SoundExchange payments were up 29.2% last quarter. So while the U.S. digital PRO has taken some big hits lately, mostly thanks to Pandora and other direct licensing deals, this impressive growth should quiet any disparaging talk of its ongoing relevancy.
Source: SoundExchange Payments Rise 29% In Q3, Artists And Labels Paid Jump 45% – hypebot
CD Baby has acquired Show.co, the digital music marketing platform; and the indie digital distributor has big plans for it and Show.co’s Soundrop app, which was at one time the most popular playlisting and social listening app for Spotify.
For the first time, financial success is no longer based on one-time sales, but on ongoing streams. The more a track is played, the bigger the payout. The implications of this shift are massive.
Source: How Streaming Is Changing The Sound Of Pop Music – hypebot
Independent film financing has never been a walk in the park. But if there’s one thing that could kill off the entire indie business as we know it: a series of regulations being mulled over in Europe right now with regard to the European Commission’s strategy for a Digital Single Market.
Source: Europe’s Digital Single Market: How It Could Kill The Indie Biz | Deadline
UK record labels’ association, the BPI, has launched the BPI Innovation Hub – a new forum that seeks to harness the potential of creativity and innovation by matching innovative tech companies with record labels that are looking to utilise new technology in their business.
Source: Media Centre
Today the News Media Alliance launched the News Media Licensing Initiative, a new program which aims to bolster global digital news distribution and consumption in compliance with the U.S. copyright system. The Alliance unveiled the new initiative at the FIBEP World Media Intelligence Congress in Washington, DC.
Source: News Media Alliance Launches Copyright Compliance Initiative
Blockai, a blockchain-enhanced copyright platform for creative professionals, today announced a new integration with Instagram. Using Blockai, it is even easier for photographers and artists to claim their copyrights. They just link their Instagram to enable the import of existing photos, and for new photos simply add the hashtag #blockai.
Source: Blockai Announces Instagram Integration For Instant Copyright Claims – Blockchain News
The WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) is taking place from 14-18 November. On the SCCR agenda is copyright exceptions and limitations for libraries and archives. On 17 November, librarians and archivists took the floor to explain why an international standard protecting them against liability is indispensable.
Without centralized databases and third party governance structures, all crucial decisions can be made by an artist himself, his manager, an artist’s team, or even via crowdsourcing in collaboration with fans.
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled that authors must be informed about any plans to release their out-of-print books in this way so that they can object if they wish, and that the French law does not require this.
Source: French law on digital versions of out-of-print books flouts EU directive | Ars Technica UK