Over the past week, a chorus of leading Wall Street and global analysts from some of the world’s biggest investment banking and funding houses have chimed in on Universal’s potential sale – and the potential impact of the New York Times’ sensational revelations about the 2008 fire.
June, 2019
7digital Says It Needs to Raise $5.7MM In a Month or It’s Going Bankrupt
The UK B2B company says it is highly likely it will enter administration by July 31st without the funding. 7digital expected to issue more shares to raise the cash, but investors have now rejected the last-ditch proposal. With shareholders rejecting the bid, fundraising efforts are looking pretty grim.
Source: 7digital Says It Needs to Raise $5.7MM In a Month or It’s Going Bankrupt
Music Canada: ‘The Creative Middle Class Is Being Annihilated’
In the new report, Music Canada — which represents the major record companies in Canada and works to support and develop the music sector — is calling for the Canadian government to “rebalance the music marketplace and restore fairness to the creators of music,” it states in the press release that came out after the event.
Digital News Daily: Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal Over ‘Used’ iTunes Tracks
The Supreme Court on Monday turned away a company that aimed to create a marketplace for “used” iTunes tracks. The move brings an end to a long-running battle between ReDigi — which offered a platform that enabled consumers to re-sell digital music files — and Capitol Records.
Source: Digital News Daily: Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal Over ‘Used’ iTunes Tracks
The day Aerosmith made history and changed the internet as we know it
CompuServe customers could type the words ‘GO AEROSMITH’ into the command line (this was at a time when early web browsers like Mosaic and Netscape were still a relative rarity), and download a 4.3MB WAV file of the song (there was also a mono version, which took up half the amount of storage space).
Source: The day Aerosmith made history and changed the internet as we know it
Universal Music Group Fire Class Action Could Come Down to One Thing: Who Owns the Masters?
On June 21, a putative class action lawsuit was filed against UMG on behalf of artists whose master recordings are believed to have been destroyed in a 2008 fire on the Universal Studios backlot where they were stored. The main issue: To whom did the masters belong?
Source: Universal Music Group Fire Class Action Could Come Down to One Thing: Who Owns the Masters?
Spotify Settles Copyright Lawsuits Brought by Songwriters
The lawsuits from Bob Gaudio and Bluewater Music Services, represented by attorney Richard Busch, may have played some role in setting the stage for the eventual passage of the Music Modernization Act. After these lawsuits were brought, Spotify and other tech companies rallied around a plan to end the “notice of intent” process spelled out by Section 115 in favor of a database run by a funded Mechanical Licensing Collective granting blanket licenses.
Source: Spotify Settles Copyright Lawsuits Brought by Songwriters
Music Sync Platform mVibe Launches
Music sync platform mVibe has launched, featuring a collection of more than 500,000 cover recordings and re-records of hit songs for sync. The new service says it will help ad agencies and music supervisors find and license creative renditions of current hits and classic songs in all styles and genres for use in their TV, film, advertising, and other creative media projects, according to a statement.
Book Publishers Urge FTC to Scrutinize ‘Dominant Online Platforms’
In a bid to get the government to look at the possibility of limiting the market dominance of tech giants like Amazon and Google, the AAP asked the FTC to exercise much-needed oversight and regulation over technology platforms it claims stifle competition and manipulate consumer outcomes.
Source: AAP Urges FTC to Scrutinize ‘Dominant Online Platforms’
House Judiciary Hearing on Copyright Office Reviews Music Modernization Act, Black Box Royalty Concerns
With many indie songwriters concerned about how the Mechanical Licensing Collective created by the Music Modernization Act will handle the buildup of black box royalties from 2014-2019, it was announced that distributions will not occur before 2023.