s Global Weekly Top Songs represented by catalog has increased by 155%, according to the company. The streaming platform defines catalog as any track over 18 months old.

Insights from the study make it abundantly clear that promoting older tracks is working. Almost a third of 2022’s charting songs are catalog, and fans are now searching for and streaming older tracks. Nearly three-quarters of active streams (from listener playlists, album pages, artist profiles, and liked songs) are catalog. For listeners under 26, the portion of total streams represented by music from the 80s has increased by 45% during the last four years.

The shift isn’t happening entirely by accident. Behind the scenes, players like Playlist Push are helping to intensify the trend. “This year we’re promoting 60% more catalog tracks versus last year, and the trend continues to grow,” George Goodrich, co-founder of Playlist Push, told Digital Music News.

As catalog claims a more significant part of the spotlight, artists and labels want to monetize their own. Playlist Push has set its sights on doing precisely that — for all rights holders playing the catalog game. The company recently joined forces with DMN to further expand its catalog successes.

Publishers and catalog owners are also seizing the opportunity to increase the ROI of their IP, whether recently acquired or owned for decades.

According to Goodrich, “This year, we’ve had publishers and labels going into their archives to find tracks that never got a chance to reach their full potential because streaming and playlist promotion didn’t exist when they were released.”

Reenergizing, boosting, and exploiting these long-owned catalogs is now a music industry focus. Investors sitting on massive IP acquisitions are betting that there’s still more juice in those catalogs. But they need a promotional engine to beef up those purchases — and recoup millions in acquisition costs.

Playlist Push Director of Strategy Alex Mitchell-Hardt spoke about how robust the catalog landscape has become. His company currently manages catalog campaigns from both major labels and independent artists. “Our business when we first started was all about ‘new.’ We were only promoting new singles,” Mitchell-Hardt explained. “Now we see more labels and publishers promoting older songs, recognizing the long tail in revenue and consumption that streaming services provide.”

For artists, this trend of promoting the ‘old’ puts an end to the constant pressure of making a big splash with a new track.

Artists also realize that they need to do more than just push newer stuff. More artists are now exploiting their older tracks for what they’re worth. They no longer have to wait to release a new single to see a spike in streams.

Goodrich explained that artists’ catalogs could be smartly leveraged to raise awareness of new releases. “When you look at the bigger picture, listeners simply want to hear great music and aren’t concerned with when it was released. We’ve also seen artists who’ve experienced a long hiatus promote a catalog song to increase discoverability for a new and upcoming song.”

For indie producers and creators sitting on substantial catalogs, Playlist Push is breathing new life into old.

Sync placements are also propelling catalogs into the limelight. After a juicy placement, tracks from any era can pop up on TikTok and Spotify to score a significant audience.

It’s no secret that sync opportunities can completely redefine the value of a catalog. Following the placement of ‘Running Up That Hill’ on Netflix’s Stranger Things, Kate Bush’s catalog saw a surge of 439%, with streams exploding on all platforms. Analyzing a set of syncs with Netflix, a Spotify study reveals that artist discoveries typically jump between 50-6,000% — and the rest of the catalog also gets a boost.

Moreover, TikTok is driving the trend of viral videos shuttling listeners onto streaming platforms. Spotify reports that one track’s viral moment can trigger a 70% increase in streams for the rest of the artist’s music.

So how does Playlist Push work?

Playlist Push aims to give an organic lift to otherwise stagnant catalogs. The company is utilizing its extensive network of playlist curators to thread tracks into prominent playlists. Playlist Push also has the tools to line up major sync opportunities that set up artists and catalog owners for growth. With multiple complementing campaign tools, Playlist Push is giving catalog the marketing boost it needs to shine.

The company finds ways to maximize the value of giant, under-exploited catalogs. According to Goodrich, “It could be a catalog a publisher has had for over 20 years.”

But the company is working with more than just high-profile IP. Smaller, niche catalogs that didn’t have marketing dollars to get the word out are now amplifying promotion with Playlist Push.

Massive shifts in the overall music industry landscape have made it more challenging than ever to break something new. So why not start with something old?

While discussing ever-changing listening habits and grabbing audience attention, Mitchell-Hardt said, “It all comes down to getting the music in the ears of the right audience and that’s what our platform is designed to do.”

Goodrich added that Playlist Push campaigns drive artists forward, “Our campaigns help build your streaming presence and feed the Spotify algorithm.”

Karen Waldrup, one of a growing number of artists using Rhythmic Rebellion.

Rhythmic Rebellion has long helped artists, labels, and others to build and benefit from fan relationships by harnessing the power of one-stop digital platforms. Now, with a number of success stories to its credit, the company is making a stronger case than ever for controlling and capitalizing upon the listener support that fuels career results.

Rhythmic Rebellion’s value proposition to the music industry is straightforward enough. In a decentralized entertainment landscape, why not develop a centralized, all-encompassing online marketplace and community geared towards dedicated fans?

Founded by singer-songwriter Greg Allen, the company enables professionals (labels and management agencies among them) to do just that, beginning with an intuitive website builder and any necessary technical support. Rhythmic Rebellion also comes with an easy-to-use email generator, facilitates digital and physical music sales, hosts livestreams and fan clubs, and allows creators to offer exclusive content to their most engaged followers.

Meanwhile, in expanding the reach of supporter hubs, artists and their teams are simultaneously building email lists that will prove valuable in the long term, as social media upstarts burst onto the scene and formerly high-flying players recede from the spotlight or cease operating altogether.

What’s more is that these social services effectively own the fans (and their data) who follow and engage with artists – the most significant assets in the contemporary music arena.

Of course, just because fan relationships begin on TikTok, Instagram, or Twitter doesn’t mean that they must end there. But amid an industry-wide push to make a splash on social media, particularly with short-form videos, conversations about how to transition followers to a more targeted community are comparatively few and far between.

At best, the ultimate result of this tunnel-vision approach to social media is that labels, management firms, and artists themselves will pay to communicate with and promote releases to their followers. In doing so, members of the music community are missing out on revenue, data, and the inherent commercial longevity associated with cultivating diehard fanbases as opposed to part-time supporters. Just recently, DMN and Rhythmic Rebellion joined forces to shift the focus towards more controllable hubs.

“We need to use these other platforms like tools,” Rhythmic Rebellion head Greg Allen told Digital Music News. “While gaining followers on social media, we need to also make those fans part of a community that labels and artists own.”

Artists including reggae singer Gyptian have tapped into the commercial potential of robust fan communities via Rhythmic Rebellion.

With the highly competitive streaming era in full swing, it’s no longer enough to make excellent music available to fans and occasionally post on social media. Connecting with supporters (and analyzing the hard numbers behind their purchases and preferences) is an integral component of successful careers.

Importantly, the problem’s solution – a centralized platform for maximizing the professional advantages of hard-won fans – likewise presents a major opportunity. Aside from laying the groundwork for meaningful fan interactions, carefully maintained and feature-heavy online communities offer an array of benefits (including improved data collection and ARPU) that social media and run-of-the-mill websites cannot.

Seoul-headquartered Hybe has already demonstrated the viability of the overarching model with WeVerse, a roughly three-year-old fan-community platform that remains popular among BTS enthusiasts. Hybe disclosed that the service boasted seven million MAUs as of Q3 2022, and execs are expanding upon the ultra-dedicated userbase by adding more artists and paid-subscription features.

For the wider music industry, Rhythmic Rebellion says that its platform can enable labels, publishers, management teams, and others to generate material revenue from the high-volume (but low-paying and fleeting) fan interest delivered by streaming and social media.

“I like to think that we can help every label on the planet increase their revenue,” continued Allen, whose service is available on web browsers as well as iOS and Android. “We’ve got merch stores built right in. We’ve got livestreaming built right in, and we have fan clubs built right in. Subscriptions or free, however you want to do it.”

At the core of these varied offerings are communities – extending to individual artists and whole labels – that some of the largest music businesses in the world neglect or overlook entirely.

Energetic fans will always find a way to connect and support their favorite acts, including through social media groups and live shows. But when it’s harder than ever to generate interest in music, fragmented collections of dedicated supporters represent lost potential and missed opportunities.

That’s because interactive artist communities are inherently better positioned to drive engagement and revenue. And in the absence of a reliable community-focused solution, fan interaction will simply revolve around the exchange of occasional messages, culminating (in the best-case scenario) with merch sales at performances.

By enabling like-minded individuals to communicate (among themselves and directly with artists) between shows and releases, however, Rhythmic Rebellion says that it’s affording fans optimal experiences and allowing labels and others to capitalize upon the vast commercial potential at hand.

Some of the many items available for purchase through the merch store that Ariel Bellvalaire built with Rhythmic Rebellion.

Besides the above-mentioned core offerings, supporters can currently comment on releases and videos, participate in contests, and sing along to songs with karaoke mode on Rhythmic Rebellion, which intends to continue building out moving forward.

“We can take this foundation and get ideas from artists, get ideas from labels, and we can continue to build to truly make it the most – I like to call it the ultimate entertainment and shopping experience on the planet,” Allen told us.

If recent years’ industry evolution is any indication, there’s no telling exactly which changes are in store for the music world and the broader entertainment sphere. Nevertheless, it’s clear that securing the attention of fans, keeping them engaged, and monetizing their interest is becoming exceedingly difficult.

“I always tell everybody I have two goals,” finished Allen. “Number one, build communities. Number two, help monetize those communities. That’s what indie artists need more than anything, and increasing revenue is labels’ whole goal. Well, you need to have the community first. We’re built to do both of those things and do them well.”

Feel free to continue the community building conversation with Greg at gregea@rhythmic-rebellion.com.

Tunefind has published its year-end round-up for top sync placements in 2022 — and older tracks are still making a serious dent. With decades-old tracks snatching up significant sync opportunities and stealing the spotlight, catalog is now an undeniably major part of the sync landscape.

The following was created in collaboration with Songtradr, part of a broader partnership focused on the sync licensing space.  Be sure to check our ongoing coverage of this fast-growing sector here. 

The current landscape is seeing more catalog tracks charting on Spotify than ever before. A study conducted by Spotify reports that in 2022, almost a third of charting songs were catalog. The groundswell is largely being powered by juicy sync placements on major TV shows and films.

So is sync the new radio? It’s becoming increasingly apparent that artist catalogs are a treasure trove of monetizable assets, finding incredible new value in this music climate. These long-forgotten tracks are being touted as underexploited gems as producers propel them back into the spotlight with sync placements in television shows and movies.

The most remarkable aspect of sync placements is making itself known: the promotional impact achieved by sync does more than just put that particular track in the spotlight. Older tracks are attaining their prime — decades after they were first produced — and their popularity boosts streams and views for artists’ catalogs. A Spotify study revealed that one viral track or placement boosts streams for the artist’s entire catalog by 70%.

Music supervisors and labels use Songtradr’s music-tracking platform, Tunefind, to research sync placements in movies and TV series.

Tunefind tracks sync placements across the visual media landscape, regardless of a song’s release date. But the older stuff seems to be getting the most attention these days. When Netflix’s Stranger Things catapulted ‘Running up the Hill’ into the spotlight, Kate Bush saw a resurgence of streams on all platforms and generated millions with her 37-year-old track. However, that’s not the only catalog track that attained incredible new heights with sync.

For example, Tunefind’s list of top sync placements for 2022 includes ‘Dead of Night’ by Orville Peck, released in 2019, which was featured in Euphoria episode Trying to Get to Heaven Before They Close the Door.

These are merely the tip of the catalog iceberg. Tunefind’s list also includes several older tracks that gained massive listener resurgence after scoring significant placements.

Still from the video for Killer Mike’s ‘Untitled.’

Song: ‘Untitled’ (2012)

Artist: Killer Mike

Placement. Ozark S4E3 City on The Make

Killer Mike has been releasing singles since 2002, with his song ‘Untitled’ released in the 2012 album R.A.P. Music. Right after Ozark’s episode City on The Make aired on January 21, 2022, Killer Mike’s decade-old track ‘Untitled’ exploded on all major streaming platforms. Spotify streams spiked on January 29, gaining thousands of new streams every day, Chartmetric data shows.

Killer Mike’s ‘Untitled’ experienced a listenership spike on Spotify following a January placement in Netflix’s Ozark S4E3, City on The Make, which lasted several months. Photo Credit: Chartmetric

January 29 featured over 13,000 streams, and popularity stayed consistently high throughout the first half of the year. Scoring an average of 6,000 streams per day until May, numbers slowly leveled out months later. Of course, the figure marks an incredible gain from before its placement in Ozark. ‘Untitled’ had recorded a total of 1.7 million streams before the sync, and that number has now bumped to almost 2.8 million — almost 1.1 million additional streams since January.

Killer Mike also enjoyed a surge in YouTube viewers for its track ‘Untitled,’ gaining an additional 150,000 views following the Ozark placement.

Still from the video for O’Conner’s ‘Drink Before the War’

Song: ‘Drink Before the War’ (1987)

Artist: Sinead O’Connor

Placement: Euphoria S2E4 You Who Cannot See, Think of Those Who Can

Originally released in 1987 as part of the album The Lion and The Cobra, ‘Drink Before the War,’ is written and co-produced by O’Connor. 35-years after it was first released, the track received a spectacular revival, gaining immense popularity after a major sync propelled it into the spotlight.

Featured in the second season of popular teen drama, Euphoria, which was released on HBO and HBO Max, the track rose from its silent catalog existence to reach incredible numbers of younger listeners.

Spotify streams for ‘Drink Before the War’ were consistently high during the 4 months following its placement in Euphoria Season 2. Photo Credit: Chartmetric.

After the Euphoria episode You Who Cannot See, Think of Those Who Can featured in 2022, Spotify streams rose in July and continued a steady incline in per day streams.

Since its placement, O’Conner’s track has gained an additional 3.5+ million Spotify streams, a 28.33% total increase, Chartmetric data shows.

Moreover, YouTube views for ‘Drink Before The War’ currently stand at a total of 2.1 million, which represents a whopping 50% increase during 2022. This sync placement has gained O’Conner’s track an additional 700,000 new views.

The YouTube video gained almost 700,000 new views on YouTube since its sync placement on the hit Netflix show.

‘Drink Before The War’ also attained 1 million Shazam counts since it was featured on Euphoria.

Still from the video for ‘Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)’ Bryce Muller/Alloy Tracks Remix 2022

Song: ‘Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)’ (1983)

Artist: Journey, Steve Perry

Placement. Stranger Things S4E8 Papa

‘Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)’ was recorded in 1983 by Journey and Steven Perry for their album Frontiers. It was the first single for which the band shot an actual choreographed video — all previous videos released before that had been recorded performances.

For Stranger Things episode Papa, Bryce Miller and Alloy Tracks remixed the original song, and reportedly, Steven Perry liked it so much that he suggested an extended version that was released in 2022.

After being featured on Stranger Things, the track ‘Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)’ hit incredible highs on Spotify. It gained an impressive number of streams up until July — two months after its May placement. By August, the numbers eventually settled down to an average of 200,000 streams a day — a phenomenal achievement for a 39-year-old track. During December, the track still sees roughly 65,000 streams per day, Chartmetric data shows.

Catalog tracks have seen massive resurgence in popularity through sync. Since its May 27 feature on Stranger Things, ‘Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)’ gained 42 million new Spotify streams. Photo Credit: Chartmetric

On TikTok, the track appeared right after its appearance on Netflix. The song has now been featured in over 700,000 videos, triggering a spillover of listeners onto all other streaming platforms.

‘Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)’ also got its fair share of videos on TikTok, scoring 70,000 posts since its sync placement.

Sync placements are luring new listener demographics to older artist tables.

Practically speaking, catalog tracks are only ‘old’ for older audiences, but virtually brand new to audiences watching TV shows and movies today. That’s exactly why these viewers are spiking Spotify stream numbers so aggressively — they’ve discovered something ‘new.’ Listening to these catalog tracks in the backdrop of their favorite shows triggers a unique attachment experience, and that’s clearly working out big time for artists that score these notable placements.

This listener experience has certainly redesigned the music landscape, and the change is here to stay. With artist discoveries multiplying thousands of times over after making notable sync appearances, it’s obvious that sync is the new radio. Now, everyone wants a piece of the pie.

Dr. Dre’s seminal The Chronic: is it part of this juicy deal?

Dr. Dre has reportedly sold a sizable chunk of his music rights — at a juicy multiple — to Shamrock Holdings and Universal Music Group.

Outrageous music IP acquisition deals ground to a halt last year — though not entirely. The tail end of ’22 featured rumors of a high-priced deal between Justin Bieber and the Blackstone-backed Hipgnosis Song Capital. Now, those who ‘forgot about Dre’ in the IP acquisition frenzy are being reminded of his lucrative catalog holdings.

According to details emerging Wednesday evening (January 11th), Dre’s assets are reportedly being sold for north of $200 million, with Shamrock Holdings and Universal Music Group doing the bidding.

The deals are apparently separate, though more details are expected to emerge over the next 24-48 hours. Billboard pegged the combined acquisition price at $200 million, while Variety pitched it closer to $250 million. The breakdown of ownership between the companies is unclear at this stage. And exactly what is included in those deals also remains unknown, though Dr. Dre’s venerable solo albums and rights in N.W.A releases are reportedly involved.

It’s also worth noting that Shamrock Capital Advisors, instead of Shamrock Holdings, may be the acquirer in question. Those entities are related but separate, with Shamrock Capital a successor company to Shamrock Holdings — a detail frequently confused. In November of 2020, Shamrock Capital acquired the complicated rights to Taylor Swift’s recorded music catalog from Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings and investment group Carlyle Group.

Also unclear is whether Dre’s rights in the seminal rap classic, The Chronic, are factored into the acquisition. The album remains a revered classic decades after its release, and a cornerstone of hip hop and gangsta rap history.

Of course, Dr. Dre is a storied hip-hop producer, which introduces another portfolio of rights. Across his varied catalog, Dre could carry publishing, recording, a writer’s share, or any combination thereof. Billboard and Variety have estimated that Dr. Dre’s holdings in play are spinning off $10 million in revenue annually, putting the $200-$250 million price tag at a frothy 20-25x multiple.

That’s reminiscent of the old days — i.e., the world up until about one year ago.

These days, the biggest bull in the race, Hipgnosis, is largely silent, while mega-multiple acquisitions are rare. Case in point: a rumored $500 million acquisition of Pink Floyd’s catalog has failed to materialize — despite months of speculation. Even the rumored Bieber acquisition has yet to be confirmed.

That would make the deal involving Dre doubly impressive — that is, if it materializes.

More as this develops.

Photo Credit: Create Music Group

Long payment cycles have remained endemic in the music industry. While some streaming platforms like YouTube pay royalties monthly, many labels haven’t allowed that swiftness to trickle down to artists. Against that backdrop, Create Music Group is giving artists more insights and more money for their work — and paying it out faster.

Labels and rights organizations have notoriously normalized painfully long payment turnarounds. After making collections from digital service providers (DSPs), some labels make artist payments annually, biannually, or at best — quarterly.

With major digital service providers (DSPs) typically paying out royalties every 30-60 days, this industry ‘norm’ poses a serious question: do labels lack the tech to ensure artists receive their payments faster, or are other factors at work?

According to a survey of 750 creators from the U.S. and U.K., 90% reported experiencing issues getting paid. When it came to choosing a payment platform, secure payments was the top must-have, and 47% said on-time payments was their second biggest requirement.

Against that backdrop, Create Music Group is presenting a somewhat unique proposition: a one-month payout cycle. As a result, the indie platform appears to have gained traction by achieving a serious competitive advantage.

Turnaround times can indeed be fast, with transparency to boot. Create noted that statements can ingest all DSP details and breakdowns, including every asset and artist split. According to Create Music Group’s SVP of Finance, Zach Victor, “As soon as that money comes in, we’re paying it that same month. This doesn’t just translate to happier partners, but also better business.”

By partnering with Tipalti, Create Music Group has been able to modernize, centralize and consolidate payment processes with end-to-end automation.

At a top level, Tipalti has eliminated 80% of Create Music Group’s payable workload with advanced automation. Tipalti noted that it now manages all of Create’s payment needs, including artist (aka partner) payments and accounts payable (AP). Last year, DMN joined forces with Tipalti to further showcase its backend financial capabilities.

A key component of the payout process is Create Music Group’s home-grown Label Engine system, which is designed to ingest DSP statements from across the globe. It can then quickly spit out an automated monthly statement for every artist or label by asset, DSP and split. These statement amounts can then be imported into Tipalti in minutes, and paid the same day.

Victor talked about how manual processes that used to take several days now take one hour. “Our team was tied up in so much manual processing, and payments weren’t accurate either. They would miss getting marked leading to duplicate payments, or altogether skipped payments.”

Tipalti’s cloud infrastructure is built for mass scale, powered by a multi-entity architecture for performance, reliability and security of payments. Following the integration of Tipalti, Victor reports that it’s now easier to onboard new payees and partners, no matter where they are in the world. Information is more up-to-date and artists know more about their income.

Tipalti’s end-to-end automated solutions are built to handle every step of the payables cycle.

An automated email system notifies artists of the status of payments, so they know when they get paid – and what they can expect to get paid. Victor explained how Tipalti has allowed Create Music Group to evolve, saying, “Before Tipalti, we couldn’t communicate to all the artists when payments actually went out. We got bombarded in our AP inbox with hundreds of emails, wondering where payments are. That’s been a huge advantage — the transparency across the process.”

Additionally, Tipalti offers Create Music Group various payment methods, including wire transfer, ACH, PayPal and more. Moreover, Tipalti has a pre-built, bidirectional integration to Create’s ERP, Oracle NetSuite, which helps provide a single-source of truth for finance.

Victor spoke about the future of Tipalti within Create Music Group’s unique offering to the music industry. “It has improved our business tremendously with regards to  global payments and AP,” Victor relayed. “Over the next couple of years, we’re looking to build a whole new label engine that will have deeper integrations with Tipalti. Everything will be integrated.”

Create Music Group’s one-month payment turnaround has the potential to become a processing yardstick and competitive advantage in the coming years.

With the complex set of income-generating events leading up to artist royalty payments, and different right holders’ unique shares of and splits, labels have their hands full. Accuracy of transactions that include ingestion of all assets, splits and shares are a rare find.

Create Music Group has signed artists like Tory Lanez, Marshmello and The Chainsmokers. Victor says this is because “artists don’t just make money quicker, they also make more with us.”

The indie platform also offers a bigger split of artists’ hard-earned royalties. Victor explained, “Once a major label deal runs out, many artists come to us because they have been getting splits typically under 50%. We’re flipping that, and artists get 70-80% of the split by partnering with us and they keep control of their masters. That’s a much better deal, and we can still give advances like a major label does.”

Tipalti emphasized the breadth of financial capabilities they can empower, all of which enable greater efficiency, scale and flexibility with clients. Case in point: Tipalti’s backend payment capabilities have allowed Create Music Group to process other, more complicated micro transactions — ultimately enabling Create to enhance artist income.

Victor spoke about how the viral video rights management and licensing branch of Create Music Group, Yoon, helps content creators syndicate and monetize videos that get published across social media channels, and that’s “something that major labels don’t do.”

“This can be thousands of creators and we needed a solution that could easily and quickly onboard them,” Victor noted.

Create Music Group does more than just distribution. One of the company’s biggest wins: their home brand FlightHouse owns a 28 million-subscriber TikTok platform.

Talking about this, Victor said, “We call ourselves an audience company rather than a music distribution company. We own audience, including a vast social media network and music tastemaker channels like The Nations and DubstepGutter, and we believe that’s the future for a modern music company.”

Bloomberg recently reported TikTok generated revenues approaching $4 billion in 2021. The social media platform is expected to rake in a whopping $12 billion in 2022.

Create Music Group believes social media is going to represent 40% of royalty checks within five years. Right now, it’s less than 10%. Victor confidently exclaims that “TikTok’s going to keep growing, and Tipalti’s expanding financial capabilities will help Create Music Group organize the detailed payables data they need to drive decisions.”

The company is not only expecting TikTok to rake in stronger revenues ahead, but also expects growth via YouTube. With 25% of YouTube’s audience now on YouTube Shorts — which will start monetizing by the end of this year — Create Music Group is projecting another revenue stream for artists. That’s just one expansion Tipalti aims to quickly enable, especially as the user-generated content landscape – and its revenue picture – continues to rapidly evolve in the coming years.

Originally a YouTube claiming company, Create Music Group has now grown into a worldwide distributor, content creator and marketing agency. The company’s major goal is “putting artists in control by providing transparency and fast payments, so they can focus on doing their creative thing.” According to Victor, “We’re the partner artists need for everything — from distribution to marketing and everything else.”

The company is also creating waves with Create Carbon, the first credit card for music creators. The concept  is in a pilot program currently, but will allow artists to access their earnings as soon as they’re earned, rather than having to wait for regular monthly payouts.

Extended Remix: Learn about the intricacies of streaming music platforms and the takeaways for the creator economy in Tipalti’s webinar, ‘New Rules for the Creator Economy: Lessons in Transformation from the Music Industry’.

The first song for the year will be released in February. “Rest In My Shadow” is written by Troy Raymond, and re-recorded by The Voice finalist Ryan Whyte.

Tunedly, a company that first splashed onto the scene with a decentralized music recording and collaboration concept is now seeing serious traction on its unconventional ‘Masked Music Discovery Platform.’

Tunedly’s decentralized platform for recording music involves a network of studio pros and musicians. The company’s roster of session musicians has made it easier for artists to assemble teams and dramatically lower the cost of recording music. Tunedly estimates that Rihanna spends roughly $50,000 to record a hit song, while an artist using Tunedly can slash that cost by more than 90%.

Beyond the recording and studio platform, Tunedly has been spending the past few months expanding its ‘Masked Music Discovery Platform,’ which aims to put songwriters and performers on an equal playing field with seasoned musicians.

In a nutshell, the discovery platform ‘masks’ non-musical elements like the artist’s name and image to avoid selection bias and help lesser-known indies and unsigned artists receive a more authentic evaluation. DMN first joined forces with Tunedly last year to further accelerate this fast-growing concept.

Chris Erhardt, Tunedly’s CEO and cofounder, told DMN that the goal is to isolate great songwriting and artists by stripping out the fluff of celebrity names and promotional hype. “The problem with existing music discovery services is that they replicate existing inequalities in the music industry,” Erhardt said. “Unsigned artists are at a disadvantage because it’s not a true level playing field, and they are judged on more than just their music.”

The platform analyzes listener stats and streaming patterns, unlocking opportunities for audience favorites to earn lucrative publishing deals with Tunedly in partnership with Spirit Music Group.

Tunedly also rewards listeners for their role in selecting winning songs — making artist success a community project.

Listeners can earn TunedCoin (TUC), Tunedly’s native crypto token. The ability to earn TunedCoin while they discover and rate music facilitates a community aspect, ultimately allowing deserving artists the opportunity to acquire a publishing deal.

For listeners, signing up for Tunedly is free of charge. The platform notes their genre of choice, and every listener receives one ‘star’ per day to place on any song they believe has the potential to become a hit.

Tunedly’s algorithm tracks a range of usage stats, including listener metrics like stars given to songs, number of skips, and average listening duration, among other metrics. That data allows Tunedly’s A&R team to sift through thousands of tracks and judge which songs have the most potential. A community-selected track can ultimately bubble into a publishing deal with Tunedly in cooperation with Spirit Music Group.

Other perks also await participants. If a listener gives their star to a song that ends up receiving a publishing deal, they obtain that song’s NFT. Moreover, the first 1,000 listeners who initially awarded their star to that winning song will receive 1 TunedCoin each.

Apart from TunedCoin bringing access to exclusive events, every listener who owns that song’s NFT and TunedCoins is eligible to receive a split of royalties from that song, facilitated by Tunedly’s TunedCoin project.

The more TunedCoin a listener owns, the higher their share of Tunedly royalties. This blockchain-fueled reward mechanism encourages user engagement and has drawn the attention of artists, publishers, agents, managers, and more. The platform is a way to involve music fans and enhance the perceived value of music, which Erhardt says has been lost with the emergence of unlimited music streaming platforms.

Royalty splits are dictated by individual TunedCoin holdings. As a hypothetical explanation, if Tunedly and one other individual are the sole owners of an NFT of a song, and each owns 100 TunedCoins, a $1,000 royalty will be split as $500 each. However, the following month, if the user acquired an additional 200 TunedCoins and now owns 300 TunedCoins, while Tunedly’s share remains 100 TunedCoins, the $1,000 royalty would be split differently. From the same hypothetical $1,000 royalty, 75% would go to the user (receiving $750), and Tunedly would retain merely 25% ($250).

Tunedly’s inclusion, rewards, and support model is unusual, though the aim is to surface artists that could potentially make waves. As 2023 kicks off, the company is focused on providing lucrative deals to independent musicians and artists who deserve an audience.

A SiriusXM summary snapshot on Chartmetric for soul singer Bobby Caldwell and his 1978 smash, “What You Won’t Do for Love.”

One of the music industry’s best-paying platforms is now comprehensively tracked by Chartmetric.

Last month, we covered Chartmetric’s sizable ‘version 2’ upgrade, which includes critical TikTok tracking capabilities. But the company’s latest addition involves a platform conceptualized when TikTok was almost unimaginable.

Tucked within Chartmetric’s recently-launched Airplay monitoring section is a toggle for SiriusXM Satellite Radio. SiriusXM is a platform that rarely grabs headlines but frequently beats rivals in terms of per-stream royalties and promotional impact. Chartmetric’s SiriusXM tracking coexists alongside conventional broadcast radio monitoring, which includes major radio stations across all five continents and more than 30 countries.

That includes the United States, where SiriusXM finds most of its subscribers (the satellite radio provider is available in the US and Canada). But unlike US-based broadcast radio stations, which only pay royalties to publishers and songwriters, SiriusXM pays royalties for both publishing and recording streams.

That makes a noticeable difference for artists enjoying regular spins on Sirius stations. That includes Bobby Caldwell, whose soulful classic, “What You Won’t Do for Love,” is played regularly on stations like Yacht Rock and The Blend. “Sirius definitely plays a lot of Bobby’s music,” Caldwell’s wife and manager, Mary Beth Caldwell, told Digital Music News. “They play him a lot on Yacht Rock.”

That translates into a noticeable paycheck, though Caldwell admitted that it remains difficult to verify every play. “I ask myself: is that really all of the plays?”

Chartmetric’s tracking was partly designed with that problem in mind — and DMN recently joined the effort to spread the solution. Sirius pays recording royalties through SoundExchange, and Caldwell shared that SoundExchange paychecks are now arriving monthly. Now, the next step is verifying the stream counts tabulated by Chartmetric against the monthly breakdowns, an audit that was difficult to conduct previously.

Looking ahead, a sizable discrepancy could result in substantial royalty increases. Mary Beth shared that Bobby’s Spotify payments are substantially larger, based on the enormous streaming volume difference between the two platforms. Pound-for-pound, however, Sirius takes the per-stream royalty cake: according to one recent report, a single play on SiriusXM can generate up to $44. By comparison, Apple Music pays a penny per play, while Spotify pays substantially less than half a penny.

But it’s not just royalties that make SiriusXM a critical platform for artists. According to Big Machine Label Group founder, president, and CEO Scott Borchetta, SiriusXM is an indispensable launchpad for his roster of artists.

“SiriusXM is a critical partner for us,” Borchetta told DMN. “The argument could be made that ‘The Highway’ is the biggest country music station in America. When we have a real record, the Highway moves the national needle almost immediately for us in streams and sales.”

“They also have the ability to move on multiple key tracks from a project which only helps us break artists quicker and establish the value of a body of work.”

Big Machine’s roster is formidable, with superstars like Tim McGraw, Sheryl Crow, Thomas Rhett, Carly Pearce, Midland, and Lady A, among others. Those artists receive substantial streams on platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. However, the pound-for-pound promotional and royalty impact is far more significant on SiriusXM for certain artists.

For Chartmetric, the goal is to track every platform relevant to an artist or song. That introduces a complex interplay, though the dashboard for SiriusXM Satellite Radio is relatively simple.

While SiriusXM boasts hundreds of stations across its network of satellite, streaming, and app-based platforms, this is a relatively contained platform. Geographically, SiriusXM is limited to North America, and the dial features plenty of talk-only stations like Howard Stern and sports programming. On the musical side, most songs land on a limited number of genre-specific stations.

Accordingly, Chartmetric’s breakdown for a specific song focuses on plays across relevant stations. Total plays are split between these stations, offering an easy glance for anyone tracking the action.

Case in point: Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” easily one of the holiday season’s biggest songs, is receiving spins on eight different SiriusXM stations. Incidentally, the biggest station is ‘TikTok Radio,’ which speaks volumes on how interconnected platforms have become in the music industry. It’s also a major reason Chartmetric covers both platforms – and a lot in-between.

Indeed, no platform is an island, and Chartmetric has already started mapping connections.

The company also lists every SiriusXM channel and its corresponding followers on TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and even SoundCloud. Some stations are bigger than others – and, accordingly, are more interconnected with social media platforms.

During its most recent quarterly investor call, SiriusXM revealed 34.17 million paying subscribers. That’s slightly down from last year and pales in comparison to platforms like Spotify, which most recently reported 195 million paying subscribers. But despite the discrepancy, SiriusXM has a stable bulwark of dedicated listeners — and arguably, a more potent platform for artists. Now, with Chartmetric’s recent integration, SiriusXM is far more accessible to artist marketing plans and analytics tracking.